PREFACE TO MEMBRANES OF MYSTERY “A COSMIC BOOK OF HOURS”
Throughout the ages the entire planetary community, both human and otherkind, have responded to the mystical moments of dawn and dusk when the numinous dimension of the universe opens up and reveals itself with special intimacy.
We can feel the great shifts at these two hinge moments of the day, as the veil within the sanctuary of the cosmic temple lifts, and a heightened sense of Presence is experienced within the Earth Community.
Membranes of Mystery: A Cosmic Book of Hours is a book that invites the reader to step over the threshold of these two sacred moments of dawn and dusk and join with the entire planetary community in the celebration of Being. In reading Membranes of Mystery: a Book of Hours there is a rhythmic sense of expansion and contraction, activism and reflection and a heightened awareness that we live within these great circular gestures of Earth’s dynamics.
Membranes of Mystery: A Cosmic Book of Hours is a cosmic psalter for those living and working in the monastery that is the Earth itself. It draws upon the brilliance and gift of the monastic traditions of the planet which for ages have organized the day around the rhythms of Earth’s turning. These traditions have given voice to the human experience in an ongoing chorus of praise and celebration through the Liturgy of the Hours.
Membranes of Mystery: A Cosmic Book of Hours invites us to become aware of ourselves as the very dimensions of the planet of which we are a part. We are integral with Earth and ourselves that “Book of Hours.” When our own rhythms and flow are in sync with Earth’s hours then a natural activism arises which is sane, steady and balanced. Our work in the world is energized and fueled by the depth we cultivate at the hinge moments of dawn and dusk. In keeping with this rhythm our activism becomes trustworthy. There is no burn out or over-exaggeration of ourselves at the “One doing the work.”
Membranes of Mystery: A Cosmic Book of Hours celebrates life, beauty, wonder and belonging within Earth’s 4.5 billion year fidelity to its cyclical rotation. Within this faithful turning of the planet, dawn and dusk, seasons and cycles have made their debut with accuracy and precision.
Yet, within the larger dynamics of the cosmos another rhythm that is not cyclical but developmental has been simultaneously unfolding, and it is this dynamic that we also need to celebrate. While the steady pulse of dawn and dusk has kept beat over the ages other wild rhythms have emerged under this steady beat.
Hold the pulse of dawn and dusk and hear beneath it the birth of the oceans, the emergence of single cells, the first molecule capturing sunlight, the creation of a backbone, the first feet to walk on land, the coming of the flowers, dinosaurs roaming,
the emergence of the human, the discovery of fire, the sprouting of seeds…………
Membranes of Mystery: A Cosmic Book of Hours unfolds within these larger dynamics of cosmogenesis where time is not contained within a 24 hour cycle but set free without constraints.
To this end, Membranes of Mystery: A Cosmic Book of Hours is itself a book at the threshold. It lies between the steady cycles of Earth’s turning and the wild unfolding dynamics of the universe moving towards its numinous destiny.
Gail Worcelo, sgm
November 29, 2007