Prayers after Pentecost: Passing the Test

Here's a test to find whether your mission on earth is finished:  

if you're alive, it isn't.   

~ Richard Bach* [1937- ]

Lord of Now, Lord of Forever,
       I'm alive. Now what? 
       Some days it's hard work just to be alive. Other days go by so fast I hardly realize it. And then, someone you care about is suddenly gone and life takes on new meaning, again. And just as suddenly it hits me that his mission is finished whether he was ready for it to be or we who cared about him were, it just is. It's a recent theme of mine, asking You for help with the meaning of living, and now, for help in finding my mission. I thought I knew what it was - doing good deeds, taking care of others, giving money, donating time.
      But here is yet another moment to re-evaluate and re-discover how I can live as if You were with me every moment. Maybe if I worry less about doing stuff and learning more about just being, especially with You, my mission will become clearer. Of course I'll keep doing but I'm seeing again that if I spend more of life working to love You with all my heart, all my soul, all my strength, and my neighbors as myself ~ as You instructed ~ that mission thing will take care of itself. Thanks for listening, again.  amen.


*Richard Bach is an author best known for classic 1970s bestsellers Jonathan Livingston Seagull, Illusions, and The Adventures of a Reluctant Messiah. His books carry a philosophical theme that our physical limits and mortality are merely appearance.  A love of flying nearly cut his mission short in 2012 as his small plane landed upside down in a field and he was badly injured.



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. If you would like the weekly Prayers of the People prior to its appearance on the blog, please send me an email. Personal prayer requestors will remain anonymous.

Prayers of the People: Fear is for the Birds, 2nd Sunday after Pentecost '14 Yr A

for Sunday, June 22, 2014, Readings: Gen 21:8-21; Ps 86:1-10, 16-17; Romans 6:1-11, Mt 10:24-39

Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father...So do not be afraid; you are of more value than many sparrows. [Mt 10:29,31]

      In an age where obedience is an alien and archaic concept, we are yet called three times in these readings to be obedient without ever seeing the word itself. Abraham is the icon of radical obedience, following and doing on complete trust and faith in God. 

      Paul lets us know that we must die to sin to live in Christ which requires an obedience to the promises of our Baptism. Jesus tells us that we will be held greater than the beloved sparrows when we acknowledge (and obey) him above all others. To obey or not? There are significant consequences either way. But, we still have our free will. Our choice to follow Christ in all things must be voluntary.
       All we have to do is choose - intentionally, deliberately, mindfully.  So, what is there to be afraid of?

LET US, GOD’S PEOPLE, PRAY

Leader:   ~ God of Mercy, God of Favor, You have called each of us out of a life in sin to the newness of life in Christ. Help us to attain the pure faith of Your servant Abraham and trust that You will always hear our voices, even from the wilderness we make for ourselves.

                       

                       O Lord, in Your great compassion

Response:    Hear our prayer

~ God of Mercy, God of Favor, strengthen our resolve to frequently remind the political leaders in our state, in our country, and in the world, of the imperative for the fulfillment of justice, mercy, and basic human needs. No one in Your Creation is beneath another in importance. We pray especially for:  add your own petitions  

                       O Lord, in Your great compassion

                       Hear our prayer

~ God of Mercy, God of Favor, send healing comfort to those who are wearied of illness in body, mind, or spirit, and soothe the hearts of those who attend to their needs.  We pray especially for: add your own petitions

                       O Lord, in Your great compassion

                       Hear our prayer

~ God of Mercy, God of Favor, we commend to Your loving care those we have loved who have left this mortal life, and we ask Your shelter for all who grieve. We pray especially for: add your own petitions

                       O Lord, in Your great compassion

                       Hear our prayer

~ God of Mercy, God of Favor, lay Your hands again upon those who have been called by You to accompany us on our life-long journey to You. Impart Your wisdom and grant them strength of soul and character.  We pray especially for: add your own petitions

                       O Lord, in Your great compassion

                       Hear our prayer

The Celebrant adds: Wondrous God of Heaven and Earth, help us to clearly know that Your promise to care for us, is as constantly fulfilled and renewed as it was for Sarah’s Isaac, Hagar’s Ishmael, and all who are the offspring of Abraham. Mold us again in Your image that we may be Your compassion in the world. We ask this through Jesus, our Savior and Redeemer and the Holy Spirit, our Guide and Comforter who live and reign with You as our One God in Three Persons.  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. If you would like the weekly Prayers of the People prior to its appearance on the blog, please send me an email. Personal prayer requestors will remain anonymous.

Prayers after Pentecost: Life from now til then

          To love life is to love God...Every bit of our life is final for us, and we should treat all life as a sacred gift and responsibility. We should see our relation to life as being like an immediate relation to God. We are moved and touched by the way all living things, and not just we ourselves, spontaneously love life, affirm it and cling to it.       ~ Don Cupitt* [1934]

Dear Mystical Entity ~
        Life confronted me today in two opposing ways. One was a bouncy, vivacious toddler full of sparkle, full of life. Another was a dear friend calmly, if wistfully, dying. The first demanded my attention, with a voice to be heard through the ether, filled with energy, delight, and love. The second accepted my attention, in quiet tones, holding my hand as we reminisced and we never pretended that there will be a next time or that all will be well ~ not this time ~ but still, there was love. So, here I am, again, with a frequent and selfish prayer. I ask not to change the course of what is, but instead to have the consciousness to recognize in myself the spectrum of life from the child's joy to the accepting calm and all that is in between, all that brings me to You. Please help me remember to live in my life so that I know and love that I am living. Help me not to be oblivious to all that life is ~ the happy, the sad, the ordinary, You are in it all. Let my unconscious moments be fewer as I walk toward the inevitable when. And most of all, let me remember the precious moments of love I've received and given and know the best of Life is always in You, with love. amen. 

P.S. Many of us will grieve the loss of our friend's presence in this life.  I and others pray for a peaceful transition for this lovely person and his family.

     

An update, our dear friend left his earthly existence in radiant peace and comfort surrounded by his wife, daughter and son only an hour or so after the above was posted.  We mourn his passing, we celebrate his life, we give great thanksgivings to have known and been known by this amazing person of God.

*Don Cupitt has been an Anglican priest, philosopher of religion and scholar of Christian theology, broadcaster, author, and a professor at Cambridge University in England. Described as a radical theologian, he became well known in Britain, Australia, and New Zealand in 1984 for a BBC-TV series called the "Sea of Faith" and he still continues involvement in the network of that name.  In that series, and through the Sea of Faith Network with like-minded people, and in his writings, orthodox Christian beliefs are explored and challenged. Cupitt has self-described as a Christian non-realist meaning that he follows spiritual practice and ethical standards associated with Christianity without a belief in the actual existence of the mystical entities God and Christ.

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. If you would like the weekly Prayers of the People prior to its appearance on the blog, please send me an email. Personal prayer requestors will remain anonymous.

Prayers in Pentecost: Paving that path

You are what you do, 

not what you say you'll do.

                            ― C.G. Jung* [1875-1961]




Dear Spirit of All Good Intention ~
          I am often guilty of following the path of least resistance, also known as the prettier and easier way to procrastinate. Equally as often, I make elaborate plans to do so many good things but then allow myself to be distracted. I jump into being overly busy at superficial pursuits or worse, slacking off altogether. As Paul says in Romans 7:19: For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I do. Well, I'm not out there doing so much evil, I mean, I don't think I'm doing bad things so much as I'm not just doing as many good things as I could. Or, maybe, it's just that my intention is off track. I often race through a day, a week, a month thoughtlessly, without really processing WHY I'm doing things, be they good, not-so-good or just neutral.  
          Please stoke the desire within me to start and end each day with prayer. Help me to walk through each part of the day with You as my reason for being, with You as my reason for doing, with You who inspires all Good Intention. Um, do You mind if I take the walk along that pretty path while I pray?  I'll try and stay intentionally focused...amen.

*Carl Gustav Jung was a Swiss psychiatrist and psychotherapist and is known as the founder of analytical psychology. He developed the concept of archetypes, extroversion and introversion, and the collective unconscious. His deep and collegial friendship with Sigmund Freud lasted about 6 years until a serious disagreement broke the relationship. Jung believed, in part, that spiritual development, a journey of transformation was essential for human well-being. His study of many religions gave rise to his thought that in what he called individuation, a journey to meet the self also leads to meeting the Divine.

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. If you would like the weekly Prayers of the People prior to its appearance on the blog, please send me an email. Personal prayer requestors will remain anonymous.

Prayers in Pentecost: The Remember Room

          The time is ripe...not all the time, surely, but from time to time...to enter that still room within us all where the past lives on as a part of the present, where the dead are alive again, where we are most alive ourselves to turnings and to where our journeys have brought us. 
         The name of the room is Remember — the room where with patience, with charity, with quietness of heart, we remember consciously to remember the lives we have lived.   ― Frederick Buechner* [1926- ] 

O Holy Comforter ~
          The calendar only highlights the dates that are burned deeply into my heart with a mix of sweetness, sadness, and even a smile. And on each of those days I open the door to my inner room of memories and sit with them as if in a familiar attic. I sift through the virtual folders and boxes that hold remnants of the most meaningful people and times of my life now past. And on each of those days I need Your presence to surround me while I winnow through the highs and the lows of all that has been. Most importantly, please be here while I caress the remembrances of the all-too-brief moments with those now gone who I have loved and who have loved me. Give me Your peace when I go from this room until it is time again to remember. Strengthen my resolve to walk more fully into today, into all that is now, and all that is yet to be. amen.     



*Carl Frederick Buechner is an American theologian, Presbyterian pastor, and author of more than 30 books in several genres such as fiction, autobiography, and sermons, and is well-known among readers of Christian meditation.  He has received the O. Henry Award and been a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award among many other honors. 





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. If you would like the weekly Prayers of the People prior to its appearance on the blog, please send me an email. Personal prayer requestors will remain anonymous.

Prayers in Pentecost: From Within to Without

Peace is not something you can force on anything or anyone... much less upon one's own mind. It is like trying to quiet the ocean by pressing upon the waves. Sanity lies in somehow opening to the chaos, allowing anxiety, moving deeply into the tumult, diving into the waves, where underneath, within, peace simply is.   ― Gerald G. May*   [1940-2005]

Lord of the Deepest Peace,
      There are so many days that I see the world around me is in such chaos - whirling in violence, poverty, and pain. I am at such a loss trying to know in which direction to turn, which good cause needs me the most. What can I possibly do to make any kind of useful difference? I am merely the tiniest pebble in the hole of a huge dyke that strains against impending disaster. And then, taking a breath, I remember  - You - and my prayer begins again. Grant me the stillness within that I can turn into focus without. My footing is more certain when the peace of heaven is in my heart and my soul takes its ease in Your comfort. From then I can move forward and the direction of my path becomes clear. Grant me the stillness within that I can turn into service without. amen.  



*Gerald Gordon May, was an American psychiatrist and theologian, and as a conscientious objector, worked as an Air Force psychiatrist in Vietnam. Later he was a staff psychiatrist in a prison mental hospital in Maryland. He later became a senior fellow at the Shalem Institute for Spiritual Formation in Bethesda, Maryland conducting workshops in contemplative theology and psychology. He wrote several books on the subject of combining spiritual direction with psychological therapy. 


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. If you would like the weekly Prayers of the People prior to its appearance on the blog, please send me an email. Personal prayer requestors will remain anonymous.

Prayers in Pentecost: The only thing I'm always sure of is that I'm not always sure...

The key to wisdom is this - constant and frequent questioning, for by doubting we are led to question and by questioning we arrive at the truth. - Peter Abelard* [1079-1142]

Well, God, 
     Doubt and Questioning has always been part of my journey to You although for my early life I kept it hidden and secret. I was told what to believe by the religious education I had as a child and there was no room for questions. I drifted away, You know, but when I came back, I was still in the really, is that what happened, okay maybe but....mode. I discovered a lot more "religious" types who only wanted to tell me how things are, what the Bible means, and any disagreement isn't tolerated.  Didn't stay with them, either.  After some more serious study I am surprised at how many questions I still have but I'm grateful to have found a community in which to ask, discuss, disagree, and decide at least about a few things. I've learned to listen, to think, to process but mostly, to pray.  I know I don't have many answers, sometimes I don't even know the questions, but one thing I know I'm sure of - Your Presence. Thank You for being here. You don't mind about the questions, right? amen.


*Peter Abelard was a French philosopher and theologian who was no stranger to controversy.  The son of a knight he gave up inheritance and a military career to pursue philosophy and traveled around France studying with the foremost philosophers of his day.  He ultimately moved to Paris and became a well-known teacher of philosophy and theology and was hired as a private tutor for the daughter of the Canon of the Cathedral of Paris. Abelard and the Canon's daughter, Heloise, fell in love, conceived a child and secretly married. The Canon had Abelard castrated and sent to a monastery; Heloise to a convent. Abelard continued to write controversial books and articles and was at various times declared heretical and also had large followings. He and Heloise famously wrote many letters to one another and at his death, she had his body buried near her convent.  She was buried with him when she died.  





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. If you would like the weekly Prayers of the People prior to its appearance on the blog, please send me an email. Personal prayer requestors will remain anonymous.