Prayers & Creeds

Awhile back I posted a link to Prayers & Creeds on my sidebar. Those who started the blog in South Africa offer this invitation, “Several of us with an appreciation for the creeds and prayers of the Church decided to create this site. We would love for you to say these with us each day - joining others around the globe in worship through liturgy.”

Beginning today, I am the new Friday contributor to the blog. Every Friday I will post a prayer or creed from scripture or ancient and contemporary communities and saints. I am looking forward to being a part of this and invite you to pray with us! I begin with Paul’s prayer for the Ephesians which has recently been my prayer in abiding for friends here in Buenos Aires and around the world.

Click here - http://prayersandcreeds.wordpress.com/

prayers & creeds

I have enjoyed praying some ancient and recent prayers from the blog, Prayers & Creeds. New prayers and liturgies are posted each day. There is something cool about joining others around the world in sharing in these prayers. I have also added the link to my blogroll on the side.

Prayer for Eastertide....Third Sunday of Easter

This prayer is adapted from The Book of Common Prayer for Resurrection Sunday. I think it is a good one to take hold of throughout the Eastertide season…

An Easter Prayer (Adapted from The Book of Common Prayer)
O God, who for our redemption gave your only begotten Son to death on the Cross, and by his glorious resurrection has delivered us from the power of our enemy: Grant that we who celebrate with joy the day of our Lord’s resurrection, may be raised from the death of sin by your life-giving Spirit. Grant us so to die daily to sin, that we may evermore live with him in the joy of his resurrection, empowered and transformed by your grace in and among us.

O Lord, so stir up in your church, indeed in each of us, that Spirit of adoption and reconciliation that is made possible by your grace revealed in Jesus the Christ, that we being renewed in both body and mind, may worship and serve you in sincerity and truth. We pray this in the name of the same Jesus Christ our Lord who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.

Good Friday

Last night I came home from dinner and watching The Passion of the Christ with the Deans just a few minutes before midnight. Just across the street and outside my window is a historic church, San Pedro Telmo built by the Jesuits in 1733. As I was getting ready for bed, I heard singing outside. I looked outside the window and there was a fairly large crowd singing outside the church to begin Good Friday. It was a meaningful close to my mediations on the Stations of the Cross this Lent. Later this afternoon I will go back to the Deans and we will go through a portion of the Book of Common Prayer Good Friday liturgy. Tonight I will attend a Good Friday communion service at the church.

On another note, I would appreciate prayers for my grandfather who is 85. He had two intensive care hospital visits late last year and he has never fully regained his health and strength. His heart is extremely weak and has an irregular heartbeat. Most recently this last month he was fighting a bad virus, so the doctors are giving him extra attention right now. Please pray for his health and God’s strength for both him and my grandma. I know they are tired and discouraged at times.

Here are a couple pics of the church outside my window and balcony.

connecting lent and easter

Yesterday I got internet going at my temporary apartment here in Buneos Aires. This should make it easier to get back into a blogging groove these weeks ahead. I continue to find writing and blogging a helpful way to process and reflect...whether anyone actually reads this stuff or not. :)

Amidst the busy activity of preparing to leave Argentina, I spent time this Lent season in the Stations of the Cross. Scriptures of Jesus’ arrest, trial, and crucifixion, along with a couple resources guided my meditations these past several weeks of Lent. Thursday night I will bring my way of the cross Lenten journey to a close and watch The Passion of the Christ with the Jeremiah and Jennifer. (The Forcattos are out of town for a few days spending time with Walter’s parents who are here visiting Argentina.) The film is center around the traditional Stations of the Cross. Today in my exploring of the city, I visited the downtown Cathedral. The Cathedral had some very old, beautiful, and detailed Stations of the Cross paintings around church. I spent time observing the people surrounding Jesus and their different reactions to him and his cross. However, I did notice how sanitized and clean Jesus was in these paintings. Not a drop of blood on him from the beatings that proceeded his carrying his cross to Golgotha. Even the crown of thorns seemed to sit gently on his head. He actually looked pretty capable of carrying the cross without falling down or needing assistance. The paintings were a pretty big contrast to the reality represented in The Passion.

I have been contemplating Romans 6:1-14 this Passion Week in preparation for Good Friday and Easter. “If we have been united with him in death like his, we will certainly also be united with him in a resurrection like his…Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him” Romans 6:5, 8. While Lent and Good Friday gives space for self-examination to more deeply grasp our death to sin because of Christ’s work on the cross, Resurrection Sunday reminds us of the new life and hope we also share in Christ.

In my blog surfing this week, I found a great quote from N.T. Wright on Christine Sine’s Godspace blog….

“So how can we learn to live as wide-awake people, as Easter people?… In particular if Lent is a time to give things up, Easter ought to be a time to take things up…. If Calvary means putting to death things in your life that need killing off if you are to flourish as a Christian and as a truly human being, then Easter should mean planting, watering, and training up things in your life (personal and corporate) that ought to be blossoming, filling the garden with color and perfume and in due course bearing fruit… Jesus resurrection is the beginning of God’s new project not to snatch people away from earth to heaven but to colonize earth with the life of heaven.”
(Surprised by Hope: Rethinking Heaven, the Resurrection, and the Mission of the Church by N.T.Wright)

(Looks like I have one more book to get my hands on this year!) These words of Wright helped me connect the dots of Lent and Easter...The death to sin and resurrection of new life we share with Christ that we read about in Romans 6. Really timely connections points as I continue in my themes of hope, reconciliation, and new life this year. Especially good stuff to contemplate and soak in this Holy Weekend ahead! As Lent draws to a close and Good Friday is upon us, may our year-round season of living the Resurrection take deeper root in our hearts and impact the way we live and share the Kingdom with those around us!

currently reading...

I just started reading The Spiritual Formation of Leaders by Chuck Miller. Chuck was one of the mentors of The Journey retreats I participated in recently. Some of my friends will recognize the "pitcher/cup...saucer/plate" paradigm on the cover of the book that comes from Chuck. I am just a few chapters into the book and already realizing how deep his mentoring and priorities in following Jesus have shaped my life these past few years. I am looking forward to diving into this book as I pack and prepare to leave for Argentina in just a few weeks. Great timing!

ticket in hand!

I am now officially on my way to Buenos Aires, Argentina! I leave March 13 and will be there in time for Easter Week! I am grateful for God’s provision and look forward to being a part of all He is doing in Buenos Aires.

I have carried this Psalm and Lament (along with a few other anchor Scriptures) with me these past two years. I have found rest and encouragement in these promises! They seem especially appropriate as I offer my praises of thanksgiving and wait in eager anticipation and hope for all that is ahead!

“Yet this I call to mind and therefore I have HOPE: Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. I say to myself, ‘The Lord is my portion; therefore I will wait for him! The Lord is good to those whose hope is in him, to the one who seeks him; it is good to wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord.” ~ Lamentations 3:21-26

“Give me your lantern and compass,
give me a map,
So I can find my way to the sacred mountain,

to the place of your presence,
To enter the place of worship,
meet my exuberant God,
Sing my thanks with a harp,
magnificent God, my God.”
~ Psalm 43:3-4 (The Message)

st. benedict & lent

“In you, LORD my God, I put my trust. I trust in you; do not let me be put to shame, nor let my enemies triumph over me. No one who hopes in you will ever be put to shame, but shame will come on those who are treacherous without cause. Show me your ways, LORD, teach me your paths. Guide me in your truth and teach me, for you are God my Savior, and my hope is in you all day long. Remember, LORD, your great mercy and love, for they are from of old." ~ Psalm 25:1-6

Lent is nearly upon us with Ash Wednesday this February 6. Like Advent, making space for Lent is something fairly new in my relationship with God. Last year I attended my first Ash Wednesday service in Cape Town. This weekend I have been reading and reflecting some more on Lent in preparation for the weeks ahead. My prayer and desire is to make effort to posture my heart for the themes of Lent. Part of my preparation has been reading a bit of what St. Benedict teaches on Lent in his Rule of Life. He says, “the life of a monk ought always to have the character of a Lenten observance.” For St. Benedict Lent was the model for the monastic life of those striving to live under the Rule.

St. Benedict proposes the following Lenten practices in the Rule: 1) refraining from sin; 2) prayer with tears; 3) holy reading; 4) repentance; 5) abstinence from food. Of course, these practices and posture are important year round, but during Lent they can take on increased attention and discipline leading up to Easter. Perhaps these timeless Lenten principles from St. Benedict can help us rediscover fresh and renewed meaning and experience in Lent.

I confess that I am experiencing some tension and reluctance in my desire to dive deeper into Lent this year. As I consider the five practices above, I would rather avoid some of them. The focus on sin, tears, repentance, and abstinence is not easy. My watered down understanding of Lent is a much easier path. This morning Psalm 25 is especially significant as I consider Lent.

Lord, show me your ways, teach me your paths, and guide me in your truth! You are God my Savior, and my hope is in you!

What an appropriate prayer of hope and trust in the Lord as we enter this Lenten season of 2008!

ash wednesday & lent...next week

Ash Wednesday is already next week...February 6! Like Advent, Lent has recently become a increasingly meaningful annual rhythm in my abiding with God. I hope to post some reflections and links during this Lenten season, in preparation for Easter Week. Here are just a few for starters....

CRI Voice: Introduction to Lent
The Season of Lent by Dennis Bratcher
(Includes other Lent and Holy Week readings and links.)
http://www.cresourcei.org/cylent.html

A Journey into Wholeness Lenten Series by Christine Sine
(This guide was created by Christine Sine in 2007…just adjust the dates for 2008.)
http://www.slideshare.net/seasickdoctor/a-journey-into-wholeness-lenten-series

Godspace Blog by Christine Sine
(Should include some good Lent reflections and links.)
http://godspace.wordpress.com/

"monestary without walls" in 2008

One of my favorite metaphors for the spiritual life comes from Eugene Peterson in his book, Under the Unpredictable Plant. I consider Peterson one of my spiritual directors from his writings. In this book he seeks to reclaim the spiritual dimensions of pastoral call and vocational holiness, using the example of Jonah. He describes a metaphor of a “monastery without walls.”

“What is required is something large enough to give our spirituality breathing room and ample space for a great variety of circumstances, moods, and levels of growth…The only substantial difference between a monk’s monastery and the pastor’s parish is that the monastery has walls and the parish does not. But walls are not the critical factor in either praying or not praying. What is critical is an imagination large enough to contain all of life, all worship and work as prayer, set in a structure (askesis) adequate to the actual conditions in which it is lived out. [our monastery without walls].”

This is my hope and prayer for 2008, as I prepare to move to Buenos Aires within a couple of months. May our monasteries without walls in 2008 contain plenty of spiritual breathing room and space for abiding with God, sharing life with one another, and mission. All of it is our spiritual act of worship and prayer….our monastery without walls!

a sabbath prayer

I continue to enjoy my rhythm of Sabbath this fall. I am loving my mornings of solitude, reading, & prayer, afternoons with friends and outside, and evening worship with my church community! However, recently, I have been more mindful and aware of those who can not afford the time or space to enjoy the day of rest that God gives us to enjoy (much less time for solitude, silence, and contemplation). Those who do not earn a living wage and must work long hours 7-days a week…those who are oppressed and persecuted… those who are exhausted and worn out from living and sleeping on the streets…those who are hungry and starving….and those who suffer pain, abuse, or disease.

Just two Sundays ago, I was enjoying my Mother Teresa book on the beautiful bluffs of Long Beach overlooking the ocean when a couple awoke from a rough night of sleep under a tree. Their day began with the stress of life and survival and a big argument. Their reality was a good interruption to my savoring the moment. It is something I need to continue to wrestle with, as I find my own rhythm of life and Sabbath.

Christine Sine, in her book Godspace (formally titled Sacred Rhythms), shares her similar struggle. She shares her Sabbath prayer which reminds her of God’s promises for Sabbath rest both now and eternal.

As we close this Sabbath day, O God, we come longing for your future to be revealed.
In a world polluted and destroyed, we remember you promise renewal for all creation,
Your Sabbath rest is all inclusive.
In a world where many are heavy laden, you promise to take our yoke upon you,
Your Sabbath rest shares our burdens.
In a world where many are imprisoned and persecuted, you promise to set the captives free,
Your Sabbath rest frees from oppression.
In a world where many are starving, you promise to feed the hungry,
Your Sabbath rest provides abundance for all.
In a world where many are diseased and disabled you promise to heal the sick,
Your Sabbath rest brings us wholeness.
We live in anticipation of that day when Christ returns, and a Sabbath rest comes for all peoples,
Not alone but as part of a great international community that is your body.
Maranatha, come, Lord Jesus, come into our hearts and our lives,
And grant us your eternal Sabbath rest.

May our Sabbath day and worship always leave space and make effort to include and invite those who are “weary and heavy laden.” May we point to God’s promises and seek to be instruments of those promises of His rest today! While we also look forward to the day when Jesus returns to fully liberate and usher in eternal Sabbath rest!

rhythm of life

Wow, most of my recent posts & reflections have been all about spiritual life & formation. I guess that is where my head and heart is these days! I'll try and mix it up soon. But, in the meantime....

I was just going through some books beginning to prepare some material on developing a rhythm or rule of life. "A rule of life is a pattern of spiritual disciplines that provides structure and direction for growth in holiness...It is meant to help establish a rhythm of daily living, a basic order within which new freedoms can grow. A rule of life, like a trellis, curbs our tendency to wander and supports our frail effort to grow spiritually....A rule of life allows us to cultivate and deepen this growing likeness [to Christ]. It fosters gifts of the Spirit in personal life and human community, helping to form us into the persons God intends us to be."

If this above quote from Marjorie Thompson sparks your interest, check out her book, Soul Feast: An Invitation to the Spiritual Life. It discusses prayer, worship, fasting, self-examination, and hospitality and gives helpful instruction on how to develop and nurture these practices in our daily life. Another similar book is God Space: Time for Peace in the Rhythms of Life (previous title Sacred Rhythms) by Christine Sine.

silencio and incarnatio

The spiritual practice of Lectio Divina has been a valuable and significant part of my journey and formation these past several years. Lectio Divina is Latin for “sacred reading” and represents an early monastic technique of scripture reading and prayer. It is a way of praying with Scripture that calls one to study, ponder, listen and, finally, pray from God's Word. The traditional steps of this “ladder” of lectio were first articulated by Guigo II in the 1100’s and include four steps: lectio (reading), meditatio (meditation), oratio (prayer), and contemplatio (contemplation). It is a way of listening to the text of the scriptures as if we were in conversation with Christ and he were suggesting the topics of conversation.

Robert Mulholland in his book, Invitation to a Journey, includes spiritual reading and Lectio Divina in his list of classical spiritual disciplines. “Lectio is a posture of approach and a means of encounter with a text that enables the text to become a place of transforming encounter with God. In addition to the four classic steps of Lectio Divina (lectio, meditatio, oratio, contemplatio), Mulholland adds two steps, one at either end…..silencio at the beginning and incarnatio at the end.

These additional steps have been helpful to me, so I will share Mulholland’s explanation here…..

“Silencio is our preparation for spiritual reading. Shaped as we are by an informational culture, trained to approach the text as the ones who are in control of the text, we need to take time, at the beginning of the process of spiritual reading, to engage in a deeper internal shift in the posture of our being….John Wesley suggests we come to the text ‘with a single eye to know the whole will of God, and a fixed resolution to do it.’ The second half of Wesley’s guideline introduces the shift required in the deep inner posture of our being. It is a shift of the control of the process from ourselves to God. It is a deep commitment of our being to God’s purposes, even before we know what those purposes may be.”

“…we must add a concluding step, incarnatio. The whole focus of spiritual reading is to encounter God in ways that enable God to transform our being and doing in the world. This step brings us full circle to what we do in silencio. There we placed ourselves before the text to seek the whole will of God with a ‘fixed resolution to do it.’ Incarnatio is the fulfillment of that resolution.”

a new rhythm of sabbath...

This past year I have tried with spoty success to be more intentional about making space for weekly Sabbath! Pastor and author, Eugene Peterson, once wrote an article titled "Confessions of a Former Sabbath Breaker." Needless to say, I relate! God gave us Sabbath rest for a reason with our best interest in mind. Why is it so easy to neglect obedience to rest?! Anyway, today was the "launch" for a new rhythm and discipline of Sabbath these months ahead before leaving for Argentina early next year.

My church started a new Sunday evening worship service, Grace at Night. So, I am looking forward to attending this evening service and beginning my Sabbath with morning solitude and space for God. Today I kicked things off by going to one of my favorite local places, an outdoor cafe overlooking the Pacific Ocean at the Long Beach Art Museum. I also started reading Mother Teresa's private writings in the new book, Come Be My Light, which has spurred a lot of conversation and debate. After a great morning with God, coffee, and reading....I enjoyed an afternoon phone conversation with a good friend and took it slow. This Sabbath day closed with some meaningful worship and reflection on "Jesus, Light of the World" at Grace at Night!

This new Sabbath rhythm got off to a great start! It was a good day!

Come Be My Light begins with Mother Teresa’s mother’s parting words to her daughter as she left home for India, “Put your hand in His hand, and walk alone with Him. Walk ahead, because if you look back you will go back.” I appreciated reading more on Mother Teresa’s early years of formation and growing into her vocation. Her vocation was the “fruit of her profound relationship with Jesus.” I paid special close attention to the formation process that Mother Teresa went through those early years in the order....Mother Teresa truly walked ahead in spiritual formation and growing into her vocation!

some symbols that keep me centered...

Pitcher/Cup...Saucer/Plate

The Pitcher represents God, all He is and all He desires to pour into our life...The Cup represents our life...The Saucer represents our relationships and community...The Plate represents ministry programs and events. The plate sits on the bottom, the saucer in the middle, and the cup is on top.

In this symbol, priority is given to the pitcher-cup relationship between us and God. In John 15:4ff, Jesus teaches his followers to “remain” or “abide” in Him. The Christian life is about first abiding under a steady outpouring of intimacy and relationship with God, so He can then overflow into the saucer of our relationships and plate of ministry. Community and ministry with others must overflow out of the spillage of God’s love and grace experienced in our own lives.

Vine & Branches

"Abide in me as I abide in you. Just as the branch cannot bear fruit by itself unless it abides in the vine, neither can you unless you abide in me. I am the vine, you are the branches. Those who abide in me and I in them bear much fruit, because apart from me you can do nothing." ~John 15:4-5

I took this picture of the many grapes ready to be harvested in Romania this month.

San Damiano Cross and Bread & Cup

WMF Prayer Rug

The Word Made Flesh community in Romania is making this prayer rug in their chapel. The bags up on top are filled with fabrics from each WMF community around the world.

Candles representing prayers of lament for people living and suffering in poverty around the world.

abiding!

5"I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing…. 9"Just as the Father has loved Me, I have also loved you; abide in My love. 10"If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love; just as I have kept My Father's commandments and abide in His love. 11"These things I have spoken to you so that My joy may be in you, and that your joy may be made full.”
~ John 15:5, 9-11 (NASB)

Most of you know that an important part of my journey these past couple of years has been a retreat process called The Journey led by The Leadership Institute in Southern California. The retreats are a two-year process of joining together with the same people to share in the inner and outer journey of life and ministry. I can’t imagine this season of sabbatical and discernment with this process! I highly recommend it! Check out www.theleadershipinstitute.org.

A key passage for The Journey process is John 15, when Jesus teaches on the vine and the branches. In that passage there are three priorities that become clear in Jesus discipleship: 1) abiding in His Love, 2) loving one another, and 3) bearing fruit. ABIDING comes first! I have blogged and emailed on this before. But, lately I have been trying to grow in my understanding of all Jesus meant by “abide in me” (or “remain in me” in the NIV).

- The Message paraphrase says it this way: “Make yourselves at home in my love. If you keep my commands, you'll remain intimately at home in my love” (John 15:9-10).
- In Krio, the language in Sierra Leone, abiding translates into "de insay" or "stay inside," often accompanied by the motion of putting your fingers of one hand inside your cupped other hand.
- My friends Greg and Jana emailed me that the verb “abide” in Czech is “zustat" or "remain in my love and be faithful."
- Journey mentor, Chuck Miller, shared with us the analogy of picher/cup…saucer/plate. Abiding is the “pitcher and cup” relationship between God and I. The pitcher represents all God is and all He wants to pour into my life. The cup is my life. The goal is to abide, remain, and stay under the outpouring and relationship of God’s love. That love should then overflow into my relationships (saucer) and ministry (plate). The above picture is a pitcher/cup…saucer/plate that I used when facilitating a day retreat in Sierra Leone. (I had to improvise with a thermos instead of a pitcher.)

I would love to collect some other understandings of abide in other cultures, translations, and languages. Please add to my list by commenting here or emailing me! My prayer is that we all may give priority to remaining, staying inside, and making ourselves at home in the love of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit!