Blog Archives

Prayer intentions~

6/30/2013

Today in church my minister, Tom O’Brien, told the story of Nik Wallenda’s successfully July 23nd twenty-two minute crossing of part of the Grand Canyon 1,500 feet above the Little Colorado River Gorge. Thanks to a microphone hookup, live TV reported every word the acrobat spoke, many of which were words calling on Jesus.

   This got me thinking about the different intentions I have when calling on Jesus. When I am fearful or in danger, I appeal to him in desperation. When I repeat the Jesus Prayer, Lord Jesus Christ have mercy upon me, I am requesting that my heart be fill with the Holy Spirit.

      All of this is extremely personal and very private. It’s between me and God. In fact, this blog is as public as I get. Most people reading it are strangers or prayer people I know who keep their prayers to Jesus private. I share in the hope that what I do may help others discern how God is calling them to pray.

    I don’t know Nik’s intentions, but I sense there was some evangelism involved, which to me is different purpose, but not prayer.

    I suggest that you check out Tom’s sermon. <http://mccsudbury.org/faith-on-a-wire/>

God's kingdom rocks

6/26/2013

Today I played Queen Esther at Kingdom Rock Summer Program at my church. How rewarding it was to hear the kids tell me ways to stand strong in front of the king. “You can do it,” they shouted as I parted to tell the him that I was a Jew and that his aide Haman was planning to kill all the Jews because they wouldn’t bow down to him.

We all left church standing stronger today, knowing that God, family and friends help us do the right thing with confidence. God’s kingdom rocks.

Prayer as empathy~

6/24/2013

'Thin space' on Iona

My prayer list is rather jammed today. Deaths, surgery, debilitating diseases, lack of purpose, new baby, studies, chronic pain, cancer—that pretty much sums it up. I’m sure your list looks similar. There’s nothing extraordinary about it, and yet there is everything extraordinary because behind the problem is a person hurting and longing for peace.

I’ve been wondering what enables me (or anyone) to have empathy for people in situations that are not part of my experience. I don’t have MS, pain or cancer; my worries as a new mother are only happy memories; I’ve had plenty to do in my life. So what is it that draws me in to pray for these people?

Perhaps empathy comes from a longing for God that dwells in all of us. Once in a while we get a glimpse of it; we float into the ‘thin space’; we feel the peace of God that passes all understanding. It is fleeting, but it is enough to connect us to others who are suffering and yet longing.

Kingdom Rock~

6/23/2013

This week at my church God’s kingdom will rock. The sanctuary is already transformed, and on Wednesday I am participating as Queen Esther. The idea is that all of us, young and old, must ‘stand strong’ in our faith, act as king and queens for God.

Smiling God's love~

6/20/2013

Yesterday I visited a newborn. Yes, only 6 days old. Perfect in every way. I was reminded of a paper I wrote in divinity school for a Christian education class. The essence was that our task for the first nine or so months of a child’s life is to smile God’s love on him/her. Until we have to say no, until the child starts exerting herself, until he starts finding dangerous objects to put in his mouth, there is no need for reprimand.

Isn’t this wonderful? Of course there is the changing, the feeding, the rocking, the keeping the child safe--all the parental/care-giver jobs. But for many of us, our job is just to smile. It’s natural to smile at the babies I know, such as the little guy I visited yesterday, but what about the babies I meet on my walk, or pass in the super market? I don’t know them or their parents, but I do know God. I know that God is loving and that we are made in God’s imagine. I know that I can smile love at a baby and before I know it, she will smile love back.

'Pray without ceasing' revisited~

6/17/2013

If you’ve been following this blog for a while you are well aware that Paul’s command to the Thessalonians (5:17) to ‘pray without ceasing’ is one of my favorites; favorite in that it draws me into the heart of what faith is. The most popular unceasing prayer, Jesus Christ Son of the Living God have mercy on me, a sinner, is at the core of the prayer of Eastern Orthodox monks and was made popular in the book A Way of the Pilgrim.

     Using this phrase is a challenge for someone like me who was brought up in a liberal Protestant tradition--we weren’t sinners, we just made occasional mistakes! But these days I’m okay with admitting I’m a sinner. Try as I might, I act wrong, I think wrong, I sin. I need God’s mercy.

    On the other hand, I don’t like repeating over and over again that I am a sinner because it fills my unconscious with the negative, which doesn’t resonate with my positive disposition. My inclination is to dwell on God’s grace, on the Good News, not on my sins. And thus I have other ‘pray without ceasing’ phrases that I repeat.

Come, Holy Spirit, come.
Come, Lord Jesus.
Open my heart.
Breathe in God’s love, breathe out God’s love.

     I don’t say these words out loud, I think them. In fact, even the phrase, pray without ceasing suffices. According to Russian monastic author Theophan the Recluse (1815-94), “Inner prayer means standing with the mind in the heart before God, either simply living in His presence, or expressing supplication, thanksgiving, and glorification.”

Free to be me~

6/14/2013

This story was told in a sermon by Br. Geoffrey Tristram, of the Society of St. John the Evangelist, http://www.ssje.org/. It particularly speaks to me as I reenter my every day life after a two and a half week trip by myself to Scotland that include a week on the Isle of Iona.

“There is a story I like about the Russian rabbi Zusia. One day some students were talking with him and the first said, “Rabbi Zusia, I am afraid that when I appear before the Holy One he will ask me, ’Why did you not have the faith of Abraham?’ A second student said, ‘I am afraid that when I am before the Holy One he will ask me, ‘Why did you not have the patience of Job?’ Then a third student said, ‘Rabbi I am afraid that when I stand before the Holy One he will ask me, ‘Why did you not have the courage of Moses?’

“Then they all asked Rabbi Zusia, ‘Rabbi, when you appear before the Holy One which question do you most fear?’ Rabbi Zusia answered, ‘When I appear before the Holy One I ‘m afraid he’ll ask me, ‘Zusia, why were you not Zusia?’”

Iona, a sacred place~

6/12/2013

I’m at the Philly airport waiting for my flight to Boston. It’s been a day of sitting, which isn’t easy for me, so I’ve decided to get out my computer and see what prayer thoughts I’ve brought with me from Iona. Let’s see what appears.

I have to believe that everyone who visits Iona is a least open to experiencing God in some way. They come knowing that the island is a sacred place. They wander about with their feet a little off the ground, hoping, praying, anticipating that the ‘thin space’ will open up to them, that the veil between heaven and earth will be lifted for at least a moment. We are all there on common ground, which makes Iona a spiritually safe place. People smile (or not), say hello (or not); personal space is never invaded; self-consciousness doesn’t exist on the island.

Moving off-island and back into every day life is always a challenge, and on the plane today adjustment seems rather harsh. A few rows forward, two men and one woman talked the entire trip; their voices were loud and I got most of the bits of their conversation. I have to remember that they haven’t been to Iona, but that I have, and so I try not to judge them. I wanted them to quiet down and let me hear the hum of airplane silence. There I was, another opportunity to practice non reactive awareness.

Deep peace to you~

6/10/2013

Deep peace of the running waves to you

Deep peace of the flowing air to you

Deep peace of the quiet earth to you

Deep peace of the shining stars to you

Deep peace of the Son of Peace to you

St. Columba's feast day on Iona~

6/9/2013

In the Abbey before today's service.

The island has been very busy today. Sunshine and then it’s St. Columba’s feast day. The Sunday morning service at the Abbey marked the 1450 anniversary of Columba’s arrival from Ireland at what is now called St. Columba’s Bay. In his sermon, historian/ordained minister Ian Bradley, however, admitted that very likely Columba arrived on mainland of Scotland in 1463, and not on Iona until about 1478.

Legend tells us that every day Columba recited, in three groups of 50, all 150 psalms. Thankfully, today we were only offered one, Psalm 34. According to Columba’s biographer Adomnan (625-704), Columba was copying verse 7 of that psalm when he stopped, said that was enough, and died soon afterward.

“The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear him, and delivers them.” Feels like a good ending to me.

Columba lived and died reciting and copying the psalms. We don’t have to do that, but then, we’re not saints. As Ian Bradley reminded us, “We may never become saints, but we can all be pilgrims on our continuing journey to God.”