People's Prayers

Wednesday, December 31, 2014

Meditation Moments: Hope Dawns at Midnight, again...

Hope smiles from the threshold of the year to come,
whispering 'it will be happier'
~ Alfred, Lord Tennyson* [1809-1892]

For last year's words belong to last year's language

and next year's words await another voice.

And to make an end is to make a beginning.

~ T.S. Eliot* [1888-1965]

Each midnight is like another: we approach, we cross over - awake or not - the day and date change, we move forward in time. The new day will dawn and will bring every possible outcome from joy to fear to monotony to sorrow, to every kind of weather; an ending of one and the beginning of another.
Hope beckons us to cross the threshold of a year consciously, if only briefly, to be here now and to let go of then, to accept the changes and chances that occur and to adjust our sails to the winds and tides. That small whisper of happier can help us to find our next year's words and voice, if we let it.

It is useful, isn't it, to have these periodic moments, one new day to the next, one new week to the next, one season, a year...so that even when we're mostly lost in life's daily challenges that run the gamut between tedium and frenzy, the calendar, the clock, the Universe, give us the opportunity to stop, breathe, and take the next step with thoughtful intention.

Creator of the Dawn and Dark,
Help me, again and still, to remember to seek You in the Light as well as in the Dark, when alone and in the midst of many, and to be grateful for each and every moment of this year that is passing ~ the good, the bad, the ugly, the tears of happiness and sadness, and the lessons learned from each. Most of all, let me feel Your presence in every breath and every step as each day ahead moves into the next. I want to promise not to fall from or fail You, but knowing myself as I do, I will resolve to do the best I can with all that comes my way. And when that page turns, the dawn breaks through, or the alarm clock jolts me into waking, I will work at remembering that You are with me, welcoming me, beckoning me into the promise of another day of life. Let me live my life well, in this New Year, mindfully in Your service, and especially for those who would wish to live fully but can no longer. amen.

*Alfred, Lord Tennyson, was poet Laureate of Great Britain and Ireland during Queen Victoria's reign. One of his most cherished works is the historical poem about "The Charge of the Light Brigade" with the famous lines: Theirs not to reason why, theirs but to do or die. Into the Valley of Death rode the six hundred."

*T.S. Eliot was born in St. Louis, Missouri but ultimately emigrated to England becoming a citizen. A graduate of Harvard and of Merton College, Oxford, he later taught English at the University of London and won the 1948 Nobel Prize for Literature. Many of his poems are very well known, especially his "Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock."

Please feel free to request a prayer or meditation to be composed for a particular person, 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.

Monday, December 29, 2014

Prayers of the People: Star Bright, Magi-cal Light ~ Epiphany!

For Sunday, January 4, 2015, Epiphany, Readings: Isaiah 60: 1-6, Ps 72:1-7, 10-14; Ephesians 3:1-12, Matthew 2:1-12

EPIPHANY!

THEOPHANY!

REVELATION!

INCARNATION!

Astounding, Bewildering, Astonishing...Are there enough superlatives to describe all that this holy day represents? Of course, we could use the same words for Christmas and this is, by extension, and in the compression of time given in the Gospels, continuing the celebration of the birth of our Messiah. At the Nativity of Jesus, Luke tells us that the angels appeared to the shepherds who received the good news of great joy, but Luke never mentions the Magi. Matthew never mentions the shepherds or even the birth itself except for a brief phrase: "...until she had borne a son; and he [Joseph] named him Jesus." [Matthew 1:25b] Matthew told us of the "...wise men from the East..." [Mt 2:1b] who had seen a great star that revealed to them the need for a journey to pay homage to a new born king of the Jews. Herod gets involved and we begin to see the ominous cloud moving in to shadow the glorious star. But are we listening as it is read again, having heard this story so very many times? Have we ever wondered what it could possibly mean for us in our time?

Perhaps the season has worn us down, the pageantry and the glorious music, the hustle and bustle of preparation for gifts and food and gatherings, the familiar rush of a given time of year. Perhaps Epiphany has come to be an anti-climax, the end of the story rather than the beginning of a new chapter. So let us hear the story again, as if for the very first time - we have an extraordinary gift, Christ, Our Lord, has been born to us! Let us REJOICE and BE GLAD!
It is a new beginning, another chance to finally hear and to actually believe. And then I must consider, how will I pay homage, follow and live into the light and life of Christ from here? How can I discover the Magi-cal gifts in my own life? Listen...

LET US, GOD’S PEOPLE, PRAY

Leader: ~ Holy Messiah, Heartbeat of God, let us come together as Your people, to lift our eyes and see the brightness of Your eternal dawn, to know the peace that You bring to us again and again, to openly receive the promised gift of our salvation.

Lord Jesus, Light of Heaven on Earth

RESPONSE: We worship You, we give You thanks, we praise You for Your Glory

~ Holy Messiah, Heartbeat of God, with Your radiance as our guide, let us actively work to reverse the travesties of violence, oppression, and injustice, from the imperial powers of our own day. Let us be models of the very compassion and peace that we demand of our leaders for all the people in our world, in our country, and in our community. We pray especially for: add your own petitions

Lord Jesus, Light of Heaven on Earth

We worship You, we give You thanks, we praise You for Your glory

~ Holy Messiah, Heartbeat of God, brighten the hearts and souls of those in the grip of illness, depression, or hopelessness. Let Your comforting presence surround and support them and those who give them care. We pray especially for: add your own petitions

Lord Jesus, Light of Heaven on Earth

We worship You, we give You thanks, we praise You for Your glory

~ Holy Messiah, Heartbeat of God, we ask that the extraordinary joy of Your birth comfort those lost in grief and envelop those who rejoice with new life in the eternity of heaven. We pray especially for: add your own petitions

Lord Jesus, Light of Heaven on Earth

We worship You, we give You thanks, we praise You for Your glory

~ Holy Messiah, Heartbeat of God, we pause in this moment to offer You our other heartfelt intentions and petitions, aloud or silently…

Lord Jesus, Light of Heaven on Earth

We worship You, we give You thanks, we praise You for Your glory

~ Holy Messiah, Heartbeat of God, as the Magi returned to their own kingdoms to spread the word of Your birth, so, too, the wise women and men who lead us in Your church prayerfully bring to us Your words, works, and wonders, that we may follow You and accept our liberation from sin. We pray especially for: add your own petitions

Lord Jesus, Light of Heaven on Earth

We worship You, we give You thanks, we praise You for Your glory

The Celebrant adds: Holy Jesus, Wholly God, grant us the willingness and courage to give our souls to You as the guiding star of the dark moments of life, our rising and sustaining sun in each and every day. We ask in humility through our Almighty Creator of all that is, and the Holy Spirit, the breath of God, who together with our Christ are One God, in the never-ending resplendence of eternity. Amen.

Please feel free to request a prayer or meditation to be composed for a particular person, 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.

Thursday, December 25, 2014

Prayers of the People: The Gift that Keeps Giving, 1st Sunday after Christmas

for 12/28/2014, 1^st Sunday after Christmas, Readings: Isaiah 61:10-62:3, Ps 147:13-21, Galatians 3:23-26, 4:4-7; John 1:1-18

He became what we are

that he might make us

what he is.

– Athanasius of Alexandria [ca296-373 CE]

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God...And the Word became flesh and lived among us...
[John 1:1,14a]

How many times have we heard the beginning of the Gospel of John? Of course we have probably more often heard the recognizable phrasing that "the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us." Have you ever actually thought about what it means or is it just a familiar refrain that passes by? For me, it crystallizes more clearly in part of the 6th century creed from Dublin known as Tírechán’s Creed when speaking of God it says:

He has a Son who is co-eternal with himself;

and similar in all respects to himself;

and neither is the Son younger than the Father,

nor is the Father older than the Son;

and the Holy Spirit breathes in them.

And the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit are inseparable.

So now, thinking through the opening of John's Gospel, Jesus - who in the beginning is the Word of God, who is with God, who is God, and then becomes fully human and lives among us - is suddenly changed from a vague intellectual concept of the Word to what is now flesh, blood, breathing, beating heart, like us. Jesus, God's Promise, our Redeemer, is born, an integral part of the Holy Trinity has come to be as we are to make us as He is, again. Now that's a Gift that keeps on giving - what will we give in return?

LET US, GOD’S PEOPLE, PRAY

Leader: ~ Creator God of All That Is, Seen and Unseen, into this fullness of time You have sent our Messiah, woman-borne, to redeem us as Your own children. Let us rejoice with our whole beings, as heirs of Your eternal Kingdom, justified by faith, proclaimers of Christ’s grace and truth.