Dear friends,
You are very welcome to this meditation session and I hope you get benefit from it.
The title of this session is Let Me Sow Love.
We are going to look at how you can become an ambassador for peace in the world.
You may have been busy in the time before this session,
So to allow yourself to come into the present moment we will have some quiet music,
During which you can allow yourself to relax,
Become aware of your breath,
The simple factor of your breathing in and your breathing out.
The idea is to allow your body and your mind to come together in the same space.
The suggestion that you might become an ambassador for peace in the world may appear to be over the top,
But as you will see this life changing possibility is really within your grasp.
So first of all settle into the present moment and see if you can find that place of stillness within,
A quiet space away from the noise of the world.
As you breathe in you might think,
As I breathe in let me breathe in peace.
And as you breathe out you might consider,
As I breathe out let go of worry,
Stress and fear.
Welcome to the peace of the present moment.
We live in a time of uncertainty and change,
A time when a minority of voices,
The loud voices of discord and animosity,
Threaten to drown out the gentle voices,
The gentle voices of the great majority,
The majority who speak of reconciliation and harmony.
But Michel de Montaigne reminds us in the following words,
He who establishes his argument by noise and command shows that his reason is weak.
This thought is a comfort to us when we are faced with the loud and the vociferous.
We begin our reflection by reminding ourselves of the opening lines of the prayer of St.
Francis of Viscissie.
Lord,
Make me an instrument of your peace.
Where there is hatred,
Let me sow love.
Let's pause for a few moments to consider this ancient invitation to spread peace and love.
Welcome back.
We should never doubt the ability of every individual,
Yes even you or I,
To be a force for good in the world.
You only have to think of the opposite in order to appreciate the truth of this idea.
We all know people who are handicapped by a tendency to always speak with an attitude of arrogance and aggression.
Listening to people like this tends to provoke the worst reaction in us.
It takes all our mindfulness,
All our concentration,
Not to respond to annoyance with annoyance,
But to respond to ill will with ill will.
We may be tempted to fight such people on their own terms,
Or we might even be broken down by frequent exposure to them and convinced to join them in their narrow and self-obsessed undertakings.
But this attitude can introduce fear,
Suspicion,
Ideas of dissatisfaction,
Thoughts of revenge and even hatred itself.
And if individuals who are motivated in this way manage to achieve positions of power,
Power in society or if they establish areas of influence in the media,
Their outbursts can set whole communities and peoples on a downward spiral of fear and distrust,
Leading to extreme fanaticism.
We are blessed in the midst of all this.
We all know of political and religious leaders who inspire acts of generosity and kindness.
Simply listening to these guides and reading their words brings out the best and even the most lukewarm among us.
And this is where our hope for the future lies.
Martin Luther King Jr.
Says,
I refuse to accept the view that mankind is so tragically bound to the starless midnight of racism and war that the bright daybreak of peace and brotherhood can never become a reality.
I believe that unarmed truth and unconditional love will have the final word.
And Dwight D.
Eisenhower,
The 34th President of the United States says,
Every gun that is made,
Every warship launched,
Every rocket fired,
Signifies,
In the final sense,
A theft from those who hunger and are not fed,
Those who are cold and not clothed.
This world in arms is not spending money alone.
It is spending the sweat of its laborers,
The genius of its scientists,
The hopes of its children.
This is not a way of life at all,
In any true sense.
Under the cloud of threatening war,
It is humanity hanging from a cross of iron.
Words of Dwight D.
Eisenhower.
So let each of us every day light in our own minds a small flame of peace.
Let us offer each one we meet a gesture of understanding and kindness.
It will help if we try to begin every day with a short period of reflection where we mindfully anticipate the day ahead.
Knowing that we are going to be faced with situations which might give rise to annoyance,
Let us resolve even so to carry our flame of peace and understanding into the world.
Remember that the feelings we display are contagious.
Which of us has not been adversely affected by exposure to a person in bad humor?
Who has not been encouraged by the words and the actions of someone whose interaction with us displays kindness and love?
Albert Schweitzer reminds us of the importance of showing a little light.
He says,
Sometimes our light goes out,
But is blown again into flame by an encounter with another human being.
Jesus is quoted in St.
Matthew's Gospel as saying,
You are the light of the world.
Let your light shine before men that they may see your good deeds.
The Buddha is quoted as saying,
Thousands of candles can be lighted from a single candle.
So let us resolve this day,
This week,
This month,
This year,
To be a light in the darkness.
A source of hope in times of despair.
A true bridge over the troubled waters of the world.
To support our resolution,
We could gain inspiration from the well-known prayer of St.
Francis of Assisi.
Lord,
Make me an instrument of your peace.
Why there is hatred,
Let me sow love.
Why there is injury,
Pardon.
Why there is doubt,
Fate.
Why there is despair,
Hope.
Why there is darkness,
Light.
Why there is sadness,
Joy.
O Divine Master,
Grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console.
To be understood as to understand.
To be loved as to love.
For it is in giving that we receive.
It is in pardoning that we are pardoned.
And it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.
According to the much-loved Tibetan Buddhist monk and peace activist Thich Nhat Hanh,
Every breath we take,
Every step we make,
Can be filled with peace,
Joy and serenity.
So in the days,
The weeks and the months ahead,
May every breath you take,
Every step you make,
Be filled with peace,
Joy and serenity.
Know for certain that your positive actions can have a beneficial effect on the people you meet.
That effect rolls on from one person to the next.
You see that happening every day.
You can be sure that every good deed you perform will be multiplied many times over.
Indeed,
You will never know where the benefit of your good efforts will end.
Marberit Mead tells us,
A small group of thoughtful people could change the world.
Indeed,
It is the only thing that ever has.
So may your light shine.
May the world be blessed by your presence.
And may you yourself,
Inspired by your good efforts,
Be blessed with peace and happiness.
Namaste.
Thank you.
