==Opening Words==
::Moving Forward
<br>
:The deep parts of my life pour onward,
:as if the river shores were opening out.
:It seems that things are more like me now,
:That I can see farther into paintings.
:I feel closer to what language can't reach.
:With my senses, as with birds, I climb
:into the windy heaven, out of the oak,
:in the ponds broken off from the sky
:my falling sinks, as if standing on fishes.
<br>
::Rainer Maria Rilke
::translated by Robert Bly
==Gathering of Items for the Altar==
==Spirit of Life==
==Poem==
Buddha's Dogs by Susan Browne
==Song by Mark==
==Meditation and Discussion with Meg and Lyric==
==Closing Words==
::The Guest House
<br>
:This being human is a guest house.
:Every morning a new arrival.
<br>
:A joy, a depression, a meanness,
:some momentary awareness comes
:as an unexpected visitor.
<br>
:Welcome and entertain them all!
:Even if they are a crowd of sorrows,
:who violently sweep your house
:empty of its furniture,
:still, treat each guest honorably.
:He may be clearing you out
:for some new delight.
<br>
:The dark thought, the shame, the malice.
:meet them at the door laughing and invite them in.
<br>
:Be grateful for whatever comes.
:because each has been sent
:as a guide from beyond.
<br>
:-- Jelaluddin Rumi,
: translation by Coleman Barks