We invite you to share in these Wisdom Liturgies, available for individual reflection and contemplation or for use by groups in-person or online. These Wisdom Liturgies are drawn from the teaching of our founding teacher, Cynthia Bourgeault, combined with chants that have arisen within the Wisdom Community. Our first collection of Wisdom Liturgies offers a companion to Cynthia Bourgeault’s book, Mystical Hope: Trusting in the Mercy of God.
A Wisdom Liturgy: Mystical Hope Chapter 1
WISDOM LITURGY
OPENING PRAYER
Journey to the Wellsprings: What we dare not hope for, that is what Love gives us – Brother Roger (p 1)
OPENING CHANT – We Swim in Mercy by Susan Latimer
We Swim in Mercy, as in an Endless Sea (Psalm 103:11)
READING FROM MYSTICAL HOPE CHAPTER 1
…Mystical hope is not intended to be an extraordinary infusion, but an abiding state of being. The call is to become a vessel, to become a chalice into which this divine energy can pour; a lamp through which it can shine. (p 17)
1. Mystical Hope is not tied to a good outcome, to the future. It lives a life of its own. (p 9)
2. Mystical Hope has something to do with Presence, the immediate experience of being met, held in communion by something intimately at hand. (p 9)
3. Mystical Hope bears fruit within us at the level of sensation – strength, joy and satisfaction: an “unbearable lightness of being.” (p 9 – 10)
4. Mystical Hope pulls us out of the linear stream of hours and days, imbuing the moment we are actually in with an unexpected vividness and fullness. (p 11-12)
READING FROM JOHN 4:13-14
Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give will become a spring of water welling up to eternal life.
CHANT – Rivers of Living Water by Henry Schoenfield
Out of Believer’s Heart, Shall Flow Rivers of Living Water
READING FROM HABAKKUK 3:17-19 (p 6)
Though the fig tree does not bud
And there are no grapes on the vines,
Though the olive crop fails
And the fields produce no food,
Though there are no sheep in the pen
And no cattle in the stalls,
Yet I will rejoice in the Lord,
I will be joyful in God my Savior.
The Sovereign Lord is my strength;
He makes my feet like the feet of a deer,
He enables me to go on the heights.
SACRED POSTURE
As we sing this next chant, we invite you to gently place your left hand on your right shoulder, and crisscross your right hand over your left arm, crossing your wrists at your heart space. Bow your head, tilting slightly to the right. Embody this posture as we sing this chant “Mercy Deep Within.” Following the chant our singing bowl will lead us into 3 minutes of silence.
CHANT – Mercy Deep Within by Henry Schoenfield
Mercy Mercy Mercy Deep Within and All Around. (3X) Deep Within and All Around.
SILENT CONTEMPLATION – 3 minutes
READING FROM MYSTICAL HOPE CHAPTER 1
The spiritual life can only be lived in the present moment, in the now… When we go rushing ahead into the future or shrinking back into the past, we miss the hand of God, which can only touch us in the now. (p 12)
CLOSING CHANT – As the Heavens Reach Beyond Earth and Time by Tony Martin
For as the Heavens Reach Beyond Earth and Time, We Swim in Mercy, as in an Endless Sea. (Psalm 103:11)
AMEN
WISDOM LITURGY CREDITS
This Wisdom Liturgy offering was contributed by Marcella Kraybill-Greggo and Henry Schoenfield. All chants and texts were credited above and used with permission from the authors.
A special note of thanks to our founding teacher, Cynthia Bourgeault, whose teachings and writings have inspired so many across the globe in reclaiming the Mystical heart of the Wisdom Path.