Prayers of the People: "Well", There's a Deep Subject; 3rd Sunday in Lent

for Sunday, March 23, 2014
Readings:  Ex 17:1-7, Ps 95, Romans 5:1-11, John 4:5-42

Have you ever been thirsty - really, really thirsty? Hot summer day, cutting the grass, playing golf, volleyball on the beach...so, what did you do? Into the kitchen, turned on the tap, reached in the fridge, opened the cooler, or paid a vendor for a bottle of spring water? Imagine you are 50 days' walk away from all you knew in a life so bad you are willing to be lured by the promise of new beginnings out of all the misery you've been living in.  All you have to do is follow the leader across the desert.  He says he knows the way.  And suddenly you realize there's no water - seriously, there's NO WATER, no well in sight, no streams or oases...how would you be talking to the leader?

              Jesus, stops by the local well to get a drink as part of the life and times. But he's on "the other side of town" where no respectable Jews would go and strikes up a conversation with one of those people and, a woman!  WWYD?  What Would You Do - if you were desperately thirsty and in a place you don't feel you belong in? Would you simply trust that God will keep you safe?

              Much of the world's people today have no clean, safe, supply of water.  Poorly maintained wells, drying and polluted streams, even miles to walk to get barely enough to carry back for just today.  Think about it the next time you let the hose run on the lawn, or the bathroom tap as you brush your teeth, or throw half a bottle of unfinished spring water into the trash. And, mostly, think about your desert moments in life - is God your Living Water for consolation and hope, or just the leader you blame and complain to?

LET US, GOD’S PEOPLE, PRAY

LEADER:  ~ O God, Navigator of our souls, we lead our own souls into the parched desert of gloom and the arid wilderness of discouragement when we turn from the path of Life that leads to You. Guide us back to the gushing Rock that washes away all fear, anguish, and uncertainty. 

                        

                        Lord of Living Water,

RESPONSE:  Quench our thirst for Your salvation

~ O God, Navigator of our souls, the depth and breadth of human misery in our world through war, abysmal poverty, power mongering, prejudice, and natural disaster is invisible by choice to many of us. Grant our local and world leaders clarity of vision and enlightened perspective for a cooperative spirit of common purpose and global redemption. We pray especially for:  add your own petitions

                         Lord of Living Water,

                        Quench our thirst for Your salvation

~ O God, Navigator of our souls, pour Your love into those who are seriously ill, in pain, or in despair and for those who minister to their needs. Let them feel immersed in Your grace and blessed by enduring hope.  We pray especially for:  add your own petitions

                         Lord of Living Water,

                         Quench our thirst for Your salvation

~ O God, Navigator of our souls, we weep for our loss and mourn those who have left us even as they thrive in Your everlasting Life.  Dry our tears and bathe our hearts with Your healing mercy as we seek a trickle of ease in our lonely journey without them. We pray especially for:  add your own petitions

                        Lord of Living Water,

                        Quench our thirst for Your salvation

~ O God, Navigator of our souls, refresh the spirit of those we have called into leadership for Your Church. May their faith in You course so strongly in their hearts that they are sustained and renewed with the courage of their convictions. We pray especially for:  add your own petitions

                         Lord of Living Water,

                        Quench our thirst for Your salvation

The Celebrant adds:  God Almighty, LORD of Heaven and of All the Earth, Jesus is our proof of Your love for us and the model for how to live in an inclusive community of faith.  Let us rid the world of prejudice and hate by reconciling ourselves with others, drowning the seeds of injustice, and returning kindness and tolerance for real or perceived insults and injuries. We ask this through Jesus our Messiah, and the Holy Spirit our Sustainer, who live and reign with You, One God, fount of all that is infinite and eternal.  Amen.

Please feel free to request a prayer to be composed for a particular concern or topic for posting in this space. You may leave your request in the comments section or contact me directly at Leeosophy@gmail.com All compositions remain the property of the owner of this blog but may be used with attribution as long as they are not sold or charged for in any way. Requestors will remain anonymous.

Prayers for Lent, Day 12: Give Up, Take On, Pray

“God not only demands but needs our cooperation on the spiritual [as well as] the material plane. The Cross Bearer of the universe, as He passes in our midst, does not act for us, but in us.”
   ~ Vida Dutton Scudder 1861-1954*

 A paradox of Creation is that it is complete but not yet finished. God in the Trinity, as Creator, Redeemer, and Sanctifier, calls us into a spiritual relationship and as earthly co-creators, acting in us to continue the work of salvation in our world. So, do you feel more special now, or, more scared? A little of both?

Holy God of Mystery and Majesty,
       I feel overwhelmed at all You have entrusted to me. I want to live up to all of Your expectations even while I'm not sure I'm living up to my own. For today, I will give up the pursuit of material satisfaction as a principal goal of life. I'll take on trying to see Your Creation ~ the world around me, the street I live on, the people I know and those I don't, the every-day actions I take ~ as You want me to see. I pray to always know that You are within me and that I will move through this life with intention and purpose, caring and carrying Your love through all that I do. amen.


*Vida Dutton Scudder holds October 10 on the US Episcopal Liturgical Calendar as a Feast Day.  Professor of English Literature at Wellesley College in Massachusetts, she was one of the first two American women admitted to the graduate program at Oxford University. In addition to teaching, she was an author and a welfare activist in the social gospel movement. She was a founder or organizer of many groups involved with Christian socialism, trade/labor unions, and Boston's Denison House, the third settlement house in the US. In 1888 she joined the Society of the Companions of the Holy Cross, Episcopal women dedicated to intercessory prayer and social reconciliation. At her retirement from Wellesley she was given the title of Professor Emeritus and among other honors went on the become the first Dean of the Summer School of Christian Ethics at Wellesley and the first woman to be published in the Anglican Theological Review.



Please feel free to request a prayer to be composed for a particular concern or topic for posting in this space. You may leave your request in the comments section or contact me directly at Leeosophy@gmail.com All compositions remain the property of the owner of this blog but may be used with attribution as long as they are not sold or charged for in any way. Requestors will remain anonymous.

Prayers for Lent, Day 11: Give Up, Take On, Pray

      In the 5th Century, a 16 year-old Roman Briton was captured by Irish pirates and served as a slave for 6 years before his escape back to home.  He credits the time of captivity for his significant spiritual experiences that resulted in conversion to Christianity. 
     After being ordained, Patrick returned to Ireland later in life to preach the message of God in the Trinity, convert, and baptize. As a foreigner who refused the patronage of the Kings, he endured much opposition and was without legal protection. He wrote about beatings, being tied up with chains, periodic imprisonment, and threats of execution. 
        Through it all he Christian-ized many of the early Celtic worship practices, including the sacred symbol of the shamrock that, it has been said, he used to explain the Trinity.
      The famous St. Patrick's Breastplate, also known as the Cry of the Deer, is a prayer poem attributed to him that has been set to music in a variety of ways.  Many of the hymnal versions use only a small portion of the lyrics and it often contains several separate melodies and rhythms within the one hymn. The work with or without music has a cadence of an almost Druidic incantation which the people of his time would have understood.  It isn't often that we see the entire piece and so it is included below, followed by a YouTube rendering of one musical setting. 
      Despite all the myth, fact, and legend, Patrick has had a profound impact as Ireland's Patron Saint, slightly ahead of Brigid and Columba, and is known throughout the world.

Mo Dhia, (My God),
       Your Servant Patrick taught the native Irish people the One-ness of God in the Three-ness of the Trinity. For today I will give up 15 minutes of my time to take on reading and sitting with the power of the words of his prayer poem. Perhaps I can pick a different smaller portion of it to work with each day this week as "I arise..." I pray to feel the strength of the Breastplate, the armor of my Faith, in my body, mind, and soul, now and always.  amen.   

I arise today
Through a mighty strength, the invocation of the Trinity,
Through belief in the Threeness,
Through confession of the Oneness
of the Creator of creation.

I arise today
Through the strength of Christ's birth with His baptism,
Through the strength of His crucifixion with His burial,
Through the strength of His resurrection with His ascension,
Through the strength of His descent for the judgment of doom.

I arise today
Through the strength of the love of cherubim,
In the obedience of angels,
In the service of archangels,
In the hope of resurrection to meet with reward,
In the prayers of patriarchs,
In the predictions of prophets,
In the preaching of apostles,
In the faith of confessors,
In the innocence of holy virgins,
In the deeds of righteous men.

I arise today, through
The strength of heaven,
The light of the sun,
The radiance of the moon,
The splendor of fire,
The speed of lightning,
The swiftness of wind,
The depth of the sea,
The stability of the earth,
The firmness of rock.

I arise today, through
God's strength to pilot me,
God's might to uphold me,
God's wisdom to guide me,
God's eye to look before me,
God's ear to hear me,
God's word to speak for me,
God's hand to guard me,
God's shield to protect me,
God's host to save me
From snares of devils,
From temptation of vices,
From everyone who shall wish me ill,
afar and near.

I summon today
All these powers between me and those evils,
Against every cruel and merciless power
that may oppose my body and soul,
Against incantations of false prophets,
Against black laws of pagandom,
Against false laws of heretics,
Against craft of idolatry,
Against spells of witches and smiths and wizards,
Against every knowledge that corrupts man's body and soul;

Christ to shield me today
Against poison, against burning,
Against drowning, against wounding,
So that there may come to me an abundance of reward.

Christ with me,
Christ before me,
Christ behind me,
Christ in me,
Christ beneath me,
Christ above me,
Christ on my right,
Christ on my left,
Christ when I lie down,
Christ when I sit down,
Christ when I arise,
Christ in the heart of every man who thinks of me,
Christ in the mouth of everyone who speaks of me,
Christ in every eye that sees me,
Christ in every ear that hears me.

I arise today
Through a mighty strength, the invocation of the Trinity,
Through belief in the Threeness,
Through confession of the Oneness
of the Creator of creation.

The Deer's Cry/St. Patrick's Breastplate




Please feel free to request a prayer to be composed for a particular concern or topic for posting in this space. You may leave your request in the comments section or contact me directly at Leeosophy@gmail.com All compositions remain the property of the owner of this blog but may be used with attribution as long as they are not sold or charged for in any way. Requestors will remain anonymous.

Prayers for Lent, Day 10: Give Up, Take On, Pray

If I have achieved anything in my life, it is because I have not been embarrassed to talk about God.   ~ Dorothy Day* 1897-1980

      How often do you talk about God in your every day life?  There are many people, good church-going folks, who have difficulty discussing God, Jesus, religion, and/or spirituality in "normal" conversation.  It's one of the "taboos" of  polite conversation learned early - "Never discuss religion or politics" ostensibly because it leads to conflict and discomfort in relationships.  Perhaps it sets us up for debates on right and wrong theologies. Maybe there's an element of proselytizing that we are anxious about giving or receiving.  Or, it's just a matter of appropriate time and place.  What about privately - to yourself?  Do you talk to God - in joy and thanksgiving, blame and anger, frustration and supplication?  When is it right to talk about God?  What would you say?

O God, Holder of my soul, 
         I come to You in my quiet and alone time to speak of my wants, desires, and needs, for myself and for others.  I speak to You during worship along with all the others as we lift our voices in prayer and response.  But speaking about You to others outside of the Church's footprint has never come easy to me.  I worry too much about not knowing enough to hold off debates, or being perceived as some kind of "holy roller."  You don't need me to plead Your cause but I would like to be less constricted in doing so. For today, I will give up being embarrassed in talking about my relationship with You. I will take on finding at least one moment, as a start, outside of Church, to say some small thing about my relationship with You in a conversation with another person, even if only in a casual remark.  I pray to You for the right words at the right moment, and, for me to make things less difficult for myself and others than You would have them be. Amen.

            *Dorothy Day was a primary founder of the Catholic Worker Movement in the 1930s, a pacifist nonviolent organization that continues to aid the poor today. She began and continued as editor of The Catholic Worker newspaper from its founding in 1933 until her death drawing contributors such as Daniel Berrigan and Thomas Merton. She wrote passionately about women's rights, free love, and birth control early in her life but in the 1940s, she became an Oblate in the Order of St. Benedict. An oblate is a lay person unprofessed as a monk or nun who makes a commitment to a specific Rule of Life - often called a Third Order.
               In 2000, Pope John Paul II titled Day "Servant of God" as a person whose cause for Sainthood has been opened. She has been named "a person Worthy of Commemoration" in the US Episcopal Church whose guidelines allow for an official remembrance in the liturgical calendar no sooner than 50 years after death but local observances are encouraged. Day's extensive biographical history is quite amazing in its breadth and depth. She would never have thought of herself as a saint,  but she was most certainly was a force to be reckoned with.

All compositions remain the property of the owner of this blog but may be used with attribution as long as they are not sold or charged for in any way. You may contact me directly at Leeosophy@gmail.com 

Prayers for Lent, Day 9: Give Up, Take On, Pray

I do not ask my students at Riverbend Maximum Security Prison about their spirituality—I would not intrude on something so personal. On occasion, however, they do share their views with me. For a number of them, perhaps for all, the class creates a setting where, as one student put it, “For two hours a week, we are no longer prisoners." - Amy-Jill Levine*

                 Are you a prisoner of unexamined faith?  Have you ever asked yourself, "What exactly do I believe about God, Jesus, and the Bible, and perhaps more importantly why do I believe it? What or who has influenced you in your beliefs? Maybe you do have questions but think you don't know enough to ask because the leaders have studied more.  Sometimes it is just easier to go with the flow, follow the crowd, and just believe what someone tells you is correct.  But here's a chance to begin to look more closely.  There are no easy answers but within a trusting community, there are great opportunities to examine your absolutes, your maybes, your confusions, and your questions. Lent is the perfect time for self-examination and discovery of what it means to be "faithful".


We have heard with our own ears, O God,
    our ancestors have told us,
What deeds you performed in their days,
   in the days of old - **
And those stories are so important in our faith journey and yet, there seems to be so much conflicting information, differing opinions - go this way, that's right, that's wrong, don't ask...I get confused. She said/he said/they say, and I like all of them, how can they think so differently?  I think I know what I believe about all the important things but I'm not always sure why or if what I believe is the right thing given all the shouting and controversies. Another moment for a long, slow, deep, breath... Today I will give up going through the motions of believing that I completely understand my faith.  I will take on asking people I trust how to begin to sort out what I really believe and why. I will pray for an open mind and for the opening of the gates of my heart to allow for changes in thought if they should appear; and also for the patience to accept that the journey of examined faith will be as long as my earthly life.  amen.


*Amy-Jill Levine, Professor of New Testament and Jewish Studies at Vanderbilt University School of Divinity.  She self-describes as a "Yankee Jewish feminist who teaches in a predominantly Protestant divinity school in the buckle of the Bible Belt," Levine "combines historical-critical rigor, literary-critical sensitivity, and a frequent dash of humor with a commitment to eliminating antisemitic, sexist, and homophobic theologies."

**Psalm 44:1  NRSV


Please feel free to request a prayer to be composed for a particular concern or topic for posting in this space. You may leave your request in the comments section or contact me directly at Leeosophy@gmail.com All compositions remain the property of the owner of this blog but may be used with attribution as long as they are not sold or charged for in any way. Requestors will remain anonymous.

Prayers for Lent, Day Eight: Give Up, Take On, Pray

Rumi 13th Century Persian
Poet, Teacher, Theologian, Sufi Mystic

     ...gives us much to think about this Lenten season, and every day of our lives.  He was described as America's favorite poet in 2007.  If only we acted on more of his messages than merely enjoying them.

     Teaching unlimited tolerance, goodness, charity, and awareness through love, his message appeals to a wide range of creeds and sects around the world. This Rumi message continues the theme from yesterday.  People ~ whether they are liked, disliked, loved, hated, or as invisible ~ create all sorts of reactions and responses in our lives. Pay attention to the people you meet today - family, friends, co-workers, customers, clients, drivers on the road, fast food workers, store clerks.  What words come to mind with each encounter (be honest with yourself!)...is there a lesson for you to think about?  How will you accept or resist them?


Dear Loving Creator of All Humanity,  
           We, Your people come in all shapes, sizes, colors, temperaments, personalities, beliefs, etc., and we judge them all according to our own sense of right, wrong, or indifferent as us and them. Yes, yes, I know I'm not supposed to do that however it just seems to come naturally - meet, size up (also known as judge), decide, all in a nano-second.  For today, I will give up making a decision about someone based on a snap-judgment. I will take on an attempt to learn from each individual I encounter even if it is only seconds long. I will pray for everyone I see, or as many as I can, even if only with a quick "Bless her/him, Lord", even if the encounter is unpleasant, or perhaps because it is. I'll try to change the ugly words that sometimes come into my head in order to be more charitable, positive, and tolerant. Help me, Lord, to remember, that each one is Yours and to be grateful.  amen.


Please feel free to request a prayer to be composed for a particular concern or topic for posting in this space. You may leave your request in the comments section or contact me directly at Leeosophy@gmail.com All compositions remain the property of the owner of this blog but may be used with attribution as long as they are not sold or charged for in any way. Requestors will remain anonymous.

Prayers for Lent, Day Seven: Give Up, Take On, Pray

The rule of love for all of us is perfectly simple. Do not waste time bothering whether you "love" your neighbour; act as if you did...When you are behaving as if you loved someone, you will presently come to love him. If you injure someone you dislike, you'll find yourself disliking him more. Do him a good turn, you will find yourself disliking him less...   
                            ~ C.S. Lewis in Mere Christianity

         Of course, there's a slight catch - Lewis tells us further that doing a good turn to just obey the laws of charity or only to impress God isn't what the rule of love is all about.  We are to treat others as equals in the sight of God. Will we fall head over heels with everyone - no!  But we can care for them anyway and begin to love - or at least like - the doing a little more even if they don't love/like us back or drip gratitude all over our good deeds. It might help if I keep in mind that the only person I can change is me.

*Eternal Spirit, 
Earth-Maker, Pain-Bearer, Life-giver,
Source of all that is and that shall be,
Father and Mother of us all, 
Loving God, in whom is heaven...
      It is always easier to do good things for people I love and like. It is downright difficult and even unpleasant to attempt to do nice things for someone I dislike and all the harder if the dislike is intense!  Sigh....Ok, it's Lent, a time to try on new behaviors, new ways of living into the love of Christ.  SO, for today, I'll take a deep breath and give up looking down on people I have decided for some reason that I don't like.  I'll take on looking at all people through a different lens, seeing them as children of God just as I am.  At the very least a kind word with no desire for or expectation of return would be a start.  I'll pray for the tranquility to leave the details of who is right/wrong/good/bad to God. All I need to do is love others as if they are myself - that is, myself and another as equal in the eyes of You, our Eternal God. I will need some help with this so You and I will be talking. amen.


Clive Staples Lewis (1898-1963) held the Chair of Medieval and Renaissance English at Cambridge University in England and is considered a significant Christian writer of his time. An author of more than 30 books, he is probably best known today for The Chronicles of Narnia and The Screwtape Letters.

*The beginning of an alternative to the Lord's Prayer in A New Zealand Prayer Book


Please feel free to request a prayer to be composed for a particular concern or topic for posting in this space. You may leave your request in the comments section or contact me directly at Leeosophy@gmail.com All compositions remain the property of the owner of this blog but may be used with attribution as long as they are not sold or charged for in any way. Requestors will remain anonymous.