Prayer Books for the New Year

For the past four years I have posted weekly prayers on the blog Prayers & Creeds (http://prayersandcreeds.wordpress.com/). While I often come across the prayers on various websites and blogs, many come from various prayer books that I have collected in recent years. I thought I would post the titles and links, in case anyone is looking for a prayer book for the new year. Most are available in Kindle versions, as well. Please post any additional recommendations in comments to this post! Just click on the book title below.

Yours Is the Day, Lord, Yours Is the Night: A Morning and Evening Prayer Book

Edited by Jeanie and David Gushee 

Common Prayer: A Liturgy for Ordinary Radicals 

By Shane Claiborne, Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove, Enuma Okoro

Celtic Daily Prayer: Prayers and Readings From the Northumbria Community

Guerrillas of Grace: Prayers for the Battle 

By Ted Loder

Awed to Heaven, Rooted in Earth: Prayers of Walter Brueggemann 

By Walter Brueggemann

Prayers for a Privileged People 

By Walter Brueggemann

The Book of a Thousand Prayers

Compiled by Angela Ashwin

Hearts on Fire: Praying with Jesuits 
Compiled by Michael Harter

For those on Facebook here is a great page of prayers from Christine Sine..."LIKE" it! 

Light for the Journey

Merry Christmas!

Shepherds. James B Janknegt, 2011. 

Taken from: http://adventinart.org/

Prayers for Advent

This will be my fifth year posting weekly prayers on Prayers & Creeds. This year I am posting prayers that go along with the Revised Common Lectionary each week of Advent. Each week also includes a link to Art that goes with the readings. You can check it out here:
Vanderbilt Divinity Library, Revised Common Lectionary Readings for Advent

Below the prayer links some of my favorite Advent prayers posted in years past. Just click on the prayer title...

Advent Prayer by Ted Loder

O Antiphons – An Advent Litany

Awaiting the Christ Child ~ Esperando el Niño Jesús

Advent Prayer for Hope

Prayer for Welcoming Advent

Advent Collect for Southern Hemisphere

Advent Prayer from Walter Brueggemann

Advent Prayer from Henri Nouwen

Awaiting the Christ 

Hope Revived

The Advent Desert

"The desert is not a place of isolation, but one of encounter."

~ Andre Neher, 1988

As my calendar year of Patient Trust draws to a close, it is appropriate to also begin the new liturgical year with a posture of patient waiting during Advent. The below Advent reflection speaks to the posture and attitude (and work) of the Advent desert we may experience. Personally, I’d mush rather experience a warm and fuzzy Advent season. But, it is in the hard desert places where our hearts are open to prepare the way of the Lord to enter more fully into our lives in deeper ways. This is the patient trust I hope to be attentive and open to this Advent season.

“…From John the Baptist we learn the desert is a place for cleansing, for conversion, for fasting, for silence, for self-discovery, and ultimately for healing. It is a place to let go of our multiple earthly attachments, making room for the Lord by allowing God to enter fully into the innermost of our lives, yes, of our broken lives in utter need of his compassion and healing. 

The desert is also the place for pursuing the ‘patient waiting’ attitude that God demands from each of us. This patient waiting attitude is similar in many ways to that of ‘patient endurance’ counseled by the Apostle Paul. It demands true patience, and it also means hard work. This patient waiting attitude is inspired by deep faith and trust in God, and is the work of constant prayer under the guidance of the Holy Spirit. During this time of patiently waiting for the Lord’s arrival, he asks from each of us complete trust and openness to his particular designs for our lives, complete and total cooperation with that which he wishes to accomplish in us. When Christmas, the Lord’s day, arrives, we shall then discover the truth of God’s prophetic words: ‘The wilderness and the parched land (of our hearts) will exult; the Arabah (desert) will rejoice and bloom.’”

Taken from: Monastery Journey to Christmas
By Brother Victor-Antoine D’Avila-Latourrette

Advent: Dream Big and Imagine Wildly

“The hard work of Advent reflection and waiting is mingled with the gift of time and space to dream new dreams, to bathe in pools of hope, and to stretch the canvas of our imagination wide enough for God to paint God’s own visions for our lives. Advent is a season for our imagination to run wild as we contemplate a God who becomes human. We are given a wider glimpse of God when we allow Advent to be an invitation to dream beyond our comfort zones of what we think can happen in our lives and what God can do. In Advent we receive four weeks to dwell on what God’s vision might be for us and for those we touch. Four weeks to dwell on how the courage of expanding our imagination might feed into the growing kingdom of God. Four weeks to gather our wits about us for another year; preparing our bodies, minds and spirits to receive the Christ child and take him out into the world for others to see and praise, worship and obey; the Christ with whom we dream big and imagine wildly.”

Taken from the Preface of Silence and Other Surprising Invitations of Advent
By Enuma Okoro

Advent: A Brief History

This Advent I am once again using a book of meditations and reflections titled, Monastery Journey to Christmas. by Brother Victor-Antoine D’Avila-Latourrette. The book begins with a very helpful history of Advent in the Christian East and West from as early as 330 AD. The author says, “In appearance, the Advent liturgical traditions from the East and the West may seem to differ in certain aspects and practices, but deep down I find they complement and complete each other in the one and common celebration of the Nativity and Theophany of our Lord and Savior.”

To read this entire history of Advent, click here…
Advent: A Brief History

Advent 2012 Resources & Links

This year the first Sunday of Advent arrives the week after Thanksgiving….next Sunday, December 2. I am a little behind, but here is my annual blog post of resources and links in preparation for the Advent season.

For those of you who have followed my blog in Advents past, most of the links below will look familiar. I will pass on additional resources and links as I discover them. Just click on the link title...

CRI/Voice - The Season of Advent: Anticipation and Hope
This is a helpful introduction and summary of Advent.

Christine Sine’s annual Advent meditation video for 2012
“Alleluia, The Christ Child Comes

GodSpace Blog
This Advent Christine Sine will host a blog series, “Let Us Wait as Children Wait.“ It will include blog posts and reflections from a variety of contributors.

Ignatian Spirituality Advent Resources
This page includes a variety of resources, including an Advent Retreat booklet based on Ignatian contemplative and prayer practices.

Songs for Advent
A couple years ago I discovered this Advent worship digital download. It quickly became a favorite!

Book of Common Prayer Daily Scripture Readings for Advent 
(Year One)

Revised Common Lectionary Sunday Scripture Readings for Advent
(Year C)

Praying Advent
Creighton University’s Online Ministries offers a selection of materials to help people prayerfully enter into Advent, from short prayers to longer reflections and retreats.

Work of the People
This is a website of visual media and videos that I have explored throughout the year. It also includes some Advent videos.

Sojourners Top Ten Advent Resources

And Some Books...
The following are a few Advent books that I have used in the past or will be using this year.

Silence and Other Surprising Invitations of Advent 
By Enuma Okoro
This was just published this year and focuses on waiting and longing of Elizabeth and Zechariah.

Monastery Journey to Christmas
By Brother Victor-Antoine D’Avila-Latourrette
I purchased this book last year and it quickly became a favorite!

Watch for the Light: Readings for Advent and Christmas
This is a great compilation of readings from both classic and contemporary writers.

Waiting for the Light: An Advent Devotional
Christine Sine & Mustard Seed Associates have put together a book of reflections, liturgies, and prayers posted on Godspace blog in years past.

Begin with Gratitude

Happy Thanksgiving to all! Below is a reflection on gratitude originally posted on This Ignatian Life blog last year. Original post...HERE.

Recently I took some time out to renew and refresh my understanding of Ignatian spirituality. While I consider myself very much a newbie to all things Ignatian, it was good to recall and remember how the themes and posture of Ignatian spirituality have impacted my life in significant ways these past five years. Ignatian themes of attentiveness, finding God in all things, contemplative activism, imagination, discernment and gratitude have all shaped and deepened my formation and vocation. All this has inspired me to give renewed attention to these Ignatian themes and practices in my own life. I begin with gratitude.

Gratitude has a prominent place in Ignatian spirituality. The practice of examen begins with looking at your day with gratitude. The process of examen that I often use says it this way,  “Gratitude is the foundation of our whole relationship with God. So use whatever cues help you to walk through the day from the moment of awakening – even the dreams you recall upon awakening. Walk through the past twenty-four hours, from hour to hour, from place to place, task to task, thanking the Lord for every gift you encounter.” (1) In my experience with examen, I have found it important to begin with this posture of gratitude.

Too often my self-examination is critical and focuses on the negative in my own life. I am my own worst critic. However, as I prayerfully enter into examen, making space for gratitude provides necessary focus and directs my self-examination towards God. As I move into reviewing my feelings of consolation and desolation, a posture of gratitude provides the lenses I need to recognize God’s presence and gifts in both the painful and the pleasing.

The Spiritual Exercises close with an invitation of “Contemplation of the Love of God.” These instructions for contemplation also begin with gratitude, "I ask God to give me an intimate knowledge of the many gifts I have received, that filled with gratitude for all, I may in all things love and serve the Divine Majesty." Ignatius celebrates gratitude and gives it a foundational place in relationship with God and others. These closing weeks of the year I intend to practice the examen regularly. I look forward to the space it will provide to not only recognize God’s gifts and grace in my life, but also joyfully respond in worship and thanksgiving.

(1) “Rummaging for God: Praying Backward Through Your Day,” Dennis Hamm (America: The National Catholic Weekly, May 14, 1994). 
(http://ignatianspirituality.com/ignatian-prayer/the-examen/rummaging-for-god-praying-backward-through-your-day/)

What’s ahead in 2013…

Recently, I shared about my plans to begin a study program in spiritual direction this coming January. To read more, check out my November prayer letter…CLICK BELOW.
November Prayer Letter

What is Spiritual Direction? You ask? Well, for starters, the following description from Rev. Bill Haley, Director of Coracle, is a helpful summary….CLICK HERE.

Love and Live the Questions

Be patient toward all that is unresolved in your heart

And try to love the questions themselves

Like locked rooms and like books that are written in a very foreign tongue

Do not seek for the answers that cannot be given

For you would not be able to live them

And the point is to live everything

Live the questions now

And perhaps without knowing it

You will live along some day into the answers

~ Rainer Maria Rilke (1875-1926), Letters to a Young Poet

Fresh Vision

These past few months during the church season of Ordinary Time I have been using the book At the Still Point: A Literary Guide to Prayer in Ordinary Time by Sarah Arthur. You can read more about the book…HERE. The passages of poetry, prayers, fiction, and scripture have been a perfect fit. I have been challenged on the idea of “slow reading,” which is especially necessary when reading poetry. I will be writing more about that soon.

In the meantime, I wanted to share a poem and a prayer from the book that resonated with me this week. These passages from the section titled “Fresh Vision” are encouraging as I continue to embrace this year of “Patient Trust”.

Morning Reflections

Enuma Okoro

What is this unfolding, this slow-

going unraveling of gift held

in hands open

to the wonder and enchantment of it all?

What is this growing, this rare

showing, like blossoming

of purple spotted forests

by roadsides grown weary with winter months?

Seasons affected, routinely disordered

by playful disturbances of divine glee

weaving through limbs with

sharpened shards of mirrored light,

cutting dark spaces, interlacing creation,

commanding life with whimsical delight.

What is this breaking, this hopeful

re-making, shifting stones, addressing dry bones,

dizzying me with blessings,

intercepting my grieving

and raising the dead all around me?

Lord, purge our eyes to see

Lord, purge our eyes to see

Within the seed a tree

Within the glowing egg a bird,

Within the shroud a butterfly:

Till taught by such, we see

Beyond all creatures Thee;

And hearken for Thy tender word,

And hear it, “Fear not: it is I.”

~ Christina Rossetti (1830-1894)

Christ Has No Body – St. Teresa of Avila

Christ has no body but yours,

No hands, no feet on earth but yours,

Yours are the eyes with which he looks

compassion on this world,

Yours are the feet with which he walks to do good,

Yours are the hands, with which he blesses all the world.

Yours are the hands, yours are the feet,

Yours are the eyes, you are his body.

Christ has no body now but yours,

No hands, no feet on earth but yours,

Yours are the eyes with which he looks

compassion on this world.

Christ has no body now on earth but yours.

Saint Teresa of Avila (1515–1582)

The Violence of Love

“We have never preached violence, except the violence of love, which left Christ nailed to a cross, the violence that we must each do to ourselves to overcome our selfishness and such cruel inequalities among us. The violence we preach is not the violence of the sword, the violence of hatred. It is the violence of love, of brotherhood, the violence that wills to beat weapons into sickles for work.”
~ Oscar A. Romero, The Violence of Love 
(Free eBook version...HERE)

Feast Day of Saint Ignatius of Loyola

The First Principle and Foundation
St. Ignatius begins his Spiritual Exercises with the below.
(Paraphrased by David L. Fleming, S.J.)

For more Ignatian Prayers check out Prayers & Creeds blog....HERE.

The Goal of our life is to live with God forever.
God, who loves us, gave us life.
Our own response of love allows God’s life
to flow into us without limit.

All the things in this world are gifts from God,
Presented to us so that we can know God more easily
and make a return of love more readily.
As a result, we appreciate and use all these gifts of God
Insofar as they help us to develop as loving persons.
But if any of these gifts become the center of our lives,
They displace God
And so hinder our growth toward our goal.

In everyday life, then, we must hold ourselves in balance
Before all of these created gifts insofar as we have a choice
And are not bound by some obligation.
We should not fix our desires on health or sickness,
Wealth or poverty, success or failure, a long life or a short one.
For everything has the potential of calling forth in us
A deeper response to our life in God.

Our only desire and our one choice should be this:
I want and I choose what better leads
To God’s deepening his life in me.

Ignatian Prayers & Spirituality in July

In honor of the feast day of Saint Ignatius on July 31, the website Ignatian Spirituality is celebrating by highlighting a selection of articles, blog posts, and videos to help you explore the riches of Ignatian spirituality. You can click on the banner above to explore the daily offerings this July.

 I also share a selection of Ignatain prayers I have posted on Prayers & Creeds these past few years. These are either classic Ignatian prayers, prayers by Jesuits, or Ignatian-inspired prayers. You can check them out by clicking...HERE.

Or you can click on each individual prayer below. I will be posting additional Ignatian prayers throughout July.

The Examen of Consciousness

El Examen de Conciencia ~ Una oración a Dios

Anima Christi (English & Spanish)
A Favorite Prayer of Saint Ignatius

Anima Christi
Rephrasing of this ancient prayer by David L. Fleming, SJ

Prayer of Gratitude

Ignatian Prayer of Gratitude

Ignatian Prayer for Detachment

A Prayer for Spiritual Freedom

Holy Saturday & Patient Trust

This morning I began my Holy Saturday by reading the below reflection from Fr. James Martin, SJ., posted on his Facebook page. I thought it was timely and appropriate for my year of Patient Trust. A reminder that patient trust is also active waiting in hope!

Most of our lives are spent in Holy Saturday. In other words, most of our days are not filled with the unbearable pain of a Good Friday. Nor are they suffused with the unbelievable joy of an Easter. Some days are indeed times of great pain and some are of great joy, but most are…in between. Most are, in fact, times of waiting, much as the disciples waited during Holy Saturday. We’re waiting. Waiting to get into a good school. Waiting to meet the right person. Waiting to get pregnant. Waiting to get a job. Waiting for things at work to improve. Waiting for diagnosis from the doctor. Waiting for life just to get better. 

But there are different kinds of waiting. There is the wait of despair. Here we know--at least we think we know--that things could never get better, that God could never do anything with our situations. This may be the kind of waiting that forced the fearful disciples to hide behind closed doors on Holy Saturday, cowering in terror. Of course they could be forgiven; after Jesus was executed they were in danger of being rounded up and executed by the Roman authorities. (Something tells me, though, that the women disciples, who overall proved themselves better friends than the men during the Passion, were more hopeful.) Then there is the wait of passivity, as if everything were up to “fate.” In this waiting there is no despair, but not much anticipation of anything good either. 

Finally, there is wait of the Christian, which is called hope. It is an active waiting; it knows that, even in the worst of situations, even in the darkest times, God is at work. Even if we can’t see it clearly right now. The disciples’ fear was understandable, but we, who know how the story turned out, who know that Jesus will rise from the dead, who know that God is with us, who know that nothing will be impossible for God, are called to wait in faithful hope. And to look carefully for signs of the new life that are always right around the corner--just like they were on Holy Saturday.
~ From Fr. James Martin, SJ

Passion Week Hymn ~ In Love for Me

In Love for Me

This is my body, broken for you,
bringing you wholeness, making you free.
Take it and eat it, and when you do,
Do it in love for me.

This is my blood poured out for you,
bringing forgiveness, making you free.
Take it and drink it, and when you do,
do it in love for me.

Back to my Father soon I will go.
Do not forget me; then you will see
I am still with you, and you will know
you’re very close to me.

Filled with my Spirit, how you will grow!
You are my branches; I am the tree.
If you are faithful, others will know
you are alive in me.

Love one another – I have loved you,
and I have shown you how to be free;
serve one another, and when you do,
do it in love for me.

Vv. 1-2 Jimmy Owens
Vv. 3-5 Damian Lundy, based on John 14-16

Taken from: In Celebration of Love - The Washing of the Feet (The Art and Inspiration of Sieger Koder), Pauline Books &  Media, 1997.

Naming My Year…

Almost three months into 2012 and I have finally determined my name for the year…“Patient Trust.” 

Back in December I shared about 2011 being my year of stability and my desire to name my 2012…HERE.  All this was inspired by my friend Daphne’s blog post, “Choosing to Name Your Year.” 

Well, better late than never, I guess?!

A couple weeks ago I stumbled upon these words of reflection and encouragement on “Patient Trust”…HERE. These words have stuck with me ever since. In my posture of seeking and attentiveness to God at work in my life, I tend to be pretty impatient with myself. At times, I have a hard time with unanswered questions and formation in process in my life. I’d much rather skip the waiting and just cut to the chase.

I’m not sure where these current stirrings of my heart, mind and soul will lead. I am uncertain how these stirrings will deepen my formation and vocation this 2012. But, I desire to seek and wait in a posture of “Patient Trust.” I also hope to live this posture of patient trust in my relationships and accompaniment with others this coming year.

This is my hope and prayer for 2012!

Traditional Irish Blessing

Happy Saint Patrick's Day! I stumbled upon this Celtic Blessing this morning (Thanks Jamie & Missional blog!). Good words of blessing and prayer for one another!

 

Traditional Irish Blessing
I wish you not a path devoid of clouds,
nor a life on a bed of roses,
not that you might never need regret,
nor that you shall never feel pain.
No, that is not my wish for you.
My wish for you is that you might be brave in times of trial
when others lay crosses upon your shoulders.
When mountains must be climbed
and chasms are to be crossed;
when hope scarce can shine through.
That every gift God gave you might grow along with you.
And let you give the gift of joy to all who care for you.
That you may always have a friend who is worth that name.
Who you can trust, and who helps you in times of sadness.
Who will defy the storms of daily life at your side.
One more wish I have for you:
That in every hour of joy and pain you may feel God close to you.
This is my wish for you and for all who care for you.
This is my hope for you, now and forever.

Patient Trust

Above all, trust in the slow work of God.
We are quite naturally impatient in everything
     to reach the end without delay.
We should like to skip the intermediate stages.
We are impatient of being on the way to something
     unknown, something new.
And yet it is the law of all progress
     that it is made by passing through
     some stages of instability—
     and that it may take a very long time.

And so I think it is with you;
     your ideas mature gradually—let them grow,
     let them shape themselves, without undue haste.
Don’t try to force them on,
     as though you could be today what time
     (that is to say, grace and circumstances
     acting on your own good will)
     will make of you tomorrow.

Only God could say what this new spirit
     gradually forming within you will be.
Give Our Lord the benefit of believing
     that his hand is leading you,
and accept the anxiety of feeling yourself
     in suspense and incomplete.
~ Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, SJ

Taken from: dotMagis: the blog of Ignatian Spirituality.com
http://ignatianspirituality.com/8078/prayer-of-theilhard-de-chardin/

Raw Material for Discernment

 I continue to go through the Ignatian Lenten Retreat that I shared about in my previous post below. If nothing else, you might like to check out Week Two of the retreat that serves as an excellent foundation for the Examen. Here is the link: Week Two.

My retreat reflection this morning included this quote, which was a good reminder for me today.

Ignatius’s Great Discovery
The point has often been made that the Christian Gospel is a story of strength and triumph arising from weakness and defeat. The Savior is a poor man in a provincial, backwater land. Salvation comes about through suffering and death. In the words of Mary’s Magnificat prayer: “He has brought down the powerful from their thrones, and lifted up the lowly; he has filled the hungry with good things, and sent the rich away empty.”

We’re afflicted with divided hearts that cause us to be burdened by angst, uncertainty, and fear when making important decisions. But this very confusion of thoughts and feelings is the place where we find God’s footprints. It’s the raw material for discernment.

This was Ignatius’s great discovery.

— J. Michael Sparough, SJ; Jim Manney; Tim Hipskind, SJ,
What’s Your Decision?

Examination of Conscience – A Prayer Practice for Lent

This Lent I am going through an adapted version of the Spiritual Exercises, called “An Ignatian Prayer Adventure.” I just completed Week One and I recommend this eight-week retreat for prayer and reflection. It also serves as an excellent introduction to Ignatian spirituality. You can check it out by clicking: HERE.

Alongside this retreat, I am using a prayer book I recently purchased, Hearts on Fire: Praying with the Jesuits. I am discovering lots of new prayers and practices that compliment and speak into my formation at this time. The book includes a prayer practice appropriate for Lent called, “Examination of Conscience” based on the examen that Ignatius included in the Spiritual Exercises and urged his friends to do daily. I plan to utilize this practice during Lent and I thought I would pass it on for those who want to check it out. I have posted it on my other blog, “Quotations & Stuff.”

You can find it by clicking here:
Examination of Conscience

Lent 2012

If you haven't noticed, I have been a bit MIA on my blog recently. I'll be back soon! I have not posted my annual Lent resources and reflections. I hope to share some fresh Lent posts soon, but, in the meantime, you can check out my previous posts on Lent from years past by clicking....HERE.

Many of the links and resources remain the same.

Until soon!!

2011 Reads & Looking Ahead to 2012

Thanks to Goodreads for helping me easily compile my list of books read in 2011! All good books that uniquely spoke into my year and further shaped my formation.

- Gracias! A Latin American Journal, Henri Nouwen
- Praying our Goodbyes, Joyce Rupp
- Transitions: Making Sense of Life's Changes, William Bridges
- The Enneagram: A Christian Perspective, Richard Rohr
- The Road To Assisi: The Essential Biography Of St. Francis, Paul Sabatier (Editor, Jon Sweeny)
- Pedagogy of the Oppressed, Paulo Freire
- Living Mission: The Voices and Vision of New Friars, Scott Bessenecker
- An Ignatian Spirituality Reader, George W. Traub
- The Pillars of the Earth, Ken Follett
- Waiting for the Light: An Advent Devotional, Christine Sine
- Monastery Journey to Christmas, Brother Victor-Antoine D’Avila-Latourrette

Next up in 2012…
This week I started compiling my reading list for 2012. I’m hoping to work in more fiction and autobiographies this year! Here’s my wish list for reads, so far…

- The Sacrament of the Present Moment, Jean-Pierre de Caussade
- Bread and Wine: Readings for Lent and Easter (Orbis Books)
- The Long Loneliness: Autobiography of Legendary Catholic Activist, Dorothy Day
- The Seven Storey Mountain: An Autobiography of Faith, Thomas Merton
- Life of Pi, Yann Martel
- Hearts On Fire: Praying with Jesuits, Edited by Michael Harter, SJ
- The Scandal of Service: Jesus Washes Our Feet, Jean Vanier
- From Brokenness to Community, Jean Vanier
- Transforming Mission: Paradigm Shifts in Theology of Mission, David J Bosch

Yesterday I came across the below quote on “spiritual reading” from Jean-Pierre de Caussade in Richard Foster’s introduction to the book, The Sacrament of the Present Moment. I appreciate this reminder for a few of the books I plan to read this year.

“Read quietly, slowly, word for word to enter into the subject more with the heart than the mind…From time to time make short pauses to allow these truths time to flow through the recesses of the soul and to give occasion for the operation of the Holy Spirit who, during these peaceful pauses and times of silent attention, engraves and imprints these heavenly truths in the heart…Should this peace and rest last for a longer time it will be all the better. When you find that your mind wanders resume your reading and continue thus, frequently, renewing these same pause.” 

Prayers for 2012

As I begin 2012 there are a few prayers and quotes of inspiration that I plan to keep close at hand these first weeks of the new year. Thanks to my friends in my blogosphere who have shared them.

Help Me to Believe in Beginnings...HERE
Posted on Prayers & Creeds. Shared by my friend Ben.

Prayer for 2012...HERE
Shared by Christine Sine on Godspace.

Orthodox Morning Prayer from the Elders of Optino...HERE
Posted on Prayers & Creeds. Shared by my friend Adam.

And...for my Spanish speaking friends, this quote from Eduardo Galeano. Shared by my friend Carolina.

Ojalá seamos dignos de la desesperada esperanza. 

Ojalá podamos tener el coraje de estar solos y la valentía de arriesgarnos a estar juntos, porque de nada sirve un diente fuera de la boca, ni un dedo fuera de la mano. 

Ojalá podamos ser desobedientes, cada vez que recibimos órdenes que humillan nuestra conciencia o violan nuestro sentido común. 

Ojalá podamos ser tan porfiados para seguir creyendo, contra toda evidencia, que la condición humana vale la pena, porque hemos sido mal hechos, pero no estamos terminados.

Ojalá podamos ser capaces de seguir caminando los caminos del viento, a pesar de las caídas y las traiciones y las derrotas, porque la historia continúa, más allá de nosotros, y cuando ella dice adiós, está diciendo: hasta luego.

Ojalá podamos mantener viva la certeza de que es posible ser compatriota y contemporáneo de todo aquel que viva animado por la voluntad de justicia y la voluntad de belleza, nazca donde nazca y viva cuando viva, porque no tienen fronteras los mapas del alma ni del tiempo.