Weekly Thursday Noon Prayers – 18th June 2020

Cornwall Faith Forum sends courage, love and strength to everyone in Cornwall.

We are now able to go back to our Peace Field at Penmount with a maximum of 6 people and we will therefore be meeting for Thursday Noon Prayers on the fourth Thursday of each month.

We will therefore be meeting at Penmount on Thursday 25th June at 12:00 noon and Thursday 23rd July at 12:00 noon. Can you please email Rita on [email protected] if you would like to come.

On Thursday 2nd July at 12:00 noon, there will a Prayer Zoom Meeting at 12:00. Please email Rita on [email protected] if you would like to join in with the Zoom meeting.

Eve kindly sent us a Summer Solstice Prayer (21st June: this Sunday) from the Druid tradition:

The Summer Solstice approaches, the longest day of the year. At the Summer Solstice the Sun is at the zenith of his power. This a time of celebrating abundance and fertility in all things, as we look around us at the world clad in all her summer glory. This time is known in the Druid tradition as Alban Hefin – the Light of the Shore or the Light of Summer.

 

A closing Summer Solstice prayer from the Druid tradition:

May the Light of the inner sun shine on our paths.

May the sun that is the source of all life bless us and our families, our people and our Land.

Let light flow forth from this time and place to every radiant, hoping heart, and to all the lands and peoples of the Earth, her lakes, rivers and seas, her mountains and her caves, her deserts and her forests.

May all beings on Earth be strengthened by this Light.

We give thanks to the sun for its blessing of Light and Life.

 

Lucy kindly sent us the following prayer from Richard Rohr, a Franciscan monk who lives in the USA:

O Great Love, thank you for living and loving in us and through us.

May all that we do flow from our deep connection with you and all beings.

Help us become a community that vulnerably shares each other’s burdens and the weight of glory.

Listen to our hearts’ longings for the healing of our world.

[Please add your own intentions.] . . .

Knowing you are hearing us better than we are speaking, we offer these prayers in all the holy names of God, amen.”

Weekly Thursday Noon Prayers – 10th June 2020

Cornwall Faith Forum is very saddened about the building up of intolerance around us and are sending our thoughts and love to everyone who has seen injustice related to faith, race, colour and sexual orientation.


We would like to return to the Act of Commitment made by all Faith Communities in the UK in the Houses of Parliament on 3rd of January 2000 organised by the Inter-Faith Network.

 

ACT OF COMMITMENT

A shared act of reflection and commitment by the faith communities of the UK

In a world scarred by the evils of war,

racism, injustice and poverty,

we offer this joint Act of Commitment as we

look to our shared future.

 

We commit ourselves,
as people
to work together
for the common good,
uniting to build a better society,
grounded in values and ideals we share:

community,
personal integrity,
a sense of right and wrong,
learning, wisdom and love of truth,
care and compassion,
justice and peace,
respect for one another,
for the earth and its creatures.

We commit ourselves,
in a spirit of friendship and co-operation,
to work together
alongside all who share our values and ideals,
to help bring about a better world
now and for generations to come.

 

We would also like to include the prayer below in our Thursday Noon Prayers:

To the home of peace

to the field of love the land where forgiveness and right relationship meet

we look, O God,

with longing for earth’s children

with hearts breaking for the nations and people we love.

Open us to visions we have never known

strengthen us for self-givings we have never made

delight us with a oneness could never have imagined

that we may truly be born of You

maker of peace.

Amen

(John Philip Newell. Praying with the Earth. 2011)

#Black Lives Matter

The Cornwall Faith Forum is very saddened about the building up of intolerance around us and our thoughts are with everyone in America and the rest of the world where we see injustice related to faith, race, colour and sexual orientation.

The current Coronavirus crises fuels the fear of the visitor, stranger and names big groups of people as other.  It is very important at present that we stand strong together as members of the one human race.

Some of our recent prayers:

“Darkness cannot drive out darkness: only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate, only love can do that”.  Martin Luther King

“We must cry out against injustice or by our silence consent to it. If we keep silent, the very stones of the street will cry out”. Dorothy Day

“If we are to have peace on earth …. our loyalties must transcend our race, our tribe, our class, and our nation, and this means we must develop a world perspective”.  Martin Luther King

 

Prayers from Corrymeela

God of righteous anger,
God of rippling peace:
somewhere, far from sight,
the tempestuous sea and
this quiet bay connect
in one great body of water,
linked to rivers and streams
that extend a backward reach
to headwaters far beyond our shore.
May we on this earth, separated
by vastly different experiences,
kept apart by distance and
the barriers we make,
be united by your spirit,
that the pain of one
might be borne by all
through the channels of your peace.
Amen.

 

God of law,
God of order:
sometimes there are no words
for the vanity on display.
Remind us that when we use your name
for loveless purposes that divide,
we speak a clanging noise
and your voice cannot be heard.
Amen.

 

International Peace Prayer

Lead me from death to life,  from falsehood to truth.

Lead me from despair to hope, from fear to trust.

Lead me from hate to love, from war to peace.

Let peace fill our heart, our world, our universe.

Peace.  Peace.  Peace.

Weekly Thursday Noon Prayers – 4th June 2020

At our Cornwall Faith Forum projects meeting last week, we discussed to do a monthly virtual “Thursday Noon Readings and Prayers” on the first Thursday of each month.

This Thursday will be the first one and will be a trial. Please email Rita on [email protected] if you would like to join the Zoom meeting.

Sophie has kindly offered a Buddhist prayer for this week (see below) – we will also read prayers offered by Oulfat and Qudsia for Eid and we will finish with the UN peace prayer. There will be time to send love and strength to anyone who needs it.

May I be a guard for those who need protection,

A guide for those on the path,
A boat, a raft, a bridge for those who wish to cross the flood.
May I be a lamp in the darkness,
A resting place for the weary,
A healing medicine for all who are sick
A vase of plenty, a tree of miracles.
And for the boundless multitudes of living beings
May I bring sustenance and awakening,
Enduring like the earth and sky
Until all beings are freed from sorrow
And all are awakened.

Shantideva, C8th

*performed daily by the Dalai Lama

 

As long as space endures,
as long as sentient being remain,
until then, may I too remain
and dispel the miseries of the world.

 
From The Way of the Bodhisattva, Shantideva 8th C

 

Weekly Thursday Noon Prayers – 28th May 2020

Cornwall Faith Forum sends love, peace and strength to everyone in Cornwall.

Eid Mubarak (Eid Greetings) for everyone who has celebrating Eid at home over the last few days.

The following message was kindly sent to us by Cornwall Faith Forum’s friend, Muna.

“We are delighted to offer our ‘Eid-u-Fitr’ greetings to our friends in our interfaith group.  “Eid Mubark”.  Peace and happiness be on everyone.

As you would probably know that we have just completed ‘Rmadhan’, the month of fasting. Now, with sighting the new moon we are celebrating Eid on Sunday. This year it has been a real challenge for all Muslims due to Corona virus lockdown to maintain religious rituals properly.  Daily prayers at the mosque weren’t possible.  However, in our Ahmadiyya community, we have been blessed to have number of activities for men women and children to participate via the internet.  With the Grace of Almighty God, even while keeping our fasts, as a community, we have managed to do a lot of charitable work for NHS and within our neighbourhood.

At the end of fasting month, we are now celebrating Eid within our own homes.  We hope and pray that this pandemic draws to a close, so that we could meet again then share special Eid sweets all of you.”

With prayers and best wishes

Mamoona  Ahmad

(On behalf of Ahmadiyya Muslim group)

Weekly Thursday Noon Prayers – 21st May 2020

Cornwall Faith Forum sends love, determination and steadfastness to everyone in Cornwall. This week, we have a Baha’i prayer for steadfastness, kindly sent to us by Philomena.

Baha’i prayers for Steadfastness

O Lord my God! Assist Thy loved ones to be firm in Thy Faith, to walk in Thy ways, to be steadfast in Thy Cause. Give them Thy grace to withstand the onslaught of self and passion, to follow the light of divine guidance. Thou art the Powerful, the Gracious, the Self-Subsisting, the Bestower, the Compassionate, the Almighty, the All-Bountiful.                 ‘Abdu’l-Bahá

 

Make firm our steps, O Lord, in Thy path and strengthen Thou our hearts in Thine obedience. Turn our faces toward the beauty of Thy oneness, and gladden our bosoms with the signs of Thy divine unity.

Reveal then Thyself, O Lord, by Thy merciful utterance and the mystery of Thy divine being, that the holy ecstasy of prayer may fill our souls—a prayer that shall rise above words and letters and transcend the murmur of syllables and sounds—that all things may be merged into nothingness before the revelation of Thy splendor.

Lord! These are servants that have remained fast and firm in Thy Covenant and Thy Testament, that have held fast unto the cord of constancy in Thy Cause and clung unto the hem of the robe of Thy grandeur. Assist them, O Lord, with Thy grace, confirm them with Thy power and strengthen their loins in obedience to Thee.

Thou art the Pardoner, the Gracious.          ‘Abdu’l-Bahá

Weekly Thursday Noon Prayers – 14th May 2020

Cornwall Faith Forum sends love, peace and strength to everyone in Cornwall.

We have a Hindu prayer and a reading this week.  This prayer is a protective prayer, kindly sent to us by Jyoti.

Paritraanaaya saadhoonaam
vinaashaayacha-dushkritaam
dharma-samstaapnaarthaaya
sambhavaami yuge yuge

Meaning:

For the protection of the good, for the destruction of the wicked and for the firm establishment of righteousness, I am born in every age.

 

Ria has kindly sent us the following reading with a focus on caring for our environment:

Caring for the Creation

The Veda, like other holy books, advise us to look after the resources of nature. They recommend ahimsa (non-violence) and warn us of the consequences of wastage, pollution and cutting down forests. The Earth belongs to God and can provide abundantly for everyone. Mahatma Gandhi said: “There is enough for everyone’s need, but not for greed”.

As humans, therefore, we can enjoy nature’s gifts, given for our health and happiness. We can also thank God, and those dear to him, through worship, celebration and giving in charity. By serving the Supreme, we will naturally serve our brother and sisters.

People around the world are already working hard to help fellow humans and to protect endangered wildlife. If we all co-operate with a spirit of service of god, and to all creatures, then just imagine how peaceful and prosperous this world would be – just like Goloka or Vaikuntha!

We have now finished our journey. We hope you have enjoyed it. When next you notice the stars twinkling in the night sky, or wonder about life’s important questions, please remember the stories you have heard today. May you become wise and joyful in the long journey ahead.

Weekly Thursday Noon Time Prayers – 7th May 2020

This week we have a Christian reflection on peace kindly written by Kathy Pope from the Christian Faith Community.

Jesus came and stood among them and said to them, ‘Peace be with you’ and after saying this he showed them his hands and his side. The disciples rejoiced at seeing the Lord, and he said to them again ‘Peace be with you’. (Jn 20:20-21)

Today we have many reminders of violence, its terrible, long lasting and traumatic impact. Violence is such an indictment of our failure to resolve conflict constructively and peaceably. So on Victory in Europe day of course we are thankful for the cessation of one conflict and the release of people from dictatorship. However we also remember those, mostly women, who suffered from an increase in domestic violence at the end of the second world war when the troops returned. We pray as well for all victims of the many terrible wars since then and those still caught up in conflicts today; we think especially of people in Syria, the Holy Land and Yemen.

We give thanks too for the courage and inspiration of conscientious objectors and for all peacemakers. As Christians we celebrate the victory of Jesus, a victory of justice and lasting peace. Peace be with us all as we pray…

Prayer

To the home of peace, to the field of love,
To the land where forgiveness and right relationship meet, we look O God,
With longing for earth’s children
With compassion for the creatures
With hearts breaking for the nations and the people we love.
Open us to visions we have never known
Strengthen us for self-givings we have never made
Delight us with a oneness we could never have imagined
That we may truly be born of You as makers of peace. Amen.
(Newell 2011)

The Baha’is celebrate Ridvan Holy Day with the Cornwall Faith Forum – April 2020

Baha’i’s celebrate eleven Holy Days each year and three of them fall within the current  Ridvan period of about two weeks. It is regarded by Baha’is as the Holiest period in the Calendar. The Divine Springtime.

The first of the three Holy Days commemorate Baha’u’llah declaring His Mission in the beautiful Garden of Ridvan  along the river Tigris near modern day Baghdad . He had been banished there from Persia, the land of His Birth.  The last Holy Day of the Ridvan period  is to mark a further exile of the Holy family to Constantinople in modern day Turkey; preceding by a few  years Baha’u’llah’s final expulsion, to the Prison city of Acca, in the Holy Land, where He remained a prisoner until the fall of the Ottoman Empire.

Once free Baha’u’llah planted His tent on Mount Carmel and this is where Baha’is  travel for Pilgrimage today .

Ridvan represents a joyful time of renewal and last year at Café Chaos, the Baha’i Community were delighted to celebrate Ridvan with friends of all Faiths and none with the Cornwall Faith Forum . As well as prayers and readings ,  music resounded and a beautiful ‘ carpet’ was made from real petals.

Café Chaos in Truro and a partner of the CFF kindly provided the venue and  the flower carpet was displayed there until they inevitably faded!

We are a small Baha’i group in Cornwall and we were, like so many people , disappointed that due to the Lockdown ,we were not able to share this special time in the Baha’i year with each other and,  importantly to us,  with  our CFF friends. But,  as always within our inter faith group,  goodwill and unity prevailed and CFF friends sent in kind wishes and some  friends were able to join the Baha’is in a Zoom link up where we shared prayers; an historical account  of the Holy Day, music and finally personal reflections of this time.

Update on Thursday Noon Day Prayers held during Pandemic

Update on Thursday Noon Day Prayers

Just as the Lockdown was beginning , our Project worker Rita came up with the idea of Thursday noon day prayers where one or two of us from all of the Faiths and Beliefs represented under the umbrella of the Cornwall Faith Forum (CFF)could meet in the Penmount Field . Each week a different Faith Group would present a Prayer or Reading from their Holy Writings and  Traditions to express solidarity and relief from distress with our world wide family who are suffering – regardless of Faith, Ethnicity or   Gender,  in the current C-19 pandemic .

There were not to be many meetings in the Field due to Lockdown  but perhaps , it has triggered a wider solidarity  as friends say prayers    wherever they are. One CFF member has begun saying prayers via  Wattsapp video link  on Thursday at noon with friends as far afield as  Brittany. We have also received warm wishes towards this regular event from a CFF friend in New Zealand .

In spite of the Lockdown , we can say our Cornwall Faith Forum activities are now reaching the international stage !

If you would like to have a prayer read please let Rita know [email protected]