CELTIC MEDITATIONS 3: Closing Morning Prayer

This week's meditations are based on the Closing Prayer from each morning of J Phillip Newell's book, CELTIC BENEDICTION Morning and Night Prayer.  All red, italicized print is a direct quote from the book.  

7.18.15  Be Still

Psalm 46:10

Be still and know that I am God.

SATURDAY MORNING CLOSING PRAYER

In the busyness of this day

Grant me a stillness of seeing, O God.

In the conflicting voices of my heart

Grant me a calmness of hearing.

Let my seeing and hearing, my words and my actions

Be rooted in a silent certainty of your presence.

Let my passions for life

And the longings for justice that stir within me

Be grounded in the experience of your stillness.

Let my life be rooted in the ground of your peace, O God,

Let me be rooted in the depths of your peace.  (JPN)

               I am off this morning for a two day retreat with a group of Presbyterian women.  We gather at the Ascension Episcopal Camp in Cove, Oregon.  There will be around 30 of us, 6 from our church, including my mother-in-law Doris.  The theme is “Hope is Better Than Chocolate”  and I have to admit the word chocolate is what attracted me to the retreat!  But we shall look at hope, hope amidst darkness, hope in the middle of the light.  It will be a good opportunity to Be still and to be aware of God’s presence, to be rooted in the depths of peace.  I hope to grab a few moments to be by myself for reflection, to take a solitary walk, to find some roots in the busyness of the summer and our comings and goings. Perhaps a few moments of peace. 

7.19.15 Clothed in Light

Psalm 104:2 MSG

God, my God, how great you are!
    beautifully, gloriously robed,
Dressed up in sunshine…

SUNDAY MORNING CLOSING PRAYER

May the light of God

Illumine the heart of my soul.

May the flame of Christ

Kindle me to love,

May the fire of the Spirit

Free me to live

This day, tonight, and forever.  (JPN)

       I have been waiting to use this scripture for another ‘light’ day in the prayerbook!  I loved the idea of God clothed in the light of the sunrise and sunset, the rays of sun streaming down between cracks in the clouds.  But I also love the image of each one of us also garbed in God’s light, allowing that light to radiate from us.  Light, flames, and fire that free us to love. 

7.20.15  Mending Waters

John 7:38 MSG

“If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. Rivers of living water will brim and spill out of the depths of anyone who believes in me…” 

MONDAY MORNING CLOSING PRAYER

In the beginning, O God,

Your Spirit swept over the chaotic deep like a wild wind

And Creation was born.

In the turbulence of my own life

And the unsettled waters of the world today

Let there be new birthing of your Spirit. 

In the currents of my own heart

And the upheavals of the world today

Let there be new birthing of your mighty Spirit. JPN

          At the retreat I attended over the weekend, we discussed hope, repair, and how to stitch together the pieces of our life in the face of ‘upheaval’.  Thus when I read this morning’s prayer about turbulence and unsettled waters, my mind instantly went to our conversations.  I can visualize the rebirthings of our hearts as the mending of our Spirits, the ‘wild wind of the Spirit’ the needle that stitches our lives back together.  And through that mending comes the Hope of our faith in our Creator God.  

7.21.15  Abundance

John 10:10 VOICE

 I came to give life with joy and abundance.

TUESDAY MORNING CLOSING PRAYER

I have tasted the fruit of the earth, O God.

I have seen autumn trees hang heavily with heaven’s gifts.

I have known people pregnant with your spirit of generosity.

Let these be guides to me this day….

May I know that deeper than any fallowness in me

Is the seed planted in the womb of my soul.

May I know that greater than any barrenness in the world

Is the harvest to be justly shared. (JPN)

 

Prayers prayed, but not embedded.  This mandala was
created at the retreat as I remember the profusion
of wildflowers during last week's hikes. 

         Abundance.  It is the time of year when wildflowers are in profusion, the vegetable garden is beginning to produce (love those zucchini), the local wheat fields are thick and ripe, fruit trees are becoming heavy with ripe bounty, and abundance seems to be the norm.  Yet abundance can be so localized, so unevenly distributed.  It is said that our world can easily produce enough for all, yet so many go to bed hungry, so many are malnourished.  Greater than any barrenness is ‘the harvest to be justly shared’.  What can I bring to the table of the world this day?  What can I bring to fill my neighbor?  May I be pregnant with generosity. 

7.22.15  HEALING

John 15:12 MSG

This is my command: Love one another the way I loved you. 

WEDNESDAY MORNING CLOSING PRAYER:

O Sun behind all suns

O Soul within all souls

Grant me the grace of the dawn’s glory

Grant me the strength of the sun’s rays

That I maybe well in my own soul

And part of the world’s healing this day.

That I may be well in my own soul

And part of the world’s healing this day. 

          What does it mean to be ‘part of the world’s healing’?  There is so much asunder, so many adrift, so much conflict and destruction.  This was somewhat the theme of our retreat last weekend.  What can we do when things unravel?  We can pick up our needle of hope and begin to take a stitch to mend life.  It may only be a small, tiny stitch in one patch of fabric, but it is a start and it may be OUR part.  We can’t mend everything, but we can be a part of healing in our small corner of the globe. One stitch at a time.  One patch at a time.  

               I am going to take one of my drawings from the retreat and put my prayers into the fabric.  May God’s healing descend upon those who are in need, spiritually, emotionally, physically.  May God reveal to me ways in which I can be a part – perhaps ways beyond my prayers.  

7.23.15  Bread of Life

John 6:35 MSG

Jesus said, ‘I am the bread of life.’

THURSDAY MORNING CLOSING PRAYER

The vitality of God be mine this day

The vitality of the God of life.

The passion of Christ be mine this day

The passion of the Christ of love.

The wakefulness of the Spirit be mine this day

The wakefulness of the Spirit of justice.

The vitality and passion and wakefulness of God be mine

That I may be fully alive this day

The vitality and passion and wakefulness of God

This is my Cinnamon Roll prayers from earlier
in the month.  Too busy baking and visiting
to draw today!

That I might be fully alive. 

          Jesus said, ‘I am the bread of life’.  I went on a baking binge today.  Jed and Luke arrived late last night and I wanted cinnamon rolls for my boys, then I thought, maybe some for Todd and Amy if they help Jed unload.  I had better have a pan for Jed to take to my sister and brother and company.  I needed to make communion bread for Sunday.  I bought three giant zucchini at the Farmer’s Market Wednesday night and needed to process the bounty, plus use up some of the frozen zuke in the freezer.  I baked.  Lots.  It was not an overly warm day, thank God!  Two batches of cin rolls, 3 batches of zuke bread, 2 of zuke chocolate bundt cake, 1 of molasses bread, 1 of zuke-cranberry muffins.   For me to have bread to share is vitality. 

7.24.15 Grace and New Beginnings

John 16:13 MSG

When the Friend comes, the Spirit of the Truth, he will take you by the hand and guide you into all the truth there is.

FRIDAY MORNING CLOSING PRAYER:

Glory be to you, O God, for the gift of life

Unfolding through those who have gone before me.

Glory be to you, O God,

For your life planted within my soul

And in every soul coming into the world.

Glory be to you, O God,

For the grace of new beginnings

Placed before me in every moment and encounter of life.

Glory, glory, glory

For the grace of new beginnings in every moment of life.

               Jed is embarking on new beginnings.  He left just 30 minutes ago to travel with Luke the last leg of his move back to Oregon from New Mexico.  He spent a day relaxing, visiting, and eating cinnamon rolls – a nice diversion from the past month of tying up loose ends and packing.  He is excited and ready for the glory of grace in new starts.  I pray the wisdom of the Spirit will go with him in his adventure.  I pray he seeks that guidance. 

               My brother is also embarking on new beginnings…of a different nature.  He seeks the glory of grace in forgiveness and the wisdom of the Spirit to guide him in sobriety.  I pray the Spirit will take him by the hand and guide him every moment and every day.  I cherish a God who gives us the grace of forgiveness, in all our weaknesses, and says no moment, no age, is ever too late. 

               New starts, new opportunities, new beginnings – all through the grace and glory of God.