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My Last post

3/17/2025

Dear Friends,
This, alas, will be my final post on A Prayer Diary. Oh, I'm still praying and still healthy, but at age 85, it feels like it is time to step away from some of the obligations and commitments in life.
I will continue to pray for all of you, my dear prayer diary friends. Keep being faithful, loving, and hopeful. Bobbi

Call to pray #1

3/11/2025

Back in the ‘90s as I was ending my teaching career I ‘heard' this message that I was to pray for people. It didn’t go away, and never has. I started doing so, not worrying about the ‘right’ way or any theological understanding or perfection. What I knew was that I could never have made up such a call; it had to be from God. And so, I started 'praying for people,' preferring that phase to 'intercessory prayer.' This led me to volunteering as the spiritual care counselor for hospice, getting a divinity degree, and being active in a church.

Ash Wednesday ashes

3/5/2025

This morning I attended the 7AM Ash Wednesday Service at St. Elizabeth's Episcopal Church in town. When I went up for the ashes, I indicated to the priest that he put the sign of the cross on my hand, not my forehead. Having been brought up in a liberal Protestant church, I am not accustomed to an Ash Wednesday service, and certainly not the ritual of ashes on my wrist, much less my forehead. When my Catholic friends came to high school with ashes on their foreheads, and I would wonder about this mysterious ritual.
But things have changed. Many Protestant churches are offering ashes and we members aren't as mystified--at least we're willing to give it a try. Intellectualizing faith is impossible, at least for me. I'm interested in the mystery because faith is a mystery. God is a mystery; Jesus is a mystery; The Holy Spirit is a mystery.

Silence at the monastery

2/27/2025

Today is the second full day of my five day silent retreat at the Monastery of the Society of St. John the Evangelist (SSJE) in Cambridge, MA. I've come here for several three day retreats but never for a five-nighter, helpful in getting into the rhythm of the daily office, which forms each day.
Morning Prayer: 7:00
Eucharist: 12:15 (lunch follows)
Evening Prayer: 6:15 (dinner follows)
Compline: 8:30

The only 'rule' we guests are asked to follow is to be silent, which means don't talk. But I'm here to deepen my faith, so why wouldn't a participate? If I just wanted a change of pace and the chance to enjoy an interesting city, well, The Charles Hotel is just up the street.

On my mind and in my prayers

2/20/2025

You gather us together in Faith, O God, as a loving mother and a gentle father. Help us to remember that your dwelling place is built upon love and peace, and that to bring about your reign on earth we must follow your way of peace. We pray for all governments and legislatures that they may be mindful of the rights of all people of this world to live in peace and dignity. Grant this in the name of Jesus. Amen
The New Companion to the Breviary

Seen and heard at the monastery

2/8/2025

Last Sunday I attended church at SSJE (The Society of St. John the Evangelist) on Memorial Drive in Cambridge. I try to go once a month to worship with the brothers (Episcopal). Before the service the brothers are either preparing for their part in the service, or sitting quietly in preparation for worship. After the service we are welcomed to chat with one another and with the them. The brothers listen more than talk. They 'hear me,' they 'see me.'

St. Benedict's psalms for Lauds

1/28/2025

The Rule of St. Benedict
In Chapter 13: The Celebration of Lauds on Ordinary Days, Benedict suggests the following psalms to be 'celebrated' as follows:
Monday: Psalms 5 and 36
Tuesday: Psalms 43 and 57
Wednesday: Psalms 64-65
Thursday: Psalms 88 and 90
Friday: Psalms 76 and 92
Saturday: Psalm 43

Benedict's instructions are more complicated and nuanced, but this little schedule suits me fine as a way to start my day after I've settled in the Angel Room with a cup of coffee. I keep the list in the back of my Bible.

Daily scripture calendar

1/18/2025

Every morning I write a scripture in a weekly calendar; at the end of the year I pass the calendar on to a friend. Often the same scripture appears year and after year; they are the 'oldies but goodies.' Others come are new ones that have caught in interest.
I don’t just open the Bible, point to a verse, and write whatever it might be. Most come from my early mornings readings: The Bible and The Divine Hours: A Manual for Prayer, by Phyllis Tickle. There are three volumes, “Prayers for Autumn and Wintertime,” “Prayers for Springtime,” and “Prayers for Summertime.” The Bible readings include Psalms, Epistles, Gospel, and Hebrew Bible. I start at beginning, read through, and then back at the beginning. This morning I read: Psalm 35; Ephesians 3; Matthew 20; and finished up Exodus. I don’t always read an entire chapter at one sitting, nor do I read every chapter or book of the Hebrew Bible.

A message from the Wise Men for today

1/5/2025

Peter Bruegel the Elder

Today I am the Covenant Leader at my church. I share with you what I have written for this Epiphany Sunday.

The wise men came from another country. They saw peace shining from baby Jesus, from his mother Mary and from his father Joseph. The wise men saw there was another way. They wisely returned to their own country another way.
That other way is still shining for us. It shines when we pray, when we consider the poor, the homeless, the depressed, the ill, the dying. It shines when we give thanks for our own shelter, our own joy, our own health, and a peaceful death.
Lead us to be wise in our thoughts, words and deeds during this 2025 Epiphany time. When we pray, lead us to remember that you love every human on the planet, that you want each of us to be wise so that your will will be on earth as it is in heaven.

Gratitude is a gift

1/1/2025

I just posted this on my cottagebythesea.net blog but want to include it here, because gratitude is such an important part of my faith practice--my morning prayer time. Gratitude gets me out of my ego. I'm grateful for all the blessings I have received. And that includes positive changes in thought, word or deed of mine.

Yesterday, December 31st, I wrote my last gratitude for 2024: #4252 "Jessie and Priscilla." I could have written 'good health, good sleep, good energy, good weather, but I didn't. I wrote the names of two good friends who had been in touch with me on my birthday, one through a letter, the other with flowers, and both by phone calls. Each of these friends are close to 30 years younger than I. I was a teacher to one, and a church friend to the other when she was a young mother.
The number seven represents completion or perfection. I do my best to write 7 'gratitudes' each day. I miss some days, but I'm pretty consistent about this daily practice. Sometimes I have to think for a while, but when the list is complete, I know it is perfect.