PRAYING FOR THE
EARTH: A Prayerbook for Peace
John Philip Newell
WEDNESDAY PRAYERS
Blessed are those
who hunger for earth’s oneness, for they shall be satisfied. Matt 5.6
2.1.17 Wednesday Morning Prayer of Awareness
At the beginning of
this day
We wake
Not as separate
streams
But as countless
currents in a single flow. –Excerpt JPN
I am finding Newell’s prayer so very
appropriate right now, as Executive Orders continue to file from the White
House that seem intent on division and separation, on establishing levels of
worth. It is so very disturbing. Our
morning prayer today once again reminds us of the interconnected flow of the
River of Life. One River, many currents. Sometimes we are many streams but the important point is that we eventually all
come together.
The scripture translation used for this
Beatitude is different from the usual ‘hunger and thirst for righteousness’. Writers used the word oneness rather than
righteousness. Righteousness is defined
as that which is according to moral or divine law, ethical, and right. In multiple lists of synonyms for
righteousness I never found the term ‘oneness’.
Yet, isn’t God’s plan for us to love one another and respect one
another, to live in ‘oneness’? So
perhaps the term isn’t a synonym for righteousness, but a sign or symptom of
what it means to live a righteous life.
Last week we had a visual of separate
fibers woven together in one fabric of life.
Today we picture water currents in the River of Life.
God of Oneness….May we strive to keep our waters
flowing with the cleansing power of your Love.
Amen.
2.2.17 Wednesday Morning Prayer for the Life of
the World
Grant us your
longings for oneness, O God,
Amidst life’s
glorious multiplicities. – Excerpt JPN
 |
| The colors have meaning here: Red or Saffron is a sacred color for Buddhism and Hinduism, Purple for Christianity, Blue for Judism, and Green for Islam. |
God
of the Universe…be patient with us in our quarrels. Continue to remind us of our oneness. Amen.
2.3.17 Wednesday Morning Prayer of Blessing
Blessings on the
day born of night.
Blessings on the
earth wedded to heaven.
Blessings on the
creatures adored by angels.
Blessings on our
bodies alive with spirit.
Blessings on our
minds filled with dreams.
Blessings on our
hearts opened by love,
Blessings, blessings,
blessings. -JPN
‘Hearts opened by love’. What single action can we perform which can
transfigure a broken soul, a lonely heart, or a conflicted world? We can reach out to another in love. Simple acts of love can transform our
attitude, our outlook, and our relationships. The mere act of loving changes us. Blessings on hearts that are fully opened to love!
God
of Love….Open our hearts as we love one another. Amen.
Simple acts of love
Break open our hearts
to the magic of
God-blessings.
to the magic of
God-blessings.
2.4.17 Wednesday Scriptures
May God grant you
your heart’s desire. (Psalm 20.4)
Many
will come from east and west and eat together in the garden of God. (Matt.8:11)
Whichever way you
turn there is the face of God. (Quran –
The Cow 2.115)
God’s table
Provides nourishment,
A harvest of
grace
For all who dine
As One.
As One.
“Many will come from East and West and
eat together”. The Gospels are filled
with moments of communal dining. Jesus
often asked to eat with sinners, to have a meal together. The Passover Meal in the Upper Room has
become our Eucharist meal of remembrance.
Stony Point Conference Center brings people of many faiths together in
their dining hall to eat in unity, to share around a common table. Somehow, we are able to put our differences
aside at the table and focus on our similar needs for sustenance.
God
of Provision…May we join as one at your table of grace. Amen.
My
writer cousin, Lorrie, has issued a new Winter Poetry challenge of a short,
perhaps just four line, poem on a daily basis.
I shall try to summarize each day’s devotion in just the four to six lines. I added my poem for yesterday to
the previous post.
2.5.17 Wednesday Evening Prayer of Awareness
At the close of day
As busyness faces
As light dims
And footsteps
soften
We open again the
inner door of our being
To enter stillness
To feel our way
through the dark
To You. – Excerpt
JPN
I am still coming to grips with pondering
an evening prayer in the morning, yet I love the sense of peace and calm the
words bring. Do I stop and listen, do I
enter a stillness as sleep overcomes, to find a moment with God? Are my last thoughts as the darkness
surrounds me of God’s grace? Do I open
the door to my heart, to my inner soul, to reflect on the day and God glimpses
I was granted? Seems to me a good way to
end the day.
God of rest….Speak to me in the stillness of the night. Amen.
BEDTIME
As
my breath slows,
My
soul follows a path
Through
the darkness
To
stop and visit
With
God.
Whichever way we turn, O God, there is your face…
In the light of eyes we love,
In the salt of
tears we have tasted…
Whichever way we
turn, O God, there is your face
There is your face
Among us. – Excerpt
JPN
Everywhere I look
I find I see
The face of God
Reflected, combined,
United
In you and me.
God is among us. Yahweh is among us. Allah is among us. One God. Regardless of who we are, our race, our
religion, our gender, our politics, God is among us. We just have to look for the love in each
other. God is there.
Help me, God, to see your face whichever way I turn. Amen.
2.7.17 Wednesday Evening Prayer of
Blessing
May heaven’s
guardians of night welcome us….
That we may wake
refreshed.
That we may wake
with eyes of wonder.
That we may wake to
the world’s oneness.
That we may wake to
serve earth’s heaven-blessed oneness. –Excerpt JPN
Look with wonder,
Welcome the stranger
Wake to the miracle
Of heaven bringing
Us all together.
|
Did I awake this day with eyes of wonder? Can I, will I, look at my community, my life, with a fresh start? Can I find God at work, interweaving our souls together? Our world is so in need of this miracle, of this unity. What is my part?
God of Oneness…May we each do
our part to bring the unity of heaven to earth.
Amen.
No comments:
Post a Comment