People's Prayers

Friday, March 14, 2014

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

Thursday, March 13, 2014

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.

Wednesday, March 12, 2014

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.

Tuesday, March 11, 2014

Prayers of the People: No Country for Old Moans, 2nd Sunday in Lent

Readings: Gen 12:1-4a; Ps 121; Romans 4:1-5, 13-17; John 3:1-17 for Sunday, March 16, 2014

Phone rings. It's your boss. Time to pack up the spouse and kids, leave the friends and other family behind, and move to a new country, for a new job. You'll be in charge of everything including recruitment. No time for questions. You'll get all the info you need when you get there and you must be there by Tuesday. Click... Your head spins. Don't know the language, the weather, how to get there, who to contact, where to live. Do you a) just do it because it's the boss and your trust in her is complete, it will work out somehow. Or, b) ask your spouse, "...Is he crazy, just hangs up, no more info, what does he expect that I'll just drop everything because it's his word?" Pick up the phone and call three people, "Can you believe this? No way, until I get the details."
Abram, later to be Abraham, packs up and goes, we're told, on Faith alone. Paul tells us it was through Abram's faith, and now our own, through which the Promise of God is fulfilled. Further proof, God gives us Jesus - coming to preach, teach, and show us the way; and, what real sacrifice is. Can you go to the Country of God without all the moans and groans about the inconveniences, lack of clear information, and gripes about the cost of Faith? You do have the option of staying where you are now. If you are anxious about the move, well, at least we have each other. Let's go together...I'm sure there's help in the hills.

LET US, GOD’S PEOPLE, PRAY

LEADER: ~ O God of Promise and Love, You called Abram to leave home and go to a different country on the strength of his faith alone; and so he went as You told him to do. You show us a different land also; a land that is filled with Your blessings, mercy, and eternal life. All You require is our steadfast faith.