January 2019 WATERritual

“A Cup of Blessings for the New Year”

By Diann L. Neu and the WATER Staff

Our lives can be viewed as three cups. At times we are empty, waiting to receive. Other days we are filling with possibilities. Another year we are overflowing.

Choose your favorite cup. Put it in a special place. Be ready to fill it with a drink you enjoy: water, tea, cappuccino, wine, juice, coffee, hot chocolate, or another beverage. Invite a friend or several to join you, if you wish. Sit in silence, or play music.

Centering

This is the season of endings and beginnings.

Let the Spirit of Blessings surround me.

I pause and give thanks.

A Story of Three Cups

Once upon a time there were three cups. The first was empty, waiting, ready to receive and hold whatever was poured into it. The second was filling with possibilities, pleasing the senses with anticipation. The third brimmed to overflowing, inviting the thirsty to receive its powers.

Look at Your Empty Cup

My cup, empty now, will soon be filled with drink.

Blessed are You, Divine Providence, for the potential you offer.

Fill Your Cup with a Drink of Choice

In filling this cup I see the possibilities of the universe pouring forth through me.

Blessed are you, Source of Life, for filling my cup again and again.

Hold Your Brimming Cup

This brimming cup is full of refreshment and renewing powers.

Blessed are you, Holy Wisdom, for your gifts of empowerment.

 Begin to Drink

With this first sip, I give thanks for liberating streams in my life. (Pause)

With this second sip, I respect the diverse blessing cups given by and to others. (Pause)

With this third sip, I offer the waters of life to a thirsty world. (Pause)

Reflection

Think of this cup of blessings for the New Year. Notice the beauty emanating from it − an empty space, a place for mystery, a possibility waiting to be filled, a hunger yearning to be satisfied, a brimming cup ready to share. What do I need in this cup? What do I accept from this cup? What will I give with this cup?

(Take time now to meditate, write in a journal, converse, draw, dance, or do something else that gives you a pleasurable way to embody your own wisdom)

Poem  

“For the New Year”
by Denise Levertov
I have a small grain of hope –
one small crystal that gleams
clear color out of transparency

I need more.

I break off a fragment
to send you.
Please take
this grain of a grain of hope
so that mine won’t shrink.
Please share your fragment
so that yours will grow.
Only so, by division,
will hope increase.
Like a clump of irises,
which will cease to flower
unless you distribute
the clustered roots, unlikely source –
clumsy and earth-covered –
of grace.

Denise Levertov, Poems 1972-1982 (New Directions, 2001)

Closing

This is the season of endings and beginnings.

Let the Spirit of Blessing surround me.

I pause and give thanks.

Take Action for a Blessing

~ Fill the empty cup of another by calling, sending a card or an email, having a conversation, reaching out just because.

~ Thank someone for some kind action they have done for you or for the good of the world.

~ Feel your power and use one of your gifts to help someone else.

© 2019 WATER, the Women’s Alliance for Theology, Ethics, and Ritual dneu@hers.com