Solstice Prayer

May this new season be a time of joy and celebration.

May the fire burn bright in our hearts, and may it ignite the passion, the wonder, the hunger for life in all its shapes and flavors. May it burn away all that is no longer needed, so that we can continue on our journey feeling lighter.

May the water nourish our thirsty souls. May it fill our empty vessels until they’re overflowing, so that we can’t help but share our opulence with everyone around us.

May we all get together on the long summer evenings, feasting, singing, gazing at the starry sky, running after our babies, laughing, crying out our joys and sorrows, and dancing all night long around the campfire.

May we appreciate the abundance blossoming all around us, all the gifts and privileges we were given. May we honor these gifts and how we came in their possession, and may we feel compelled to pass it all forward.

May we always remember that every gift is also a responsibility, and may we keep honing our skills so that they’re even more useful. May we take pride in our craft and find delight in the practice, so that the thousands of repetitions become nothing but joyous.

May we live surrounded by mentors and wise elders, whose way of being remind us that there’s so much more yet to learn, so much more room to grow, so much more life yet to explore. May the little children remind us we’re doing it all for their sake, and all the generations yet to come after them.

May we keep shining our light like the Sun—on the forests and deserts, saints and sinners, indiscriminately. May we remember that life will always flourish when the conditions are right, and may we strive to create these conditions as much as we are capable of doing it, and to deliberately practice increasing that capacity.

May we find time to roll around in grass, smell the flowers, swim in a cold mountain stream, delight in the birds singing, sit under a tree, climb a summit, feed a goat, watch the waves come and go, and listen to what they all have to teach us.

May our babies and children keep reminding us what’s most important in life. May their infectious laughter let us see the world through their eyes. May we see every bird, pebble, and flower petal for the incredible miracle that it is.

With the sun in our faces and the wind in our hair, may we keep dreaming, building, learning, teaching, and exploring. May we all join together with our skills and gifts combined to keep growing and building our best life together.

May we keep dancing in this wonderful procession of life, playing the most beautiful part with the tools we were given. May we strive to leave this place much better than we found it, and to pass the baton to our children and grandchildren when it’s their turn to lead this dance forward.

May we keep dancing with our heads up in the sky, and our roots reaching far down the earth. May we feel their warm embrace and support as we’re figuring out what it means to be a good steward and ancestor right now here on the Earth.

Come sun or rain, may we all keep dancing together.