IN PREPARATION
by Rev. Danette Kong
We cannot prepare for what lies ahead without fully encountering our very selves. Who are we to light our candles, to meditate, to pray, and stand for justice and peace, without taking into full account the condition of our own inner being?
None of us is able to come to this sacred act of prayer and meditation with a completely clean heart, for each of us holds knowledge of our failures and incompleteness. But let us approach these 40 days, offering our hearts in humility and love.
Thank you for bringing yourself to this effort, along with your hope, your talent, your joys, your dreams and accomplishments — and yes, even your broken spirit, your overblown ego, and judgmentalism. Bring your whole self, and find healing in your interaction with the Divine.
As you read these words by Hindu poet and philosopher, Rabindranath Tagore, recognize that it is not your place of worship that matters, or even the ritual you ascribe to, but the condition of your heart. Read his words as you anticipate our 40 days of prayer and meditation. How are you preparing your heart?
“Go not to the temple to put flowers upon the feet of God, first fill your own house with the fragrance of love. Go not to the temple to light candles before the altar of God, first remove the darkness of sin from your heart. Go not to the temple to bow down your head in prayer, first learn to bow in humility before your fellow men. Go not to the temple to pray on bended knees, first bend down to lift someone who is down trodden. Go not to the temple to ask for forgiveness for your sins, first forgive from your heart those who have sinned against you.”
— by Rabindranath Tagore, of Calcutta, India (1861–1941). He was the first lyricist, as well as the first non-European to be awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature, in 1914.
Danette Kong, retired hospital chaplain and ordained clergy with the United Church of Christ, is a member of Hui Aloha ʻO Maui Indivisible, and reads her meditation in the attached video.
