John Phillip Newell’s “Prayer for Mystery” and “Chant: Hidden Things” provides a gentle transition into the evening.
As Evening Approaches
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Category Archives: Prayers
Feast Day of Saint Francis of Assisi
On this the Feast Day of Saint Francis, an evening prayer service with texts from St. Francis. The liturgy was developed for use during Lent. But on this rainy autumn afternoon St. Francis’ words provide warmth and peace. Enjoy!
Evening Prayer Service Bulletin which is to be printed double-sided
Evening Prayer Audio – the silences are intentional. Enjoy!
Prayer: the Perspective of a Process Theologian – Catherine Keller
Today, preachers all over the world (myself included) will be tackling what the writer of the gospel of Luke had to say about prayer in Luke 11:1-13. It is a daunting task for any preacher, let alone for those of us who have given up images of the Divine that conjure up notions of a super-hero in the sky who interferes in our lives. Catherine Keller is a process theologian who teaches Constructive Theology at Drew University (New Jersey). Her comments about prayer as a kind of allurement are enlightening.
Preparing to Preach on Prayer: 21st Century Questions – There’s an App for that!
As I continue to work on this Sunday’s sermon, (see earlier posts here … here …and here), Jesus’ teaching on prayer in the gospel reading Luke 11:1-13 leaves me wondering what an enlightened 21st humanoid is supposed to do with Jesus 1st century ideas???
Cast you minds back to another time and place and tell what the numbers 33, 45, and 78 have in common??? Vinyl Records anyone? When I was a kid music came from a portable RCA record player. The sound quality wasn’t all that great, but somehow we didn’t seem to care. Later when I was a teenager, my parents got a fancy state of the art Phillips stereo cabinet and suddenly sound seemed to be coming from booth ends of the room. I never did understand how those old record players managed to pick up sound from the grooves in the vinyl to
produce music. I still remember my father’s first reel-to-reel tape recorder, and then there were the eight-tracks, followed by cassettes, followed by CD’s. I can remember these things, but I have no idea how they made music. It doesn’t matter how many times people try to explain it to me, I still think it’s a miracle that such beautiful sounds can come out of machines.
These days I don’t use records, tapes or CDs to listen to music. My music is stored in “the cloud” and when I want to hear I song I make sweeping motions on my iphone screen and presto, I can make music fill the room. I don’t know what the cloud is. I asked the personal assistant on my iPhone, her name is Siri and she told me she was sorry but she couldn’t tell me because Steve told her not to tell anyone. Some people think the cloud is located in a 225-acre facility that Apple built in North Carolina. Continue reading
As Evening Approaches
John Phillip Newell’s “Prayer for Mystery” and “Chant: Hidden Things” provides a gentle transition into the evening.
The Wisdom of God Is Deep Within Us – John Philip Newell
Last night I had the privilege of attending a lecture by John Philip Newell who spoke about his recent book, “New Harmony: The Spirit, The Earth, and The Human Soul”. So many images and phrases linger in my imagination. Newell’s gentle, provocative, prophetic call to live into what Thomas Berry calls this “moment of grace” in order to heal the Earth moved me beyond words. I am so grateful to Newell for uncovering Wisdom who lives in the Christian Household; especially Julian of Norwich’s conviction that “we are not just made by God, we are made of God.”
This video contains a Prayer for Presence, followed by the chant: As the Deer Longs, by Newell. For more on Newell follow this link
The First Book of God
It has been said that there are two books that reveal the nature of our Creator, the second of which is the Bible. The first and foremost book that reveals the nature of our Creator is creation itself. Folksinger Peter Mayer’s “The Play” strikes me as a prayer of gratitude for this most splendid revelation of the ONE WHO IS, WAS, and EVERMORE SHALL BE, our CREATOR, CHRIST and SPIRIT, ONE. I offer it here in preparation for Sunday’s onslaught of machinations on the Doctrine of the Trinity.
Pentecost Tongues Aflame with the Prayer attributed to Jesus
It was the first prayer I ever learned. I suspect my Mother taught it to me, but I have no memory of ever learning it. It is part of who I am. I suspect that the origins of this prayer are as murky as my own memory of learning it. Many New Testament scholars have disputed the historicity of Jesus’ authorship of this prayer. While I agree that the prayer’s antecedents can be found in the Jewish tradition, I’ll leave those arguments to another post and turn my attention to the various interpretations of the prayer. All translations are in and of themselves translations. The festival of Pentecost with it’s images of speaking in tongues provides an excellent opportunity to explore some of the many interpretations of the prayer.
In the language of Aramaic, Jesus is said to have taught his followers the prayer we know as “The Lord’s Prayer.” It was then translated into Greek and recorded in the Gospels (Matt. 6:9-13; Luke 11:2-4). Since then this prayer attributed to Jesus has been translated into hundred’s of languages. Most familiar to many of us are the English translations based on adaptations of the King James and NRSV versions of the Bible. The fact that language continues to change over time, means that the work of translation is never complete. Jesus’ prayer is alive and well in all the world and many translations embody the breath of life that this rich Word of God inspires.
For several years our Pentecost liturgy has included a cacophony of voices as our worshipping tongues pray this prayer using an interpretation of their choice. A selection of interpretations is printed in a folder and while the presider prays the prayer in Aramaic the congregation prays an interpretation. Follow this link for a copy of the interpretations (designed to be printed double-sided and folded together in a booklet) and enjoy the video which will give you an idea of how the Aramaic may have sounded.
This Pentecost practice moved our community beyond the “contemporary versus traditional” arguments over which translation of the “Lord’s Prayer” ought to be used in worship. We know have a plethora of choices!
Celebrating Pentecost in the 21st Century
Michael Morwood has the uncanny ability to articulate progressive Christianity in ways that enable worshippers to move beyond images and ideas that entrap us in ancient world views. I love his prayers and use them often in worship!
Adapted from “Praying a New Story” by Michael Morwood
The Celebration of Pentecost in the 21st century moves us beyond the story of Jesus ascending to “heaven” in order to send the Spirit upon us. Pentecost is the wonderful story of God’s Spirit always present, always active in human development and given total and free expressing in human form by Jesus of Nazareth.
It is the amazing story of people coming to awareness through reflection on the life of Jesus that the same Spirit that moved in Jesus moved in them. They realized it was no their responsibility to give witness to the Spirit in their lives as totally and as freely as Jesus had.
Pentecost is the wonderful good news that all people who live in love live in God and God lives in them. Pentecost presents a challenge to humanity: What would life on earth be like if the actions of all people were motivated by their awareness of being “temples of God’s Spirit”?
by Michael Morwood
Why Is There Suffering In the World? – Thomas Keating
Thomas Keating is a Trappist Monk who is credited with the development of the contemplative practice of Centering Prayer. “Centering Prayer is a method of silent prayer that prepares us to receive the gift of contemplative prayer, prayer in which we experience God’s presence within us, closer than breathing, closer than thinking, closer than consciousness itself. This method of prayer is both a relationship with God and a discipline to foster that relationship.”
At the age of 90, Keating continues to reflect upon the need to integrate our expanding knowledge of the cosmos into our ever-changing theology. In this video clip, Keating responds to the question of suffering in the world that I find totally refreshing. I’ll wet your appetite with this short video. But rest assured, as I read more of his work, I’ll be posting more of Keating’s insights.
Lenten Evening Prayer: Parables Ancient and Modern
This year our Lenten Evening Prayer services draw on Peter Rollins collection of Parables found in “The Orthodox Heretic and Other Impossible Tales”. Prayers are drawn from the writings of the Christian Mystics. Each week an audio recording of the service will be posted as well as a copy of our worship bulletin.
Evening Prayer-Feb. 20 2013 NO CONVICTION
A Copy of the worship bulletin can be found here – it is designed to be printed double-sided and folded into a booklet.
Listen to the worship service here (service begins at the 48 sec. mark)
Peter Rollins reads NO CONVICTION
Prayer? How shall we pray?
Since becoming a pastor, the questions that I hear more frequently than any others concern the subject of prayer. “How do I pray?” or “What should I prayer?” used to be the most often asked questions. However, since speaking and writing about giving up the idol of the “Big Santa-God-in-the-Sky” who grants requests or doesn’t answer prayers as if they were wishes, people have added “To whom should/do/can we pray?” to the list of most the asked questions. While I am tempted to offer answers to these questions, I suspect that my answers will not satisfy those who insist that there must be some secret formula that will make their prayer life successful.
I can say that when prayer ceases to be a laundry list of wants and desires, it has the power to open us to the awe and wonder of being a part of something far greater than ourselves. When we allow ourselves to be opened to more than what and who we are, the sense of gratitude that wells has the power to make us lovers of creation and partners with our sisters and brothers in this grand endeavour we call life.
In the stories handed down to us of Jesus of Nazareth, we are told that his followers asked him how they should pray. When I read these stories I see a frustrated Jesus whose followers insist that John the Baptist’s followers have a formula for prayer and Jesus ought to give them one as well. In these stories its as if Jesus says, “Oh well if you insist, then when you pray pray like this.” The prayer that results has become known as The Lord’s Prayer, and although there are many translations and interpretations of this Abba Prayer, these days the one I am becoming fond of is the one provided by Neil Douglas-Klotz in Prayers of the Cosmos: Meditations on the Aramaic Words of Jesus. The video below provides a beautiful interpretation of this interpretation. Enjoy. May it move you toward prayer without words so that you can pray without ceasing and let your life be your prayer!
pastordawn 