In the Holy Quiet: Meditations by Richard S. Gilbert

By Richard S. Gilbert

Whether alone or in community, we often seek moments of peace to reflect on our lives. With reverent insight, author Richard Gilbert ponders special moments discovered in worship alone and with a congregation.

The first section of this book features personal meditations; the second presents meditations designed for congregational worship. From his Shirk Ethic to Saints, Sinners and Seekers, from It Isnt Fair - Life, That Is, to The Divine Is in the Details, from We Are All More Human Than Otherwise to Worthy of This Blind Chance, Gilbert reflects on the breadth and depth of human experience.

Gilberts meditations have been widely used in a variety of settings. In the Holy Quiet is a valuable resource for individuals and groups. These selections are offered to provide moments of calm in a hectic world.

• Language: English
• Publisher: iUniverse
• Release date: Apr 9, 2012
• ISBN: 9781475906561

Richard S. Gilbert

Richard S. Gilbert is the author of books of meditations, social justice and religious education. A retired minister, he holds degrees from St. Lawrence University, Meadville/Lombard Theological School, Starr King School for the Ministry and Colgate Rochester Crozer Divinity School. He lives with his wife Joyce in Rochester, NY, where they enjoy time with their three grandchildren.

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Copyright © 2012 by Richard S. Gilbert.

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ISBN: 978-1-4759-0655-4 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4759-0656-1 (ebk)

Printed in the United States of America

iUniverse rev. date: 03/28/2012

Contents

Preface

IN THE HOLY QUIET

We Are All More Human than Otherwise

The Brokenness of Creation

The Chalice of Our Being

Caress the Details, the Sacred Details

Wind Chimes at My Window

Life Is Always Unfinished Business

Given Our Best Endeavor, the Final Result Is Not with Us

A Tomb Is No Place to Stay

The Empty Chair

Worthy of This Blind Chance

Celebrate the Interval

Loneliness and Love

We Are, Therefore, We Love

The Courage of Patience

The Nourishing Dark

Thanks Be for These

Fancy and Fact

Creatures and Creators

Gentleness in Living

Guests of Existence

Overwhelmed by Being

God Is… . a Three-Letter Word

In Betweenness

To Savor the World or Save It

In Praise of Doubt

A Cry That Splits the Night

The Pear Trees

When Life Is Messy

Don’t Just Do Something—Stand There

Beatitudes for Earth Sunday

What Is Holy?

Letting Go over the Falls

The Shirk Ethic

The Poignancy of Living in These Days

It Isn’t Fair—Life, That Is

What We Share

OF THIS HOUR

In the Holy Quiet of This Hour

Saints, Sinners and Seekers

Entering This Community of the Spirit

A Time and a Place for Soul Stretching

At Homeness

We Meet on Holy Ground

On Facing the Inevitable

Prayer for the Hurried, the Undisciplined, and the Disorganized

For Those Who Have Reared Us

Partners in a Cosmic Dance

Embracing the Limits of Life

Be Done with the Day

Beacons of Brief Fire

Behold the Circle!

Human Being and Human Doing

On Spending Life

The Blessed Calm of Community

Deep, Deep, Deeper Go

Buffeted by Hard Winds

Caring Is a Calling

Centering

The Community of All Souls

The Courage to Be

The Cup of Beauty

Daring to Live

The Days Are So Full—a Mixed Blessing

The Earth Speaks

The Divine Is in the Details

Hard to Be Human

Enter into the Mystery

May We Enter This Hour

The Eternal Now

Faith in Existence

The Gift of Imperfection

The First Page of the Story

The Anonymous String

The Invisible Powers That Sustain Us

We Pass Each Other but Briefly

In the Holy Quiet of This Hour 2

AFTERWORD

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

To my mother, Hazel Gilbert, who pointed the path

To my wife, Joyce, who walks with me now

To our sons, Matthew and Douglas

and his wife, Kimi, who follow

To our grandchildren, Sam, Jack and Ellie,

who begin the journey

Preface

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Do you recall the old Mission Impossible TV series? The protagonist was given a small tape recorder which succinctly stated the group’s task, ending with the words: This is your mission, if you choose to accept it. The tape and the machine then disintegrated in smoke.

In some ways life in a 21st century technologically-driven democracy is mission impossible. To satisfy the demands of education and family, work and citizenship requires more than the 24-7-365 of which we hear. As a minister for over fifty years, I am aware of those demands, not only upon me, but also upon the people I have been called to serve. The age of overwhelming accurately describes living in our time.

This became particularly clear to me as a social activist, trying to respond to the myriad of issues thrust upon us uninvited. I kept looking for some guidance to focus mind and heart. Then I had occasion to meet Thich Nhat Hahn, a diminutive Buddhist monk, who was a peaceful presence in Vietnam during that war. We had dinner together with a group of activists at Cornell University. Experiencing his powerful but peaceful charisma, I turned to his first book of meditations The Miracle of Mindfulness. Here, he transforms the everyday of living into moments of intense spiritual revelation. That process became part of my calling.

Later, in a mid-career assessment program I found that writing was one of my passions, writing meditations for worship in particular. Instead of choosing from a rich variety of published prayers, I decided that the spoken meditation in my tradition fulfilled the function of the pastoral prayer in more traditional religious communities. I determined to turn my heart and hand to