CELTIC MEDITATIONS 1: Morning Opening Prayer

For the next few weeks I am going to concentrate my thoughts each morning on the opening prayer from my Celtic Benedictions Prayer book, written by J Phillip Newell of the Iona community. All italicized, red text is directly from Newell's book.

7.4.15  LISTEN!

Psalm 19:1-4 GNT

How clearly the sky reveals God's glory!
    How plainly it shows what he has done!
2 Each day announces it to the following day;
    each night repeats it to the next.
3 No speech or words are used,
    no sound is heard;
4 yet their message goes out to all the world
    and is heard to the ends of the earth.

SATURDAY MORNING:

In the silence of the early morning

Your Spirit hovers over the brink of the day

And new light pierces the darkness of the night.

In the silence of the morning

Life begins to stir around me

And I listen for the day’s first utterances.

In earth, sea and sky

And in the landscape of my own soul

I listen for utterances of your love, O God.

I listen for utterances of your love.

I was up early this morning and out on my back deck.  As I prayed through Newell’s prayer, I listened to God. God was speaking…..

Look closely.  You'll find the birds, the chimes, the hawk, the sprinklers, the wind
and the leaves, and the insects all within the design.  And our ears
must listen for the utterances of God's love.

I listen for God.

He speaks in the not-so-quiet of the early morning.

The piercing call of the resident hawk circling the sky.

A chorus of birds chirping and chattering.

The rhythm of sprinklers renewing the earth.

The silence of deer grazing in the neighbor yard.

The melodies of various wind-chimes gently filling the air.

The rustle of the lilac branches in the rush of the wind.

The popping of the coffee as it perks inside.

Distant, yet early, roar of mowers already at work, beating the afternoon heat.

The hum of insects, white noise in the background of my ears.

God is gently, quietly calling.

So softly we might not hear.

Let those who have ears to hear, listen!

God is speaking ‘utterances of His love’.

  

7.5.15  The Grace of Seeing

John 1:5
The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it."

SUNDAY MORNING:

I watch this morning for the light that the darkness has not overcome. 

I watch for the fire that was in the beginning and that burns still in the brilliance of the rising sun.

I watch for the glow of life that gleams in the growing earth and glistens in sea and sky.

I watch for your light, O God, in the eyes of every living creature and in the ever-living flame of my own soul.

If the grace of seeing were mine this day I would glimpse you in all that lives.

Grant me the grace of seeing this day.

Grant me the grace of seeing.  (JPN)

          Sunday morning.  I have coffee hour duties today.  I have fellowship duties today.  Luke and the PYGS are leaving for their mission trip right after church.   My mind is not peaceful in the storm of ‘duties’ and I fail to take the time to reflect on this opening prayer.  Yet the grace of seeing is bestowed in that the words call me back to my list of God-Moments.  I haven’t added to it for a couple days and the prayer calls me to stop and SEE glimpses of God in the days past.  That simple reflection has the power to calm the storm.  Katy preached this morning on Jesus Calming the Storm.  She talked of the storms in our lives, the buckets we fill to ‘bail out the boat’ when what we truly need is the faith and trust to simply curl up with Jesus and sleep alongside our Savior.  I absolutely loved the imagery of nestling confidently beside Christ on the bow of the boat.  Let the storms rage.  Perhaps my list is a step toward the bow and a step toward that kind of peace. 

               Hmmm….a spectacular sunset streaking red and orange across the sky BEFORE the glory of fireworks; star bursts of gold and red, silver and green, in the distant night sky; Jupiter and Venus still blazing light in the west; the light of old friends not seen for awhile; the flame of charcoal fire, embers barely lit; the warmth of hugs and hellos; the fireball energy of five little boys and the pride of watching youth grow into maturity as parents; God-light.  God.  Thank you, Lord, for the grace of seeing glimpses of you in all that lives, glimpses of God-light to illuminate my way.  

7.6.15 Bridled by Love, Bridled FOR Love

Psalm 18:1 MSG

I love you God, you make me strong!

MONDAY MORNING: 

For the morning light and its irresistible dawning,

For your untameable utterances of life

in boundless stretches of space and the strength of the waves of the sea

I give you thanks, O God.

Release in me the power of your Spirit that my soul may be free and my spirit strong,

Release in me the freedom of your Spirit that I may be bridled by nothing but love

That I may be bridled only by love. (JPN)

Release in me the power to love.

Wipe clean the chains that limit my action

The bondage of my own accord.

Release in me the power of your Spirit

That love overwhelms all else,

That love becomes my bridle,

That love controls my every thought.

Release and bridle.

Set free, yet restrained.

Opposites at first glance.

Yet one empowers the other. 

Bridled by love frees us to see God in all,

Bridled by love frees us to be God’s heart here

In this place and time. 
It frees us FOR Love. 

7.7.15  AWAKEN MY SENSES

Psalm 34:8  MSG

Open your mouth and taste, open your eyes and see—
how good God is.
Blessed are you who run to him.

TUESDAY MORNING:

In the beginning, O God,

When the firm earth emerged from the waters of life

You saw that it was good. 

The fertile ground was moist

The seed was strong

And earth’s profusion of color and scent was born.

Awaken my senses this day

To the goodness that still stems from Eden.

Awaken my senses to the goodness that can still spring forth

In me and in all that has life. (JPN)

Awaken in me.  Open my eyes to see!  Open my ears to hear!  Smell!  Touch textures!  Awaken my senses!  God is present.  In the amaryllis that refuses to die, but in the heat of summer pushes long blades of green upward.  Growth springing forth.  God is present – in the daily surge of green that radiates from the cucumber vines, rapidly creeping across the garden plot.  Growth springing forth.  Goodness and life.  We can bemoan the news and the pain and suffering of our world and forget to notice that God is present.  Goodness is present.  May we savor and taste, see and acknowledge our God alive.  Our God weeping with us in the suffering, knowing when we see the blessing and life in each other, the goodness and growth, we will act in his name.  Awaken in me a vision of God-present, awaken in me where I must act in God’s name.  

7.8.15  Dark to Light.
Psalm 143:8 GNT
Remind me each morning of your constant love,
    for I put my trust in you.
My prayers go up to you;
    show me the way I should go.

WEDNESDAY MORNING PRAYER:
With the rising of the sun life rises again within me, O God.
In the dawning of the morning light you lead me from the mists of the night
into the clarity of the day.
In the new light of this day bring me a clearer knowing
of the mystery that first bore me from the dark
Bring me to a clearer knowing of the love from which all life is born.  (JPN)

Womb. Clouded.  Dark. Night.  
Unknowing.  Uncertain.
Birth.  Emergence.  Misty light. Mother's love. 
Rebirth in Christ.   Brighter light. 
Clarity of purpose; Dawning understanding.
Savior's love. God's love. 
Death.  Pure light.  Blazing light.
Perfect understanding; unending trust.
Eternal love.
Dark to light; light to love.
Love to all life. 
Bring me to a clearer knowing. 



7.9.15 Satisfy, Fill
Psalm 107:9 GNT
He satisfies those who are thirsty
    and fills the hungry with good things.

THURSDAY MORNING:
As the light of dawn awakens earth's creatures
and stirs into song the birds of the morning
so may I be brought to life this day. 
Rising to see the light
to hear the wind
to smell the fragrance of what grows from the ground
to taste its fruit and touch its textures
So may my inner senses be awakened to you
so may my senses be awakened to you, O God.  (JPN)

          I am called this morning to ponder verse 9 from Psalm 107, rather than a phrase from Newell's Thursday morning opening prayer.  "He satisfies the thirsty....he fills the hungry."  My mind wanders to physical hunger and thirst versus spiritual hunger.  While God does provide abundantly for our physical needs, we don't always share that abundance in equal measure.  There are those in our world with knots of hunger twisting their bellies, with parched lips and withered skin in the grip of drought.  Yet God fills them with a spiritual food that lessens the pain and thirst.  We who live in the land of abundance are never REALLY hungry or thirsty, yet our spiritual deprivations are great because of that abundance.  May God fill us with the spiritual food that calls us to share more freely, to answer the cry for help, and view our world's resources as God's blessing for ALL.  May ALL 'taste the fruit and touch its textures' and be satisfied and full.  

7.10.15 WONDROUSLY MADE
Psalm 139:13-14 VOICE
For You shaped me, inside and out.
    You knitted me together in my mother’s womb long before I took my first breath.
14 I will offer You my grateful heart, for I am Your unique creation, filled with wonder and awe.
    You have approached even the smallest details with excellence;
    Your works are wonderful;
I carry this knowledge deep within my soul.

FRIDAY MORNING:
In the morning light, O God, 
may I glimpse again your image deep within me
the threads of eternal glory
woven into the fabric of every man and woman.
Again may I catch sight of the mystery of the human soul 
fashioned in your likeness
deeper than knowing, more enduring than time. 
And in glimpsing these threads of light 
amidst the weakness and distortions of my life
let me be recalled to the strength and beauty deep in my soul. 
Let me be recalled 
to the strength and beauty of your image in every living soul. (JPN)

          Made in the image of God.  Wonderfully and intricately created. Fashioned in the likeness of God.   Wow.  What words!  When we have self-doubt, all we have to do is read these lines and be uplifted.  God is our creator and God doesn't make junk!  We have God within us, yet we often cover up the wonderful being we are with the clothing of denial, rejection, pride, or conceit.  May we peel back the layers of self and allow the God deep within to emerge.  May we constantly seek to view others beneath their costume and see the God hiding within them.  
          I am off this morning to work a shift for Crossroads at the photobooth for the motorcycle rally.  Nearly 4000 motorcycles are expected to arrive in Baker City this weekend.  It is easy to carry a pre-conceived notion of 'bikers' with their leather garb, tattoos, and chains.  May I look today beneath to the image of God in each face, the threads of God 'strength and beauty' deep within each person.  

BEFORE AMEN (Lucado) - You Are Good

Post based on Max Lucado's book, BEFORE AMEN: The Power of a Simple Prayer, 2014
YOU ARE GOOD

Major Lucado quotes from Chapter 3:

• Most people suffer from small thoughts about God.  In an effort to see him as our friend, we have lost his immensity.  In our desire to understand him, we have sought to contain him. The God of the Bible cannot be contained. 
• If God were only mighty, we would salute him.  But since he is merciful and mighty, we can approach him.  
• If God is at once Father AND Creator, holy - unlike us - and high above us, then we at any point are only a prayer away from help. 
• Before you face the world, face your Father. 

1.1.15  O God = Good
Psalm 31:19 GNT
How wonderful are the good things
    you keep for those who honor you!
Everyone knows how good you are,
    how securely you protect those who trust you.

        What a great thought to ponder at the start of a new year: God is good.  How often do we utter these words when something goes 'right'?  God is good.  But the immensity of that goodness is hard to grasp.  We have just snuggled into the comfortable lap of our Abba with the words, "Our Father" or "Hey, Daddy!" and now we must realize that we are sitting in the presence of the God of the Universe, the Creator of All.  That's a pretty big jump!!  
        Our God is good at many different things.  We don't have to be good at everything because our Daddy is good!  Abba Dad expects us to do well those tasks for which Dad has gifted us, but we can leave the rest to God (or those God has put in our path with the right gifts!)  Our God is good in that Abba Dada wants what is good for us, to the point where Papa gently corrects and steers us to the good.
        "O God" might be our opening prayer.  It is wise to remember that also spells GOOD.  We can continue our prayer from that assurance.  

1.3.15  Taste and See
Psalm 34:8 MSG
Open your mouth and taste, open your eyes and see—how good God is.
Blessed are you who run to him.
     God is mighty, the ultimate power and creator of all.  There's no doubt of that.  But this is a mighty that we don't have to just bow down before and worship.  It is a mighty that we can approach or as the psalmist said, we can 'taste and see'.  What a combination of power and mercy, of universe and individual, of expansive and personal.  

     Taste and see.  Get to KNOW God's goodness.  Run to it!  God is just a prayer away, a simple conversation that will provide the opportunity to experience the goodness and mercy of the Almighty. The end of the 23rd Psalm echoes in my mind right now, "Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever."  Dwelling in the house of the Lord is a constant diet of tasting God and seeing God.  Dwelling is being intimate with God.  Goodness and mercy are included in the bargain.  What a deal!  We are indeed blessed!

1.4.15  Thy Will Be Done
Matthew 6:10 MSG
Do what's best - as above, so below.

For now, I will leave both versions of this prayer
drawing on the post.  It shows how different the
design can be whether drawn on the computer or
by hand.  Either way, typing the prayer words in
the background is intense!!  Prayer TWICE today!

       Father Tim in Jan Karon's Mitford books calls this 'the prayer that never fails' - Thy will be done.  I include it here because it is part of Jesus' tutorial, part of the 'God is good' portion of the Lord's prayer.  And I like the reminder that God knows best, Father KNOWS Best, as the old TV show proclaimed.  We can pray for what WE want, but our prayers should always include 'your will, God' because that is what will be GOOD.  We don't have all the answers, but God does.  When we acknowledge that difference in position, we allow ourselves to receive fully the goodness God wants to share.  

1.5.15   Before You Face the World, Face Your Father
Hebrews 1:3 MSG
This Son perfectly mirrors God, and is stamped with God’s nature. He holds everything together by what he says—powerful words!
     The world we face every day when we roll out of bed isn't always a world of goodness and mercy.  Relationships fail, things go wrong, afflictions happen, and pain is endured.  Why face that alone and unequipped to handle it all?  Why not begin the day with the assurance that God's goodness will penetrate the ugly and make it better, if not in reality than in perception.  When we know we are walking each day hand in hand with our Abba-Daddy who is strong and mighty, we are ready to walk ANYWHERE!  
     Start the day with a moment of face-to-face time with God.  Guaranteed to make for a better day!