"For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then we will see face to face. Now I know only in part; then I will know fully,
even as I have been fully known." (1 Corinthians 13:12)
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Friday, March 14, 2008
Computer worship
No, not worship of a computer, but worship at a computer. Since getting
this site up and running, I've not missed a day of MP, EP, or NP, and I've sometimes done all three. It is convenient, and
maybe that's the best that can be said for it. Sitting at this little desk cannot match kneeling and standing at the prie
dieux in the chancel. About all I can do gesture or posture-wise in this confined space is make the sign of the cross.
In better days, I've used just about all the ideas that Edward Hayes proposed in his Prayers for an
Interplanetary Pilgrim -- little shrines and chapels in the house, candles, sacred stones, and even an ancient prayer
desk given to me by a retired priest whose knees no longer allowed him to kneel.
But for now, with the walk to church so icy and the chancel so cold, this computer desk suffices. And an
added benefit is that though the windows here are not stained, they are many, completely enwrapping this "sun room." The snow
with the sun upon it and the black squirrels in such contrast to it are subjects for thanksgiving. And the occasional passerby
a subject for intercession.
Thursday, March 13, 2008
When life's the pits
He brought me out of the roaring pit,
out of the mire and clay; •
he
set my feet upon a rock and made my footing sure. (Ps. 40:2)
Anyone who has trekked much in the wilderness can relate to this verse, though the "roaring" aspect of the
pit is foreign. I once trudged along the Appalachian Trail in a downpour that turned the rutted path to very slippery footing
indeed -- a "mire" to be sure. What a relief it was to reach bare rock which, though wet, was negotiable thanks to the special
soles of my boots.
But there is another way that I can relate to this, and perhaps you can, too. That is to regard the "pit"
as depression. Something like "mire and clay" defeat all your efforts to lift yourself out of it. Not that you can't
help yourself out a bit, but that if it's a true physiological condition, there needs to be an intervention.
Laus Deo for a friend twelve years ago who recognized my need and brought me out of the pit
of my depression.
Wednesday, March 12, 2008
Ending our day, ending our life
"Now, Lord, you let your servant go in peace:
your word has been fulfilled."
Night Prayer of course includes the wonderful canticle, Nunc dimittis. It bespeaks a wonderful
way to end a day, but also a wonderful way to end a life. When my grandfather Ralph was in his last days at a "rest home"
in 1985, an elderly priest on Trinity's staff would visit him. To conclude every visit, the priest would invite my grandfather,
a wonderful bass, to sing the canticle with him: "Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace, according to thy word."
For this hope and encouragement given my grandfather, and for the priest who was its channel, I give you thanks, O Lord.
Psalm 55:1-2
Hear my prayer, O God; •
hide not yourself from my petition.
Give heed to me and answer me; •
I
am restless in my complaining.
This AM's psalmody might have been in Jesus' mind when he concocted the parable of the
persistent widow demanding justice from the unjust judge. (Luke 18:2-5) No need to be polite, eh? I have enjoyed and been
rewarded by those times when I could pray the way Rab Tevye did in Fiddler on the Roof -- frequent dialogues during
the day, with my part spoken out loud. Talking to one's self is maybe the beginning of prayer, and talking with
one's self prayer more fully developed.
Tuesday, March 11, 2008
Sleep tight, sleep right
"That this evening may be holy, good and peaceful, let us pray
with one heart and mind." So reads the first petition in our site's link to Evening Prayer. Especially after those hectic
days we sometimes have, running here and there like firefighters responding to multiple alarms, to pray for a "peaceful" evening
seems especially good. But then, as firefighters still at their station, to add the prayer from Compline, "Keep watch, dear
Lord, with those who work, or watch, or weep this night, and give your angels charge over those who sleep. Tend the sick,
Lord Christ; give rest to the weary, bless the dying, soothe the suffering, pity the afflicted, shield the joyous; and all
for your love’s sake. Amen." (BCP, p. 134)
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