Hello and welcome to this meditation on beauty.
This is part of the meditation from the hammock series.
Perhaps you are participating or practicing in a hammock,
Or maybe you prefer to be seated in a comfortable chair,
Maybe on a meditation cushion,
Or some other way.
Or perhaps you prefer to be reclined on a mat,
In bed,
Or another comfortable way.
Today's topic is beauty.
You are invited to soften into your space,
Closing the eyes or having a soft gaze,
And take a few breaths,
Allowing time to bring our whole selves into this space.
Breathe in a beautiful breath.
Exhale that breath so that beauty surrounds you in your space.
Breathing in,
Imagining,
Breathing in a beautiful deep inhale.
And on the exhale,
Breathing that beauty all around you.
Continue to take a few more full,
Deep inhales and complete exhales,
Bringing in and breathing in beauty and exhaling beauty.
I'd like to share a prayer adapted from a Navajo traditional prayer.
Beauty within me,
Beauty before me,
Beauty behind me,
Beauty beneath me,
Beauty above,
Beauty beside me,
Beauty all around me,
Beauty encircles me with love.
As you continue to settle in,
Thank you so much for joining this session today.
And please know that you are loved before you even arrived here today.
When you're ready,
Allow your natural breath to take over.
You might choose to soften the jaw,
Maybe open and close that lower jaw.
Maybe soften the shoulders.
Softening into your space.
If you prefer to experience this meditation mostly in stillness,
Then please make yourself a little bit more comfortable.
Maybe on the mat,
On the bed or in a chair.
If you prefer a bit more creative movement,
You might wish to journal,
Draw a picture or sketch.
Whatever you choose,
Let your imagination have full reign here.
Take creative license and let your heart,
Body,
Mind,
Soul,
Spirit experience true beauty.
I'll share with you now some scriptures and quotes about beauty and then I will pause allowing for a time of silence and reflection.
Psalm 27 4.
One thing I ask from the Lord,
This only do I seek,
That I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life,
To gaze on the beauty of the Lord and to seek him in his temple.
Isaiah 61 3 He will give a crown of beauty for ashes,
A joyous blessing instead of mourning and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair.
They will be called Oaks of righteousness,
A planting of the Lord for the display of his splendor.
Proverbs 31 30 Charm is deceptive and beauty is fleeting,
But a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised.
Isaiah 33 17 Your eyes will see the king in his beauty.
Ezekiel 28 12 This is what the sovereign Lord says,
You were the seal of perfection,
Full of wisdom and perfect in beauty.
Beauty is truth.
Beauty,
John Keats,
Since love grows within you,
So beauty grows,
For love is the beauty of the soul.
The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched.
They must be felt with the heart.
Think of all the beauty still left around you and be happy.
The most beautiful people we have known are those who have known defeat,
Known suffering,
Known struggle,
Known loss,
And have found their way out of the depths.
These people have an appreciation,
A sensitivity,
And an understanding of life that fills them with compassion,
Gentleness,
And a deep loving concern.
Beautiful people do not just happen.
Elizabeth Kubler Ross Isaiah 52 7 Beautiful are the feet of those who bring good things into their lives.
We will move now into a time of personal prayer and reflection.
I will offer a blessing in just a few moments.
May the beauty of your life become more visible to you,
That you may glimpse your wild divinity.
May the wonders of the earth call you forth from all your small secret prisons and set your feet free in the pastures of possibilities.
May the light of dawn anoint your eyes that you may behold what a miracle a day is.
May the liturgy of twilight shelter all your fears and darkness within the circle of ease.
May the angel of memory surprise you in bleak times with new gifts.
May you allow no dark hand to quench the candle of hope in your heart.
May you discover a new generosity towards yourself and encourage yourself to engage your life as a great adventure.
May the outside voices of fear and despair find no echo in you.
May you always trust the urgency and wisdom of your own spirit.
May the shelter and nourishment of all the good you have done,
The love you have shown,
The suffering you have carried awaken around you to bless your life a thousand times.
And when love finds the path to your door,
May you open like the earth to the dawn and trust your every hidden color towards its nourishment of light.
May you find enough stillness and silence to savor the kiss of God on your soul and delight in the eternity that shaped you,
That holds you and calls you.
And may you know that despite confusion,
Anxiety,
And emptiness,
And in the midst of joy,
Celebration,
And peace,
May you know your name is written in heaven.
May divine beauty bless you.
May it be so.
And all of God's beautiful souls say,
Amen and Amen.
Thank you for being here for this meditation on beauty.
Blessings,
Blessings,
Blessings.
