From ucsb.edu:
A Reading for the Day, by Stephen Travis Pope
Gratitude, Service, and Responsibility
The oft-repeated Zen Buddhist Gestalt Prayer calls us to live with an attitude of "infinite gratitude for all that is past, infinite service to all that is present, and infinite responsibility for all that is future." The prayer continues with the oft-forgotten statement, "we focus now on the creation of all that is."
There seem to be many parallels in modern Quaker thought to these sentiments. The notion of fostering a feeling of gratitude, service and responsibility is certainly not foreign to us. Innumerable prayers focus on thanksgiving, and then on instilling in us some feeling of stewardship for our surroundings. The "infinite responsibility for all that is future" is a bit more abstract to many of us, and also sounds more demanding. The focus seems to be on being in the present where you are, but being ever-mindful of both the past and the future; in this sense, it reflects a major component of most other disciplines of the contemplative life.
Lastly, the idea that we create the situations in which we find ourselves, that we should even bother to think in terms such as "we focus now on the creation of all that is" would be quite foreign to many Christians, but very familiar to Quakers. We are already called on to be patterns and examples in how we live our lives, and this enables us to serve as the creators of our surroundings. To the extent that we do indeed respond to that of God in all of creation that we encounter, we call forth the best elements of creation, and thus we can create a better world.
A Reading for the Day, by Stephen Travis Pope
Gratitude, Service, and Responsibility
The oft-repeated Zen Buddhist Gestalt Prayer calls us to live with an attitude of "infinite gratitude for all that is past, infinite service to all that is present, and infinite responsibility for all that is future." The prayer continues with the oft-forgotten statement, "we focus now on the creation of all that is."
There seem to be many parallels in modern Quaker thought to these sentiments. The notion of fostering a feeling of gratitude, service and responsibility is certainly not foreign to us. Innumerable prayers focus on thanksgiving, and then on instilling in us some feeling of stewardship for our surroundings. The "infinite responsibility for all that is future" is a bit more abstract to many of us, and also sounds more demanding. The focus seems to be on being in the present where you are, but being ever-mindful of both the past and the future; in this sense, it reflects a major component of most other disciplines of the contemplative life.
Lastly, the idea that we create the situations in which we find ourselves, that we should even bother to think in terms such as "we focus now on the creation of all that is" would be quite foreign to many Christians, but very familiar to Quakers. We are already called on to be patterns and examples in how we live our lives, and this enables us to serve as the creators of our surroundings. To the extent that we do indeed respond to that of God in all of creation that we encounter, we call forth the best elements of creation, and thus we can create a better world.
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