Friday, May 30, 2014

Celtic "prayer" -usable for secular purposes? easily modifyable

this is easily modifiable:

May you be poor in misfortune,
rich in blessings,
slow to make enemies,
quick to make friends.
But, rich or poor, quick or slow,
may you know nothing but happiness
from this day forward.

for example:

May you be poor in misfortune,
rich in all the good things life has to offer,
slow to make enemies,
quick to make friends.
But, rich or poor, quick or slow,
may you know nothing but happiness
from this day forward.

secular sample invocation suitable for govt meetings by Americans United for Separation of Church and State

Their response to the supreme court ruling re: Greece, NY, AU came up with a terrific sample invocation that can be modified by people to use at their own state and local meetings and government proceedings if desired:

AMERICANS UNITED: OPERATION INCLUSION – SAMPLE INVOCATION


           We come here to do the business of local government – the deliberative body that is closest to the people. As we gather, we are reminded that in our differences there is great strength. We do not all think the same way or believe the same things. Yet we are linked by our common humanity and our shared origin. When we work together to move our community forward in a spirit of mutual respect and common decency, we showcase what is best about our community, our state, and our nation.

            We embrace many traditions. We are Christians, Jews, Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists, humanists, atheists, agnostics, Wiccans, Pagans, unaffiliated, uncertain, and so many other things. We are straight, gay, and transgender. We are young and old and everything in between. We represent dozens of races and nationalities. We run the gamut from liberal to conservative, and some of us are a bit of both.

            To be sure, we do not agree about everything. And we often feel fiercely protective of what we do believe. There is great passion in our beliefs—and rightly so. But there is one thing on which we all agree: We share the goal of making our community the best place it can be. We unite here today around that noble aim and common purpose.



you can download a PDF of this here:

https://au.org/files/pdf_documents/OI-SampleInvocation-1.pdf

If you have trouble with the PDF link, you can access the sample secular invocation here:

https://au.org/content/operation-inclusion-action-kit

Monday, May 5, 2014

Great source of secular invocations

Defining what is an invocation and what an invocation's purpose is can be helpful in creating one. Here is a link to the American Humanist Association's Secular Invocation resource page:

http://humanist-society.org/invocations/resouces/

You will find video and transcripts of several example invocations:

"Juan Mendez, member of the Arizona House of Representatives, delivered a humanist invocation to the Arizona House of Representatives on May 21, 2013."

"Robert Ray, president of The Humanists of the North Puget Sound and humanist celebrant, gave the first ever Humanist opening invocation at the Oak Harbor city council meeting on February 4, 2014."

This invocation given right here in Colorado, which I mentioned in another blog post:

"Joe Alaimo of the Western Colorado Atheists & Freethinkers delivered the first non-denominational invocation to the Grand Junction City Council on January 5, 2011."

and finally, a link to an article and an invocation by Herb Silverman who delivered a humanist invocation to the Charleston City Council in 2003: http://secularseasons.org/celebrations/graces.html#invocation