posted Jul 23, 2009 1:34 PM by Rev Mary Francis
Dear Boston, Our community is in the midst of our semi-annual spiritual retreat. What a beautiful gift to give oneself, to take time in this busy season to direct one's attention inward to the matters of the soul and of love. When the soul is fed, all of life takes on deeper meaning and lightness and the beauty of our nature arises like the summer sun to bring life and growth to all we do and everyone we meet. Turn now and think on these things. Ask your soul what it wants from you and how it would order your life. The soul is the part closest to God and can shine your truest self into your life in a way that will surprise and delight you. Blessings as you grow and blossom! |
posted Jun 24, 2009 5:49 PM by Rev Mary Francis
How beautiful that God has given us a world with seasons and changes that are rhythmic and regular. Here we go into the sun of this outer season of activity. This time of year it is especially difficult to remain grounded and centered due to the level of activity and the length of the day. Starting the day with meditation and ending the day with prayer helps to keep tuned into the deeper aspects of ourselves. Our community is looking forward to camping and summer retreat. Even while we are traveling and enjoying our spiritual community, the key to inner peace is the intimate, personal relationship that demands our attention, even when life gets busy. Blessings on your summer. Enjoy the beauty of God's earth and the beauty of your soul! |
posted Mar 21, 2009 8:32 AM by Rev Mary Francis
With the spring comes new life, restored vitality and movement. I see the earth and people come alive again with a renewed spirit. This joyful rebirth is part of the natural cycle of the season and brings with it so much opportunity for growth. Hearts and minds turn toward the bright side of life and hope is alive in us. We even call youth the 'springtime of life'. What if we could keep this liveliness alive within us all year? What if the spirit that arises in spring is our spirit, hopeful that we will turn our attention toward reviving the things of life that bring us so real and lasting energy and joy? Hope 'springs' eternal! May it arise in your soul and guide your life. Blessings, Rev Mary Francis
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posted Jan 8, 2009 9:31 AM by Rev Mary Francis
People approach the New Year as a new beginning with resolutions and reflections on how to improve on life internally and externally. In reflecting on the year past, I find myself with a sense of satisfaction in my heart....gratitude for a year of peaceful living and life well-spent in service to God and humanity. As with any human, there are imperfections to be perfected and wounds to be healed, but there is also the sure knowledge that all things are possible when humans and God join together to make change. On the 20th a change will be happening for our country and our world. How might this change us internally, I wonder? Might Americans and earthlings alike find in themselves a renewed hope for real and lasting change in the direction of good and peaceful living? My heart is hopeful. I hold out hope for the human heart to be moved to accept the challenge of peace internally and externally...peace that comes from forgiveness and a healed heart and spreads to relating to our neighbors, to foreigners, even to our 'enemies' in a new way. As Ghandi said, 'Be the change you want to see in the world.' May I take some poetic license and say, 'Be the peace you want to see in the world.' Blessings on your being new! Rev Mary Francis |
posted Dec 27, 2008 5:12 PM by Rev Mary Francis
It's a few days since we celebrated the most holy day of Christmas here at the Center of Light. The culmination of the Season of Light brings with it the cultural let down of another season of consuming with less than the fulfillment of true love that everyone hopes for in this season. When I look back to the world at large after focusing on my family and spiritual community, I see all the same things....wars, economic strife, hurt and angry people, and on and on. How will it be different in this New Year? What can we resolve as a people that will bring more peace and light into the earth and help us to solve the many problems that humanity faces? I am dedicating myself to daily acts of peace in my relating and consciously remembering and carrying the spirit of the Christ-mass in each day of the new year. If a large number of people decided to become conscious and peaceful, there could be effected a wave of peace on the planet to overcome the darkness and negation of the masses that are hurting and hurtful. I continue to hold out hope for humanity...for a way of life that allows for the opportunity for all good things to come into manifestation in the earth. I support this hope with my prayers and my actions and I joyfully join with others of like mind and heart in doing so. Blessings upon you as you step forth into a New Year with hope and a commitment to peace. |
posted Nov 20, 2008 7:26 AM by Rev Mary Francis
Here we go into the winter seaon. Here we go into a time of rebirth and renewal. New year, new president, renewed hope. What is new, or what could be new, inside of each of us to make the renewed hope more likely to manifest? I hear people jumping to the future 'what if's' and I see that this is the time and the season for looking inside ourselves with the great 'What If?' This season calls us into a hibernation of sorts. Shorter days, colder weather, less outdoor activity. This is a season that is ideal for cuddling up with our own selves and gearing up internally to burst into newness as the Season of Light approaches. It seems in our culture that this is the least likely time of year to take some time for oneself to review the year and emerge renewed from the internal hibernation. Holidays, family gatherings, shopping and running ourselves ragged, we hardly have the chance to check in with our own hearts and minds about what is coming and what we need to do to prepare for it; to prepare for our own participation in it. We will all need our strength and our wits about us if we are to come into the new year and the changing political climate with the focus on a collective vision for the possibilities of our country, our world and our species. There is a force for good that lies at the center of every person. This is the season for coming into relationship with that force and letting it grow in our consciousness so that it is built to a bursting intensity to support the new growth of the new year. |
posted Oct 10, 2008 7:03 AM by Rev Mary Francis
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updated Oct 10, 2008 7:12 AM
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Dear Boston,
What's happening in our world? ....to our world? The environment, the economy, the election....these can weigh heavy on the mind and heart. I'm seeing signs of stress and strain on people around me from the realities of modern life and this particular time in history. People are telling me that they are afraid, that they are worried about how things are and how they're going to be. So, how is your heart doing? We all have hearts that can come together to support each other in these difficult times. The alternative is to separate and try to protect 'one's own'....one's own financial security, one's own family, one's own country....but I wonder what would happen if we brought our hearts together as humans, as earthlings, as sisters and brothers in a common dilemma. What I believe would happen is that the best would be brought out of each one. That people's hearts would move toward supporting and comforting one another and toward acts of generosity and kindness. We're on this starship earth together for a reason. It's time to rise up, my friends. I pray that you will feel strength in these times and that you will be moved to join with those around you to build on that strength. Changes are happening, the warning calls are out...may you find peace in joining your hearts together.
On a spiritual level, things are happening as well. Humanity is being called on to rise up spiritually to move toward goodness and light. There's a youtube video from my Teacher, Father Peter Bowes...check it out and let's start up a brand new day together. Go to www.youtube.com and search for Father Peter Bowes and The Planet is Sinking.
In Christ,
Rev Mary Francis |
posted Sep 27, 2008 7:58 AM by Rev Mary Francis
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updated Sep 27, 2008 11:09 AM
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I am struck this morning by how the seasons provide us with an external guide to follow in our internal life. The outward signs of fall are all around us; back to school, leaves changing color, apples ripening, sweaters and hot drinks. These things catch our attention, slow us down and move us out of the high activity of summer and into a more mellow and wholesome and cozzy place. If we take nature's example, we can begin to look inside of ourselves in an attempt to see the fruits of the harvest for this year. I feel the warm weight of autumn and the coming winter like a comforting blanket on my being and I thank God for slowing things down and bringing things up for review in my mind and heart. I hope you will take some time to reflect on your life, your strivings, your purpose, your heart. |
posted Sep 19, 2008 6:42 AM by Rev Mary Francis
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updated Sep 27, 2008 5:46 PM
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Hello, again, Boston,
My computer had a crash, so I was out of commission for a couple of weeks. I have been awaiting the time when I could tell you about our community open house that happened a few weeks ago. We opened our Center and beautiful gardens to our neighbors. We had a great time creating fliers and posting them all around the neighborhood and personally inviting people on the street to join us. Our whole community rallied to make it a fun, family event with children's games and facepainting, a yard sale, a barbeque and fruit smoothie sales as well as a tour of our Center. It was a busy and happy day for everyone. We met many neighbors and shared the joyful light of our spiritual community with all who arrived at our door. Some people enjoyed the Mary shrine in our garden and sat on the bench in front of the Mother Mary statue in quiet meditation. Some purchased fresh produce from our community garden, while others found treasures at our yardsale tables. We have made some new friends and some have even chosen to join us for our classes, seminars and Sunday services. You are also our neighbor and we extend an invitation to you to visit us for a tour and a cup of tea. I hope to meet and greet you very soon. Blessings, Rev Mary Francis
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posted Aug 18, 2008 4:46 PM by Rev Mary Francis
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updated Aug 18, 2008 5:12 PM
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Hello, Boston!
Welcome to our fresh new website! Isn't it beautiful? I hope you enjoy the journey through these pages that introduce you to our spiritual center. I'm so happy to have you checking us out....and happier yet to have this forum through which to reach out to you. My name is Reverend Mary Francis Drake. I am one of three Priests serving at the Boston Center of Light in Jamaica Plain. The Center of Light is a spiritual community that offers classes and services in the Mystical Christian tradition. You'll get the flavor of our Center and offerings from looking around the site, but I'd like to give you an insiders view in this blog.
From the inside out, people come to the Center of Light seeking something of a spiritual nature...something for their soul. Many people don't have a clear understanding of what is calling them to seek out a spiritual environment or spiritual life. What I know is that the soul has a plan of its own...whether it is convenient to the rest of our lives or not! At present, we have a small but thriving community of people from varying religious and/or spiritual backgrounds, each drawn to come into closer relationship with their Creator and their own heart.
When I talk to people about spiritual matters, most have a heart that longs for more love, more acceptance, more compassion and more understanding of life's purpose. I wonder if that describes your heart? If so, I am happy to say that you have arrived at a spiritual school that can help you fulfill your heart's desire. Learning about love from God's perspective is a joyful and simple path and I invite you to step out on it and experience it for yourselves.
Mysticism is a spiritual practice based in a personal and intimate experience of God...of the Divine...inside your own being. Does that sound mystical? Of course it does....that's why it's called mysticism...you have to feel it to believe it! Once you do have an experience of the divine love that is both the source and the center of your being, you will be hooked. This is the only obsession that will satisfy you through and through.
I'm charged with blogging each week and I look forward to sharing my thoughts and musings with you about the beauty of God's creation, the joy of the devotional life, and the peace that comes in knowing God is Good all of the time.
Peace to you,
Rev Mary Francis |
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