• Home
    • About
  • Prayer Diary
  • Daily Quote
    • Untitled
    • Archives Quote musings 2012
    • Archives, Quote musings 2011
  • Word & Image
  • Resource List
  • Books
  • Prayers and Poems
  • Spiritual Books
  • Archives, scripture
  A Prayer Diary

The Mountain of Silence~

1/29/2013

0 Comments

 
Picture
I am reading a fascinating book about Eastern monasticism and monastic life on Mount Athos and Cyprus. The author of “The Mountain of Silence,” Kyriacos C. Markides, weaves an engaging account of his travels and spiritual journey, and the wisdom and reflections of his friend, Father Maximos, a Mount Athos monk.

     Today I was attracted to Father Maximos’ comment about confession, a very important sacrament of Greek Orthodox Christianity. “To be an effective confessor, it is important to first prepare yourself through fasting and prayer.”

      I don’t come from a confession or a fasting tradition, but I am intrigued by the connection between praying and fasting. When I think of fasting, food comes to my mind, and truth be told, I never fast. I try to eat healthy and not over eat, but that’s about it; with my high metabolism, I am often hungry, and so I eat. In fact, as I write I am enjoying some cut-up cantaloupe.

   But what about other kinds of fasting, other excessive to give up, other abstentions? Thoughts, for instance, particularly as regard to praying. Abstaining from judgments about the person I’m praying for; giving up what I think the person should do, or what I think God should do for them: letting go of my critique about how they got themselves into the situation that now needs prayer. I could go on and on.

      Giving up, abstaining, fasting from all of that seems much more essential and powerful for prayer than a few pieces of healthy melon.


0 Comments

Choosing to pray~

1/26/2013

0 Comments

 
Picture
I haven’t posted in a few days, not for lack of prayer thoughts but for lack of time to gather them in writing. Being in the midst of the busyness of home, and thus away from the solitude of the cottage, provides a different prayer rhythm. Prayer is done more on the run, or to be more specific, in the car. Tonight I have the choice between praying or writing about it. I choose the former so I’m keeping this short.

0 Comments

Word & Image

1/23/2013

0 Comments

 
Picture
'Annunciation', Filippino Lippi
 It is hard to believe that a prayer diary has been in existence for almost two years. When I started, I wrote, “This blog is my attempt to respond to the question, “What is prayer?”

       Since then, needless to say, my faith has deepened and my purpose and hopes for this blog have broadened, although the prayer question will forever remain central. Today, however, as I look out from my cottage by the sea, I express my intention as follows: to offer prayerful ways for all of us as God’s people to witness to the Truth, to experience Christ in our lives and to see the Christ in the faces of the people we meet.

      It is in that spirit that I am adding a new section to a prayer diary, which I am entitling Word and Image. Let me explain.  

      I keep a daily calendar of scripture. During my morning prayer time I write down a Biblical verse that resonates with me, and then throughout the day I do my best to think about it and to pray with it. As the year goes on I consider to whom I will give the calendar, and at the end of December I wrap it up and include a note, suggesting that when the right times comes, the recipient might pass it on to someone else.

       I’ve been doing this for about fifteen years, giving the first one to my mom. When she died I gave her calendar to her minister, who, just about a year after, passed it on to a grieving couple she knew. Maybe at the opportune time they will place it in someone else’s hands, but I don’t need to know. The recipients of several other calendars have died, and although I wonder what has become of their calendars, I trust that they are just where the ought to be.

      Lately I’ve added another ritual to my morning prayer, praying with a piece of art, as an icon, I might say. Usually it’s a painting, but sometimes it’s a piece of sculpture, tapestry, pottery, photography, architecture (I’m open to new possibilities). I select from the treasure trove of postcards that I have acquired through my travels, but I am branching out to books, museums and the internet. My favorite subject is the Annunciation, but again, ‘What else might be out there?’

      This new section to a prayer diary offers these two rituals, scripture and visual art, Word and Image. I make no attempt to related the two (as I do in my daily quote and blog entries) and yet, sometimes that will happen, for as we know God works in mysterious ways.


0 Comments

A good death~

1/22/2013

0 Comments

 
Picture
My cousin was Scottish.
My cousin in California died yesterday. As I wrote on my cottagebythesea.net blog, “He was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer a few days before this eightieth birthday and died five weeks later under hospice care with his children tending to him. A good death, as the saying goes.”

     What I want to share here is what that a good death means to me from a prayer perspective—that my cousin felt God’s presence, that he knew God was there with him during this last part of his journey. Of course, I believe that God is there for everyone, all the time and certainly at the end of life, but the grace is when the person knows and feels God’s presence and embrace. Maybe that’s why I’m so intent (obsessed?) on doing my part to let God into my life. At my ending I want to feel the peace of God that passes all understanding.

     My mom had this peace and so did my cousin. When I talked with him two weeks before he died, he told me that he was at peace about ‘the God piece’. Daily I prayed the Twenty-third Psalm with him and he knew it. Thankfully I didn’t have to pray it secretly or ‘behind the scenes’ as it were.

     I hadn’t kept up with my cousin much over the years, but I felt incredibly close to him when it seemed to matter most for both of us. That is grace, and for that, I am ‘very grateful’.


0 Comments

Praying the Twenty-Third Psalm

1/19/2013

0 Comments

 
Picture
The other day a friend told me that she prays the Twenty-third Psalm for people. I loved the idea and so I started, praying it for my cousin who is in hospice care. Powerful, powerful! I’m aware that my explanation falls short of what I felt and envisioned, but here it is--that I was accompanying him, that his family with him, that I saw him walking ahead in the light.

      Give it a try. Pray the Psalm 23 for someone in need, or maybe just someone you love.


0 Comments

Praying with eliminates  judgement~

1/15/2013

0 Comments

 
Picture
The other day I blogged about praying with someone, not for them. Since then, here’s what I’ve been noticing. I feel like I’m on the journey with the person, experiencing compassion, being in solidarity. This, in contrast to being separate and judgmental. The role of being a judge and knowing what’s right for them (something I can too easily do) just isn’t there. Regardless of what I believe about prayer, this praying with clears and opens the channels between me and God.

0 Comments

Can Forgiveness Play a Role in Criminal Justice?

1/12/2013

0 Comments

 
I had something else in mind to blog about today but it will have to wait. A Face Book friend posted the following and I just have to share it. Jesus talks about forgiveness, and here it is, parents forgiving the murderer of their daughter. Forgiveness was central to their faith, and doing so in this horrific situation, it kept them faithful.

Please, take the time to read the article. At the moment I don't know how to add a link. Hopefully you can find it with the information below.

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/06/magazine/can-forgiveness-play-a-role-in-criminal-justice.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0

0 Comments

Praying WITH at the Crossroads~

1/10/2013

0 Comments

 
Picture

0 Comments

Handle your problems spiritually~

1/8/2013

0 Comments

 
Picture
I’ve been reading, “The Sermon on the Mount: The Key to Success,” by Emmet Fox, published in 1934, and renewed by HarperColins in 1989. Today the book offered this little gem, “Handle your problems spiritually.” Sounds so obvious. That’s what we people of faith do. Or do we? I realize that without even being aware of it, I slip into categorizing my problems; those I give to God and those I decide to solve myself.

    Spending so much time at the cottage make this duality particularly apparent. Here, accompanied by the sunrise, I center myself with God; on the beach, I walk and talk with God; at twilight I give thanks to God. Although I do email, I don’t watch TV and rarely do I talk on the phone or see anyone. God handles my problems with ease—my ease that is.

     On the other hand, when I’m home, leading the usual everyday life that most of us experience, I push God to the side--not consciously of course. It’s just that my analytic, problem solving mind, in excellent shape and fine tuned from years of experience, takes over. I act like the sole player of a professional sport’s team out to win the championship.

     I like to think that this time at the cottage by the sea is helping me play full time on God’s team; I believe it is. I am aware that the time here is a blessing, a gift from God. But switching teams doesn’t have to take all the sunrises that I experience, although a few days in solitude sure do help us handle our problems spiritually. Thus, my prayer is that people reading my blogs will be blessed with their own sunrises, beaches and twilights. Making time and finding the right space is a great way to start handling your problems spiritually. It can be done: ask God.


0 Comments

Epiphany morning gratitude~

1/5/2013

0 Comments

 
Picture


How can I not express gratitude on this gorgeous Epiphany morning as I watched the sunrise and walked the beach? Although the Wisemen’s treasure chests of gold, frankincense, and myrrh remind me of the abundance of God’s gift of Jesus, what I hear God asking me for is an abundance of gratitude.


0 Comments
<<Previous
    Contact me
    bobbifisher.mac@mac.com

    Archives

    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012
    August 2012
    July 2012
    June 2012
    May 2012
    April 2012
    March 2012
    February 2012
    January 2012
    December 2011
    November 2011
    October 2011
    September 2011
    August 2011
    July 2011
    June 2011
    May 2011
    April 2011
    March 2011
    February 2011

    Categories

    All
    55 Maxims Of Fr. Hopko
    Amy Carmichael
    Anne Lamott
    Art
    Assisi
    Awe
    Bede Griffiths
    Benedict
    Bible
    Billy Graham
    Blessing
    Bliss
    Bonhoeffer
    Books
    Breathe
    Brigit
    Call
    Canticle Of The Sun
    Celtic Daily Prayer
    Centering Prayer
    Christ
    Christian Life
    Christmas
    Church
    Cloud Of Unknowing
    Coleridge
    Communion
    Compassion
    Contemplation
    Contemplation And Action
    Contemplation And Action
    Cottage By The Sea
    Craft
    Cross Roads
    Cynthia Bourgeault
    Dad
    Daily Prayer
    David Steindl-Rast
    Death
    Death And Dying
    Desert Mothers And Fathers
    Desiderata
    Dietrich Bonhoeffer
    Doris Grumbach
    Easter
    Edinburgh
    Emmet Fox
    Energy
    Ermetic Life
    Eve Kiley
    Everyday Simplicity
    Faith
    Fasting
    Father Maximos
    Fear
    Florence
    Food
    Forgiveness
    Frederick Buechner
    Friends
    Fruit Of The Spirit
    Gardens
    Gift
    Giving And Receiving
    Giving Thanks
    Giving Thanks
    God Moment
    Grace
    Gratitude
    Harold Rohheiser
    Healing
    Health
    Heart
    Hildegard De Bigen
    Holy Spirit
    Holy Week
    Hope
    Hospitality
    Howard Thurman
    Humility
    Humor
    I Believe
    Icons
    Intercessory Prayer
    Intercessory Prayer
    Iona
    Iona Prayer Circle
    Ireland
    Italy
    James Martin
    Jeffrey M. Gallagher
    Jesus
    Jesus Prayer
    Joan Chittister
    Job
    Julian Of Norwich
    Kate Tristram
    Katherine Paterson
    Kazantzakis
    Kinds Of Prayer
    Kingdom
    Kyriacos C. Markides
    Laura Hillenbrand
    Lent
    Louie Zamparini
    Love
    Maranatha
    Margaret Bullitt Jonas
    Margaret Bullitt-Jonas
    Marsha Sinetar
    Martin B. Copenhaver
    Mary Luti
    Mary Oliver
    Matthew 25
    Max Ehrmann
    Meditation
    Meeting Jesus In The Gospel Of John
    Meister Eckhart
    Midrash
    Ministry
    Miracles
    Mom
    Monastery
    Monastery Of The Heart
    Mountain Of Silence
    Moving
    Music
    Mystery
    Nature
    Northumbria Community
    Now
    Oliver Herford
    Oswald Chambers
    Othona Community
    Outreach
    Oxyrtynchus Manuscript
    Pamela Dalton St. Francis
    Peace
    Phyllis Tickle
    Pilgrimage
    Pope Francis
    Praise
    Prayer
    Prayer List
    Prayer Questions
    Prayer Questions
    Prayer Shawls
    Prayer Walk
    Pray Without Ceasing
    Psalms
    Raven's Bread
    Reading
    Religious Orders
    Retreat
    Richard Rohr
    Robert J. Wicks
    Rome
    Ronald Rolheiser
    Ross King
    Rule Of Life
    Sabbath
    Sacred Places
    Sacrifice
    Scotland
    Scripture
    Silence
    Simone Weil
    Simplicity
    Sister Madonna Kolbenschlag
    Skye
    Society Of Saint John The Evangelist
    Sol
    Solitude
    Son Of Man
    Spiritual Exercises
    SSJE
    St Augustine685a78b5bd
    St Benedict2e69d019b8
    St Brigid8a489d0d27
    St Francisb0c25165c2
    St Francisda1a8c4071
    St Ignatius97c6861c0b
    Suffering
    Taize Lent743fec0e30
    Talking With God
    Thanksgiving
    The Reader
    Thomas Keating
    Thomas Merton
    Thomas-merton
    Thy Will Be Done
    Trinity
    Unbroken
    Upper Room
    Walking With God
    Walter Ciszek
    Way Of A Pilgrim
    Wm Paul Young757e23b986
    Wonder
    Writing

    RSS Feed

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.