There cannot be many parties that start with prayers. There cannot be many parties that start with prayers in Portuguese, then in many, many languages.
Exactly one week ago today it was St Joseph’s Day. I was at a party in a Venetian medieval castle, guest of Paulo Coelho.
It was exactly one year, one week, one day to the devastating tsunami that hit Japan.
Very moving prayer from Yumi. She was in tears. I was holding hands with Mio. Mio was in tears. I was in tears.
A few days ago I visited St Andrew’s in the gloom. Candles were lit for my lovely but sadly mad friend Sian, Paulo Coelho as thanks for writing Aleph, and Canon Andrew White who was back in Iraq.
Most apt as Andrew White the following day posted that contrary to the misleading Mission Accomplished and Iraq was now stable from Barack Obama Iraq was anything but stable.
US may be leaving us but our war is not over it is getting worse every day but we are now forgotten! We have just spent 2 hours trying to get into the Green Zone. Our badges may be the highest level but they are not working as of today, because they are American. This evening I was to take the British Embassy Carol Service. I arrive an hour and a half late we still did a shortened version. How we do our work now I just do not know, I cannot get to the US Embassy to even do our Chapel Services. We are now in a big crisis please pray for us.
The US may have officially left (with tail between legs), the Iraqi people have been left to pay the price of a US-UK failed foreign adventure. Maybe Obama would care to walk the streets of Baghdad. All that is left is prayer.
Saturday was a pleasant day, lovely and sunny though very cold. I decided I would again pay a trip to Farnham and visit the lovely Parish Church of St Andrew’s.
I was earlier in the afternoon than before and the sky was not covered with dark clouds. Inside St Andrew’s it was neither one nor the other, not lit up but not dark and gloomy either.
The candle in the bowl was not lit. After two attempts I managed to relight. As before three candles were lit. A lady also lit a candle as several of her friends were ill.
I remarked on the lack of matches, lack of a pen to write prayer cards. She said she always came with a lighter and lent me her pen.
Three prayer cards: One for my lovely but sadly mad friend Sian, one for Paulo Coelho, one for Canon Andrew White.
I decided to pop back half an hour later when darker.
As I was leaving the church on lighting my candles a poster in the porch caught my eye. Canon Andrew White was giving a talk in Farnham in the New Year.
I returned later. Five more candles were lit. I seemed to have started a trend. I chatted with a charming female called Colleen (or a similar Celtic name). She had the same mischievous thought as I, let’s light all the candles around the church. I said best not, they may have some religious significance. God would not mind, she said. True I said, but those in the church may.
I told her of the talk Canon Andrew White was giving. I suggested she checked out the poster in the porch and went along.
Synchronicity: I light a candle for Canon Andrew White. As I was leaving the church on lighting my candles a poster in the porch catches my eye. Canon Andrew White is to give a talk in Farnham in the New Year.
St Andrew’s Nine Lessons and Carols by candlelight. 6-30pm Sunday 18 December 2011.
Canon Andrew White at The Vineyard Cente, Church House, Union Road, Farnham. 7-30pm Tuesday 3 January 2012.
As banked clouds
are swept apart by the wind,
at dawn the sudden cry
of the first wild geese
Winging across the mountains.
In a mountain village
at autumn’s end—
that’s where you learn
what sadness means
in the blast of the wintry wind.
— Saigyo (XIIth Century)
Each of the rain drops has a tale to tell
about the sorrows of people
about the hardships living things go through
about the arrival of sparrows.
— Yamamura Bocho (XXth Century)
Out in the marsh reeds
A bird cries out in sorrow,
As though it had recalled
Something better forgotten.
— Ki No Tsurayuri (Xth century)
The evening sky itself
becomes something to cherish
when I gaze at it,
seeing in one of the clouds
the smoke from her funeral pyre
— Murasaki Shikibu (XI century)
Oh you yellow leaves
that whirl upon the autumn slopes
if only for a moment
do not whirl down in such confusion,
that i may see where my beloved dwells.
— Kakinomoto no Hitomaro (8th century)
Lord, protect our planet, because we live here, and here we dwell with our daily tragedies.
May our daily reconstruction be the result of the very best that we carry within us.
Give us the courage
to be able to reconstruct what was destroyed
to be able to recover what was lost
to be able to accept what was gone forever.
May you give us courage to look ahead,
may we never look back nor allow our soul to be discouraged.
Lord, give us enthusiasm, because Enthusiasm reaffirms to us that everything is possible, as long as we are totally committed to what we are doing.
Lord, may the Earth continue to transform seeds into wheat, may we continue to transmute wheat into bread. Do not leave us in solitude.
Have compassion on us, Lord. For we often think we are dressed when we are naked.
Do not forget, in your mercy, our friends in Japan, who are now teaching us the meaning of Courage, Reconstruction, Solidarity and Enthusiasm.
Amen
— Paulo Coelho
Why does God, if God exists, the God of compassion, all powerful, allow these tragedies to occur?
Japan lies on the Pacific Ring of Fire, tectonic plates move. It was the movement of tectonic plates that caused the earthquake, the ocean floor rose by several metres sending a tidal wave of water heading out at 500 mph.
Tectonic plates are one of the mechanism of Gaia. Without Gaia there would be no life on earth.
We interfere with Gaia at our peril.
The people of Japan are quite stoic about what happened. They blame no one. They accept it is the force of Nature at work.
Inspirer of my mind, consoler of my heart,
healer of my spirit,
Thy presence lifteth me from earth to heaven,
Thy words flow as the sacred river,
Thy thought riseth as a divine spring,
Thy tender feelings waken sympathy in my heart.
Beloved Teacher, Thy very being is forgiveness.
The clouds of doubt and fear
are scattered by Thy piercing glance.
All ignorance vanishes in Thy illuminating presence.
A new hope is born in my heart
by breathing Thy peaceful atmosphere.
O inspiring Guide through life’s puzzling ways,
in Thee I feel abundance of blessing.
Amen.
Prayer for Peace
Send Thy peace, O Lord, which is perfect and everlasting,
that our souls may radiate peace.
Send Thy peace, O Lord, that we may think, act,
and speak harmoniously.
Send Thy peace, O Lord, that we may be contented
and thankful for Thy bountiful gifts.
Send Thy peace, O Lord, that amidst our worldly strife
we may enjoy thy bliss.
Send Thy peace, O Lord, that we may endure all,
tolerate all in the thought of thy grace and mercy.
Send Thy peace, O Lord, that our lives may become a
divine vision, and in Thy light all darkness may vanish. Send Thy peace, O Lord, our Father and Mother, that we
Thy children on earth may all unite in one family.
Amen.
These two deeply moving Sufi prayers were posted by Paulo Coelho on his blog.
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