Brother Richard

Breathing in and breathing out.

Breathing in and breathing out.

And gently then begin to draw your attention back to the connection between your feet, your legs, the floor.

Begin to feel the chair beneath you, the cushion under you, and take a moment to make the intention to bring the peace of this meditation with you into every encounter, into every action.

Begin to move your fingers and your toes,

to perhaps stretch a little, and then allow the sound of the bell to draw you back to the activity of the day.

Thank you.

Welcome back.

In today's meditation, we complete our journey through the great canticle of the creatures of St.

Francis.

Over the last number of times when we have encountered this great meditative poem, we have united with him in singing the praises of creation and recognizing the divine presence that flows through created reality.

We have sung of brother sun and sister moon and stars.

We have greeted the elements of earth, air, fire, and water.

We have spoken about the importance of love and compassion.

And now, as the canticle draws to a close, we meet the one Francis calls Sister Death.

So let's begin.

Entering this time of meditation, we enter as consciously as we can the present moment.

We come to it through the breath.

We come to it by anchoring ourselves in the sensory awareness of our space, the floor beneath us, the chair supporting us.

the rise and fall of the breath within us.