A Mini Movement Chaplaincy Toolkit
This small pouch offers a portable and versatile kit for fostering contemplative moments on the go. Whether it is for yourself, another student or a group, we hope this pouch will be useful for you as part of your Movement Chaplaincy work.
Contents:
Electric tea light
3 stones
Wooden ornaments
QR code to this page
Optional:
Decorative cloth
Other items (feathers, shells, driftwood, etc.)
Here are a few rituals that make use of the items in this pouch:
Ritual 1: Gratitude
- Have participants be seated in a circle.
- Lay out decorative cloth if you have (or scarf, etc.)
- Place the electric candle in the centre.
- Ask people to reflect on three gratitudes. While they are reflecting, read the poem "Three Gratitudes" by Carrie Newcomer (external link)
- Ask participants to name a gratitude as they are willing and able. Place the 3 stones to represent them symbolically.
- Close with a minute of silence and a blessing, e.g.:
We are so grateful for this time,
to renew our spirit,
to share our trials,
to find new strength.
Ritual 2: Listening to Things Rather than Beings
- Have participants be seated in a circle.
- Lay out decorative cloth if you have (or scarf, etc.)
- Place the electric candle in the centre.
- Read opening poem by Birago Diop
"Listen more often
To things than to beings
The voice of the fire can be heard
Hear the voice of the water
Listen in the wind
To the sobbing bush.
It is the breath of the ancestors." - Select a wooden ornament: a leaf, an owl or a butterfly
- Read aloud (or ask participants to read) a short text or poem related to the ornaments
Butterfly: [From Judith Shaw:] "Butterfly, with its graceful emergence from chrysalis to butterfly, reminds you that transformation does not have to be difficult. As Butterfly flits about in its maiden flight without a thought to its old life, you too can trust the strength of your own new wings to carry you to a new way."
Owl: [From Maya Angelou:] "A bird does not sing because it has an answer, it sings because it has a song.”
Leaf: [by Norman T. Schlechter]
"Trees seem to speak on windy days.
Sometimes I think they say,
"Though shadows ever come round us.
We look up and away."
"We love the stars and the beaming sky;
We never look below;
We trust in heaven to send us rain
And sun enough to grow." - Allow participants time to contemplate the messages we can receive from nature. Play music, bird sounds, or remain in silence.
- Stand up and close with a walking meditation [from Thich Nhat Hanh]:
The mind can go in a thousand directions.
But on this beautiful path, I walk in peace.
With each step, a gentle wind blows.
With each step, a flower blooms.
Ritual 3: Praying
- Have participants be seated in a circle.
- Lay out decorative cloth if you have (or scarf, etc.)
- Place the electric candle in the centre.
- Read opening poem by Mary Oliver
It doesn't have to be
The blue iris, it could be
weeds in a vacant lot, or a few
small stones; just
pay attention, then patch
a few words together, and don't try
to make them elaborate, this isn't
a contest but a doorway
into thanks, and a silence in which
another voice may speak. - Allow participants time to pray in their own way. Play music (18 minutes meditative music) or sit in silence for a few minutes.
- Stand up and join hands. Say Amen together.
