Appendix I - Suggested meditations

I encourage you to make use of these occasionally in your meditations.

A Litany of Peace

• Josephus Pugh

“The harvest of justice is sown in peace,

by those who cultivate peace.”

A heart filled with peace can do much good,

a heart filled with strife can do little.

Seek after peace.

Strife is an external obstacle to peace,

Pain is an internal one,

yet a person may have peace with both.

Avoid fighting when one should submit,

as well as submitting when one should fight,

when unsure, peace is yet within reach.

Perhaps there is a God,

then all things are in divine hands.

Rest in this peace.

Perhaps there is no God,

then no pain shall last.

Rest in that peace.

Anger, shame and grief are painful.

Each tells a different tale.

The tale of grief is less untrue.

If you are angry at another,

perhaps your anger is just,

yet whom does it profit?

That one is angry at someone else,

Someone is angry with you.

The wave travels everywhere but never lingers.

Psalm 8 (Good News Translation)

1O LORD, our Lord,

your greatness is seen in all the world!

Your praise reaches up to the heavens;

2 it is sung by children and babies.

You are safe and secure from all your enemies;

you stop anyone who opposes you.

3When I look at the sky, which you have made,

at the moon and the stars, which you set in their places—

4 what are human beings, that you think of them;

mere mortals, that you care for them?

5 Yet you made them inferior only to yourself;+

you crowned them with glory and honor.

6 You appointed them rulers over everything you made;

you placed them over all creation:

7sheep and cattle, and the wild animals too;

8the birds and the fish

and the creatures in the seas.

9O LORD, our Lord,

your greatness is seen in all the world!

Psalm 104 (Good News Translation)

1Praise the LORD, my soul!

O LORD, my God, how great you are!

You are clothed with majesty and glory;

2you cover yourself with light.

You have spread out the heavens like a tent

3and built your home on the waters above.+

You use the clouds as your chariot

and ride on the wings of the wind.

4 You use the winds as your messengers

and flashes of lightning as your servants.

5You have set the earth firmly on its foundations,

and it will never be moved.

6You placed the ocean over it like a robe,

and the water covered the mountains.

7When you rebuked the waters, they fled;

they rushed away when they heard your shout of command.

8They flowed over the mountains and into the valleys,

to the place you had made for them.

9You set a boundary they can never pass,

to keep them from covering the earth again.

10You make springs flow in the valleys,

and rivers run between the hills.

11They provide water for the wild animals;

there the wild donkeys quench their thirst.

12In the trees near by,

the birds make their nests and sing.

13From the sky you send rain on the hills,

and the earth is filled with your blessings.

14You make grass grow for the cattle

and plants for us to use,

so that we can grow our crops

15and produce wine to make us happy,

olive oil to make us cheerful,

and bread to give us strength.

16The cedars of Lebanon get plenty of rain—

the LORD's own trees, which he planted.

17There the birds build their nests;

the storks nest in the fir trees.

18The wild goats live in the high mountains,

and the rock badgers hide in the cliffs.

19You created the moon to mark the months;

the sun knows the time to set.

20You made the night, and in the darkness

all the wild animals come out.

21The young lions roar while they hunt,

looking for the food that God provides.

22When the sun rises, they go back

and lie down in their dens.

23Then people go out to do their work

and keep working until evening.

24LORD, you have made so many things!

How wisely you made them all!

The earth is filled with your creatures.

25There is the ocean, large and wide,

where countless creatures live,

large and small alike.

26 The ships sail on it, and in it plays Leviathan,

that sea monster which you made.+

27All of them depend on you

to give them food when they need it.

28You give it to them, and they eat it;

you provide food, and they are satisfied.

29When you turn away, they are afraid;

when you take away your breath, they die

and go back to the dust from which they came.

30But when you give them breath,+ they are created;

you give new life to the earth.

31May the glory of the LORD last forever!

May the LORD be happy with what he has made!

32He looks at the earth, and it trembles;

he touches the mountains, and they pour out smoke.

33I will sing to the LORD all my life;

as long as I live I will sing praises to my God.

34May he be pleased with my song,

for my gladness comes from him.

35May sinners be destroyed from the earth;

may the wicked be no more.

Praise the LORD, my soul!

Praise the LORD!

When

• Josephus Pugh

When you hurt another person,

You encourage others to do the same.

When you speak ill of someone,

You encourage others to do the same.

When you interrupt someone,

You encourage others to do the same.

When you cut in front of someone,

You encourage others to do the same.

When you boast about playing the system,

You encourage others to do the same.

When you laugh at another’s weaknesses,

You encourage others to do the same.

When you bully someone,

You encourage others to do the same.

When you mock a minority member,

You encourage others to do the same.

When you demean an opponent,

You encourage others to do the same.

When you berate a crying child,

You encourage others to do the same.

When you throw a stone at a stray animal,

You encourage others to do the same.

When you help another person,

You encourage others to do the same.

When you speak well of someone,

You encourage others to do the same.

When you listen with patience,

You encourage others to do the same.

When you let someone go ahead of you,

You encourage others to do the same.

When you mention respecting the system,

You encourage others to do the same.

When you show consideration for another’s weaknesses,

You encourage others to do the same.

When you protect someone,

You encourage others to do the same.

When you respect a minority member,

You encourage others to do the same.

When you honor an opponent,

You encourage others to do the same.

When you comfort a crying child,

You encourage others to do the same.

When you give food to a stray animal,

You encourage others to do the same.

Desiderata

• By Max Ehrmann

Go placidly amid the noise and the haste,
and remember what peace there may be in silence.

As far as possible, without surrender,
be on good terms with all persons.
Speak your truth quietly and clearly;
and listen to others,
even to the dull and the ignorant;
they too have their story.

Avoid loud and aggressive persons;
they are vexatious to the spirit.

If you compare yourself with others,
you may become vain or bitter,
for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself.
Enjoy your achievements as well as your plans.
Keep interested in your own career, however humble;
it is a real possession in the changing fortunes of time.

Exercise caution in your business affairs,
for the world is full of trickery.
But let this not blind you to what virtue there is;
many persons strive for high ideals,
and everywhere life is full of heroism.
Be yourself. Especially do not feign affection.
Neither be cynical about love,
for in the face of all aridity and disenchantment,
it is as perennial as the grass.

Take kindly the counsel of the years,
gracefully surrendering the things of youth.
Nurture strength of spirit to shield you in sudden misfortune.
But do not distress yourself with dark imaginings.
Many fears are born of fatigue and loneliness.

Beyond a wholesome discipline,
be gentle with yourself.
You are a child of the universe
no less than the trees and the stars;
you have a right to be here.
And whether or not it is clear to you,
no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should.

Therefore be at peace with God,
whatever you conceive Him to be.
And whatever your labors and aspirations,
in the noisy confusion of life,
keep peace in your soul.

With all its sham, drudgery, and broken dreams,
it is still a beautiful world.
Be cheerful. Strive to be happy.

Published in 1927. Public Domain as per https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Desiderata