Celtic Daily Prayer: Prayers and Readings from the Northumbria Community

     Most mornings I read the daily office as presented in Celtic Daily Prayer: Prayers and Readings from the Northumbria Community. Within this rich book of worship are three sets of readings: Daily Office for Morning, Noon and Evening; Meditations for Each Day of the Month, and two Series of Daily Readings.
     Recently I’ve been focusing on the call questions and responses in the Opening Sentences of Morning Prayer. 

Call:              Who is it that you seek?
Response:     We see the Lord our God.
Call:              Do you seek Him with all your heart?
Response:     Amen. Lord have mercy.
Call:              Do you see Him with all your soul?
Response:     Amen, Lord have mercy.
Call:              Do you seek him with all your mind?
Response:     Amen, Lord have mercy.
Call:              Do you seek him with all your strength?
Response:     Amen, Christ have mercy.

      I particularly resonate with the four ways of seeking God, heart, soul, mind and strength, because they are straightforward and clarify that usual threesome, mind, body, spirit. Mind is mind; strength is body; and spirit includes heart and soul, which are companions but not synonyms. I think of soul as that deepest place inside me where God resides, and heart as more on the surface and attainable in my everyday life. The way to tap into the soul, to be at one with God, is through the heart.

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