Brother Richard

And I would have shown those that I love that I truly love them

How can I ensure that I am ready to go knowing that I have brought my gifts to the earth and have shared them with those in need?

How can I be sure that I am ready to go when I am not clinging to all that I think of as my own?

recognizing that I will leave everything behind me, that there is nothing that I currently think of as mine that will travel with me other than the compassion and the love that I have generated in this world.

at the very end of his life, his last words, the words we Franciscans commemorate every year as we celebrate his passing.

St.

Francis said simply, welcome my sister death.

As we meditate on these words,

Let us pray that day by day, moment by moment, we will enter into ever greater realms of freedom, ever deeper realms of love, ever deeper compassion, so that when our time comes, we too may be able to say, welcome, Sister Death.

Breathing in, I remember the first breath.

Breathing out, I know that one day an out-breath will be my last.

Breathing in, I choose to live life as fully and deeply as possible.

Breathing out, I choose to leave love and compassion behind me.

Gently then, aware of the life within us,

aware of the gift we have received, aware of the gift that we can still share with one another.

We begin to move our fingers and our toes.

We stretch a little, and we allow the sound of the bell to draw us into the rest of the day.

Thank you.

Welcome back.

In today's meditation, we're going to continue to look at the way in which the meditative tradition describes the different parts of the soul, that essential part of ourselves.