![\"altar](\"https:\/\/cdn.vanderbilt.edu\/t2-my\/my-prd\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1109\/2020\/04\/altar.jpg\")
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As we explore what it means to be in community virtually, we’ve been meeting weekly on Mondays for a moment of poetry, song, and silence. Periodically, we’ll be sharing parts of those gatherings here, as a resource for you to center yourselves for 15 minutes wherever you are. Click on the links embedded below to read, listen, and hear the words from our modern day mystics.<\/p>\n
opening words & centering written by emilie m. townes\u00a0<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n gracious God,<\/p>\n \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0giver of light and hope<\/p>\n let your powerful work be revealed in us<\/p>\n \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0so that your glory might shine like the sun<\/p>\n \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0through us<\/p>\n so that we may be beacons of justice and mercy<\/p>\n \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0in the world<\/p>\n your love endures<\/p>\n hope<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n a reading:\u00a0<\/span>Life Goes On f<\/em>\u00a0rom<\/span>\u00a0<\/a>Meditations of the Heart<\/a>\u00a0\/ Howard Thurman<\/em><\/p>\n a song:\u00a0<\/span>We Are<\/em>\u00a0<\/a>\/ India Arie<\/span><\/p>\n joy<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n a reading:\u00a0<\/span>Once the World Was Perfect<\/a>\u00a0<\/em>\u00a0\/ Joy Harjo<\/span><\/p>\n restoration<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n a reading:\u00a0<\/span>Prodigal Objects<\/em>\u00a0<\/a>\/ Carolyn M. Rodgers<\/span><\/p>\n