One God. Above all, through all, in all.
Let everything that breathes
praise the Beloved with their lives!
May it be so now
And forever!
Amen.
Psalm 150 (Psalms for Praying by Nan C. Merrill)
Pastor Lara sits in the stillness of the morning, surrounded by women of the village to begin the day in prayer. She and several seminary colleagues traveled to the reservation to bear witness to the stories of the Native People and join them in prayers for healing and peace.
On this Sunday she sits on the red earth, wrapped in a woven blanket to stay warm in the cold. Lara breathes deeply to center her soul into the sacredness of earth affirming the image of Creator God within all existence around her.
A pulse of the drum calls them to prayer. The vibrating sound reverberates into all its surroundings and into her being. Lara’s heart syncs into the rhythm, integrating the heart beat she knew in the womb with the beating heart of mother earth.
One. Two. Three. Four. One. Two. …. Pulsing again and again.
With the drop of the leader’s hand, the drum is hit without aggression in an easy contact to release its sound in the world with a scared reverence and respect. The cadence rises and falls re-sounding a beat heard in all life.
Felt deeply within Lara’s soul and the circle worshippers around her, the constant beat becomes a common petition. Together they join in wordless song. The pulsing waves become audible prayers for healing, for hope, offering thanksgiving and praise to God.
Breathprayer:
Breathing in: All Praise…
Breathing out: … echoing into the universe.
Reflection: Listen to the beat of your heart. Imagine it joining the heartbeat of another in praise of God.
This reflection is written for the Online Lenten Devotion of the Southeast Iowa Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.
www.seiasynod.org/lent