Dear Friends,

As we build the Beloved Community, we pray for you every day that you might continue to bring it about in your little corner of the world.

I am being nourished by a wonderful book of meditations by Macrina Wiederkehr entitled Abide: Keeping Vigil with the Word of God.

She quotes the German poet Rainer Maria Rilke speaking of our quest for God as a homesickness we cannot escape. She speaks of our hearts being drawn to God as to a magnet. Today's Meditation offers a short selection reflecting on the passage "Come to the Water" from Isaiah 55.

We invite you to join us as we commit

ourselves to working tirelessly to end systemic and structural racism in our society, in the church, in healthcare, in the workplace--wherever it shows up so that everyone may come to have more abundant life. May this meditation nourish our contemplative-active hearts and sustain all of us in action.

In the spirit of our philosophy of co-creating community and our awareness that the Spirit speaks through each of us, we invite you to share your meditations with us as well. We truly believe that it is God's economy of abundance: when we share our blessings, our thoughts, our feelings, we are all made richer.

We hope and pray that you find peace, healing, hope and the infusion of joy in your life!

With our love and care,

Ron and Jean

MEDITATION: Come to the Water (Isaiah 55)

Prayerfully read Isaiah 55:

All you who are thirsty,

Come to the water!

You who have no money...

Come without paying... (v. 1)

"Listen to the tenderness of these words. As you begin romancing the Word of God, you will notice that our romance begins with an invitation, which is often the way a romance begins. We are invited to come to the source and replenish our thirst and hunger. We are to come as we are. It doesn't matter if our pockets are empty. We cannot buy the Word of God. We are to receive it as gift. The only price we have to pay is to show up at the table of the Word, acknowledging our thirst for living water. The price we pay is our desire for communion with God.

When we eat at our dinner table, we expect to receive nourishment for our bodies. Our souls can also be fed at this table. In sharing both food and conversation, we are replenishing body and soul. By attentive presence to one another, we are offering the other hospitality. Is it possible to offer hospitality to someone and remain unchanged?

Is it possible to extend hospitality to the Word of God and remain unchanged? We offer hospitality to the Word by keeping company with it in our prayer and inviting it to companion us through the hours of the day. We offer hospitality to the Word when we lean toward it with the ear of our hearts, listening expectantly to its wisdom. Our abiding presence to the Word of God can bring about a profound transformation in our daily lives."

Macrina Wiederkehr