Novena, Day 1

I woke this morning with the conviction it was time to return to the novenas. Novenas are a 9 day cycle of prayers. These particular novenas were created by Rev. Carol E. Parrish-Harra.  I first shared them in 2005. If you are so inclined, please pray with me. 

  

At night, I am reading once more the book, Friends on the Path, Living Spiritual Communities, by Thich Nhat Hanh, compiled by Jack Lawlor. Over the years, Thich Nhat Hanh's writings have taught me much about community, and returning  to this book is wonderfully reassuring. He suggests "that the next Buddha may not take the form of an individual. In the twenty-first century, the Sangha [the meditating community] may be the body of the Buddha." This is what I have always believed about Christ. When we come together, living in Christ, we can find healing, and offer healing.  We are here to learn to live together in love.  

Thank you for praying with me all these years, helping me to love. 

Day 1

  

I greet this day with love in my heart. 

This is the great secret to happiness. 

This unseen power of love can open the hearts 

of humanity and bless all of life. 

I will make love my most effective tool, 

Bringing the energy of life to myself and others. 

Love will melt the blocks within and around me. 

Opening me to the joy of life. 

I liken love to the rays of the sun which can 

soften the cold of the harshest day. 

I greet this day with love in my heart.   

 

Rev. Carol E. Parrish-Harris, 

The Book of Rituals 

  

image: San Leandro, June 2021