We’d like to invite you to join a group of us from Wisdom Waypoints in chanting the psalms seven days a week, March 5 to April 30, as a Lenten practice.
Here’s why:
Cynthia was once asked how we could bear the incredible suffering and instability of much of what we see in the world. She responded that we should try to hold two images: the sphinx and the pieta. We need to bear all that we see with that sphinx-like impartial, steady presence, and an unblinking, all seeing gaze. And we need to do that with open-hearted compassion and deep acceptance, holding the pain, and letting our hearts break in communion with the tears of our common father.
But how to do this?
In her book, The Wisdom Way of Knowing, Cynthia tells a story of a first Wisdom School that met on Eagle Island just after 9/11.
She writes:
“As our bodies and minds and hearts were prepared and integrated using the ancient tools of Wisdom, we discovered once again just how precious these tools really are — mindful work, sacred chanting, meditation, prayer, and above all an intentional rhythm and balance to the day. These are not just activities, they are the gateways of perception — floodgates, in fact. Slowly at first, and then with deeper and steadier force, we were swept into the river of divine compassion, not knowing were we were going but only that we were going there in oneness with each other and with the heart of all humanity. Beneath the shattered surface of the world, it became possible to see — not just deduced, but actually see — how tenderly all things are being held in love.”
Those of us who have been chanting the psalms together for the past year are finding they are indeed “precious tools,” supporting us in our efforts to be more — to know that other surfaces have been shattered; that others who suffered have been strong. That God’s love is simply always there in everything and that trust and faith are real. We meet each morning to pray together, using the ancient words that David, Jesus, the Desert Mothers and Fathers and thousands of monks, and sisters, and priests, and saints have prayed. Our hearts break open as we pray, and we begin to glimpse the unified force moving though all things. Our collective aim in this practice is to serve — our selves, each other, and that emerging world that wants to be created. And as we chant we’ve found the psalms to be foundational to revisionist contemplation, as a way of honing consciousness and compassion so we can fully engage in the world and become active participants in birthing the new. We strike a Do, creating concentric circles with force and strong intent.
When we asked some of those who’ve been joining the Wisdom Waypoints Psalm Circle each day what the practice has meant to them, here are a few of the responses we received:
It’s embodied lectio — out loud
It’s exquisite simplicity
It’s grounding, and nourishing and comforting
It sets a rhythm for the day
It feels like something I have to do
It stabilizes me
It’s a way to do Ora et Labora’s “pray together”
I’m so grateful for this practice
We invite you to join us, to fall back on the precious tools of our lineage, starting the day with a rhythm of praying together, sacred chanting, centering prayer.
We meet each morning at 8:30 am Eastern Time. We come together, see others who have joined us, take turns reading the psalm verses, then chant along (muted) with the day’s cantor who leads the chant. We then sit in silence until 9am.
As we do this, we often find ourselves in that tidal pool where the worlds meet. And that as we chant, we are joined not only by each other, but by so many who live beyond this world and want to help. And in this space, are indeed swept into the river of mercy, and know without hesitation, that we are never alone.
Join us during Lent for a daily chanting of the psalms, March 5 to April 30, at 8:30 am ET.
Join Zoom: Link Here
Meeting ID: 810 8061 0840
Password: Chant
Our thanks to chant leader Shirley Willihnganz for writing and contributing this special invitation.