A Quiet Mind
Sunday 23rd August 2026, led by Penelope Turton
Norfolk garden, by Penelope Turton
Gathering
We start with a short stilling exercise.
Let us be still, slow and deepen our breathing, consciously relaxing our shoulders and loosening any points of tension in our body. And in the muscles of our face. Feeling the solid ground beneath our feet, imagine releasing our mental burdens out of our body and down into the earth, allowing the earth to compost our worries. Bringing our attention back to our surroundings, let us attune ourselves to the sounds and movement of the animal and plant beings all around us, reflecting how they do not hurry, yet everything is accomplished. Let us meet them in the space where the grounded-ness of the earth and the openness of the sky come together.
We will take a short pause before and after each reading.
Reading
A quiet mind is one which nothing weighs on and which, free from ties and from all self-seeking, is wholly merged into the will of God. To be full of things is to be empty of God; to be empty of things is to be full of God.
Meister Eckhart, c. 1260-1328
Prayer
We give thanks Oh God,
for all green spaces where life can flourish,
for this time of coming together,
and for the mysterious ways in which the truth of our senses and the wisdom of the soul
become one.
Reading
I go among trees and sit still.
All my stirring becomes quiet
around me like circles on water.
My tasks lie in their places
where I left them, asleep like cattle.
Then what I am afraid of comes.
I live for a while in its sight.
What I fear in it leaves it,
and the fear of it leaves me.
It sings, and I hear its song.
Wendell Berry
Individual contemplative time (15 minutes)
We now have 15 minutes for silent contemplation in the garden or, for those online, a space where you feel you can connect with the nature around you.
Regathering
A time to share any experiences we have had in our time of contemplation
Concluding readings
It doesn’t matter if you sit at home and stare at the ants on your veranda
or the shadows of the trees and grasses in your garden.
It matters that you care.
It matters that you feel.
It matters that you notice.
It matters that life lives through you.
Let life live through you.
Excerpt from ‘Hokusai Says’ by Roger Keys
I dream of a quiet man
who explains nothing
and defends nothing, but only knows
where the rarest wildflowers
are blooming, and who goes,
and finds that he is smiling
not by his own will.
Thomas Merton
Closing Prayer
May our prayers be in the service of connecting us with God and with the great web of life and may their expression be our way of being in the world.
Amen.
Upcoming Eco-Contemplative Liturgies
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