Do Or Do Not. There Is No Try – Yoda
“You’ll find your freedom, in your thoughts, in your dreams.” – The OA
Introduction
Collective Call to Prayer: Psalm 25:1-9 | Collective Edition
To You, I unveil my authentic self,
Trusting in the divinity that dwells within us all.
May no shame cloud my authenticity;
May no judgment darken my true path.
Guide me along the path of true belonging,
Illuminate the ways of love and justice.
For You are the Source of all liberation;
In You, I find the courage to be fully me.
Awaken in me Your unconditional love,
A love that has no borders, no prerequisites.
I am not defined by my past mistakes;
Let love be the lens through which I see and am seen.
Your divine love is the way of authenticity,
Guiding us toward our own liberating truth.
May we see You reflected in ourselves and others.
Empowering us to transcend binaries,
Inviting us to embrace the fullness of our true selves.
So, say we all. Amen!
Mindful Moment
Words of Wisdom: Matthew 21: 23-32 | The Collective Edition
As Jesus was teaching at the Temple, the keepers of tradition and leaders of the community approached him. They asked, “What gives you the right to speak and act this way? Who told you that you could do this?” Jesus responded, “Let me ask you a question. Answer it, and I’ll answer yours. Was the call to awaken by John something divine or merely human?” They hesitated, mumbling among themselves, “If we say it was divine, he’ll ask us why we didn’t listen to John. But if we claim it’s human, we risk the crowd’s anger, for they see John as a prophet.” They turned back to Jesus and said, “We don’t know.” Jesus said, “Then neither will I reveal the source of my courage to be authentic.”
“Now ponder this story. A parent has two children. The parent asks the first, ‘Will you go and engage in meaningful work today?’ The first child says, ‘No,’ but then has a change of heart and goes. The parent asks the second child the same question. This one says, ‘Of course,’ but then doesn’t follow through. Who lived authentically?” They said, “The first one.”
Jesus then told them, “The outcasts and the marginalized are ahead of you on this path toward awakening. John called you toward a more authentic, loving way of being, and you chose not to listen. Yet these so-called ‘sinners’ heard the call and responded. Even when you witnessed this, you didn’t awaken to your authentic selves and ignored his message.”
Dinner Table Conversation
Moment of Intention
Benediction – The Prayer of the One
Inside every one of us is the nature of God, the incomprehensible One whose Spirit is all around us,
who has set the worlds into motion, who has revealed to us how we are to live with one another.
As citizens of this world and caretakers of creation, let us take only what we need, and share all that we can with one another.
In forgiving ourselves for the times that we have missed the mark, let us also forgive the debts and the times when others have missed that mark.
For in times of trouble and fear, the shared love of one another will see us through it all.
Together, let us seek to evolve the human condition,
so that we can awaken the true self, the Christ inside us all.
Remembering that Christ is our Path, God is our Light, and the Spirit is our Strength.
So say we all. Amen.
