August 2020 Moments of Meditation From UUCW

silhouette of person meditating

Monday, August 31, 2020

August 31st moment of meditation, reflection, and prayer on International Overdose Awareness Day. Please join us for a Vigil of Memory & Hope this evening @6:30 PM online. Blessings, Aaron https://zoom.us/meeting/register/tJ0qfuqvpj0rGtXNreFlXlBbRyMOulbpUk6L


Sunday, August 30, 2020

August 30 moment of meditation, reflection, and prayer on the anniversary of Thurgood Marshall’s confirmation to the U.S. Supreme Court, August 30, 1967. Blessings, Aaron

https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history


Saturday, August 29, 2020

August 29 moment of meditation, reflection, and prayer. RIP Chadwick Boseman. Blessings, Aaron

https://hellopoetry.com/tag/wakanda/


Friday, August 28, 2020

August 28 moment of meditation, reflection, and prayer on the Islamic Day of Remembrance – Ashura. Blessings, Aaron

https://allpoetry.com/poems/about/ashura


Thursday, August 27, 2020

August 27 moment of meditation, reflection, and prayer for all of those in path of Hurricane Laura. Blessings, Aaron

https://www.poemhunter.com/poems/hurricane/page-1/4494409/


Wednesday, August 26, 2020

August 26, 2020 moment of mediation, reflection, and prayer on National Dog Day! Blessings, Aaron

https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/50826/the-dogs-at-live-oak-beach-santa-cruz


Tuesday, August 25, 2020

August 25, 2020 moment of meditation, reflection, and prayer. On the anniversary of “The Great Moon Hoax.”

https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history

(go to 5:25 for the Walter Bargen’s poem “The Great Moon Hoax”

Monday, August 24, 2020

August 24 moment of meditation, reflection, and prayer. “At noon on August 24, 79 A.D., this pleasure and prosperity came to an end when the peak of Mount Vesuvius exploded, propelling a 10-mile mushroom cloud of ash and pumice into the stratosphere. For the next 12 hours, volcanic ash and a hail of pumice stones up to 3 inches in diameter showered Pompeii, forcing the city’s occupants to flee in terror. Some 2,000 people stayed in Pompeii, holed up in cellars or stone structures, hoping to wait out the eruption.:
https://hellopoetry.com/poem/1051231/vesusvius/
https://media-cdn.tripadvisor.com/media/photo-s/13/91/79/9b/view-of-sorrento-and.jpg
https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history


Sunday, August 23, 2020

August 23 moment of meditation, reflection, and prayer. A Belated Happy Ganesh Chaturthi! Blessings, Aaron
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/life-style/events/ganesh-chaturthi-2019-history-importance-and-rituals-of-vinayaka-chavithi/articleshow/70877033.cms


Saturday, August 22, 2020

August 22 moment of meditation, reflection, and prayer. On the Hindu Festival of Onam.

Blessings, Aaron
https://www.booksie.com/518799-my-onam-with-maveli-and-vamanan


Friday, August 21, 2020

August 21 moment of meditation, reflection, and prayer on National Senior Citizen’s Day. Blessings, Aaron


Thursday, August 20, 2020

August 20 moment of meditation, reflection, and prayer on Hijra, Islamic New Year. Blessings, Aaron

Hijra by Haya Alyan
Sleepwalkers, uterus dust, you heard the gunfireand folded into clay. We begged our bodies foralchemy, death into new lungs, we fed breadto the jinn. The clouds followed us, a scrapof summer moon as gazelles made a meal of ash.We became seamstresses, mapping departureinto our eyelids. Allah’s calligraphy stitchedour vertebra. We wrote their unsaid nameson parchment, buried them in boxes, gave birthto our daughters in caves. When our breasts weptmilk for months, we drank it ourselves (Originally published in Colorado Review)


Wednesday, August 19, 2020

August 19 moment of meditation, reflection, and prayer. Remember, your power is not in your size but in your stride. Blessings, Aaron

https://poets.org/poem/alice-paul


Tuesday, August 18, 2020

August 18 moment of meditation, reflection, and prayer. Blessings Aaron

A New Prayer (by Barbara Collignon)

We invoke the One we call upon
in time of deep despair.
We seek the One who’d answer us,
respond to earnest prayer.
From this Source of Life we ask
strength to meet an awesome task,
courage in the face of fear,
greater faith to persevere.
But we must answer our own prayer.
we must rise to tend and care.
We must give and we must strive
to comfort, cure, embrace, revive.
So we unite to conquer fear,
our homes protect,
our hearts to cheer.
We pray for health.
We pray for love
but seek not answers from above.
May we be the answer
to another’s prayer.
Let us reach out and let us care.

https://www.interfaithconference.org/our-interfaith-prayers-during-covid-19


Monday, August 17, 2020

August 17 moment of meditation, reflection, and prayer on the 51 Anniversary of the close of the Woodstock Music Festival. We could all use a little help from our friends these days. Blessings, Aaron

https://www.history.com/topics/1960s/woodstock


Sunday, August 16, 2020

August 16 moment of meditation, reflection, and prayer on National Tell a Joke Day. Blessings, Aaron

https://www.pinterest.com/pin/558305685027434545/


Saturday, August 15, 2020

August 15 moment of meditation, reflection, and prayer on Chant at the Moon Day. Blessings, Aaron

https://nationaltoday.com/chant-at-the-moon-day/


Friday, August 14, 2020

August 14 moment of meditation, reflection, and prayer during the Buddhist Festival of Obon. Blessings, Aaron

https://allpoetry.com/poem/4462475-Obon-Festival–July–1921-gold-by-marlene47


Thursday, August 13, 2020

August 13 moment of meditation, reflection, and prayer on International Lefthanders Day. Much love to my wife Kristen Payson and my brother Marc R. Payson!


Wednesday, August 12, 2020

August 12 moment of meditation, reflection and prayer on World Elephant Day. Classic Robert Fulghum from his book “Maybe, Maybe Not”.

http://www.holidayinsights.com/moreholidays/August/world-elephant-day.htm

https://www.google.com/books/edition/Maybe_Maybe_Not/2Zcu31a3EcgC?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=robert+fulghum+%22An+acquaintance+arranged+for+us+to+visit+a+forest+reserve%22&pg=PA108&printsec=frontcover


Tuesday, August 11, 2020

August 11 moment of meditation, reflection, and prayer on National Son and Daughter Day. Blessings, Aaron


Monday, August 10, 2020

August 10 moment of meditation, reflection, and prayer. August, a poem by Rogan. Blessings, Aaron


Sunday, August 9, 2020

August 9 moment of meditation, reflection, and prayer on National Women’s Day. Blessings, Aaron


Saturday, August 8, 2020

August 8 moment of reflection, meditation, and prayer, on National Cat Day. Blessings, Aaron

https://allpoetry.com/She-sights-a-Birdshe-chuckles


Friday, August 7, 2020

August 7 moment of meditation, reflection, and prayer on National Lighthouse Day. Remember, it’s your call. Aaron


Thursday, August 6, 2020

August 6 moment of meditation, reflection, and prayer. In honor of those in Beruit. Blessings, Aaron

In Our Hearts (Adapted by Rev. Aaron Payson)

Compassionate Spirit, we pray for those who have been devastated by recent disasters. We remember those who have lost their lives so suddenly. We hold in our hearts the families forever changed by grief and loss. Bring them consolation and comfort. Surround them with our prayer for strength. Bless those who have survived and heal their memories of trauma and devastation. May they have the courage to face the long road of rebuilding ahead.

We ask your blessing on all those who have lost their homes, their livelihoods, their security, and their hope. Bless the work of relief agencies and those proving emergency assistance. May their work be guided by the grace and strength that comes from You alone.

Help us to respond with generosity in prayer, in assistance, in aid to the best of our abilities. Keep our hearts focused on the needs of those affected, even after the crisis is over. We ask this in the name of all that is Holy.(Author Unknown. Adapted from prayer listed on https://www.xavier.edu/jesuitresource/online-resources/prayer-index/prayers-in-times-of-crisis/in-times-of-natural-disaster.php)


Wednesday, August 5, 2020

August 5 moment of meditation, reflection, and prayer in honor of National “Work Like a Dog Day”. Blessings, Aaron


Tuesday, August 4, 2020

August 4 moment of meditation, reflection, and prayer in honor of National Chocolate Chip Cookie Day!


Monday, August 3, 2020

August 3 moment of meditation, reflection, and prayer on National Watermelon Day!

https://allpoetry.com/poem/14643575-Watermelon–Citrullus-Lanatus–Day–by-Dennis-Spilchuk


Sunday, August 2, 2020

August 2 moment of meditation, reflection, and prayer in honor of National Friendship Day. Blessings, Rev. Aaron


Saturday, August 1, 2020

August 1 moment of reflection, meditation, and prayer. Thanks to Sheri Linn for introducing us to this last Sunday. Aaron


Please CLICK HERE to see the June 2020 Moments of Meditation

Please CLICK HERE to see the May 2020 Moments of Meditation

Please CLICK HERE to see the April 2020 Moments of Meditation

Please CLICK HERE to see the March 2020 Moments of Meditation