Monday Prayer: A Hymn of Mary

O Lord, how should we address your mother?
If we call her "virgin", a child stands up,
If we call her "married", a woman stands up,
Yet she was both a virgin, and she was married.

O Lord, what is Mary to you?
Certainly she, and she alone, is your mother.
Yet she is also your sister and your friend.
And, together with your whole Church, she is your lover.
She is all things to you.

She was betrothed to you before you came.
Then she conceived you when the Spirit brought you.
She became your mother when you were born.
And she became your first disciple when you preached.

She conceived you without sexual union,
And she produced milk in her breasts for you to drink.
Her breasts were a sign of your ministry,
Bringing spiritual milk to parched, thirsty souls.

You entered her, and became a servant.
You, whose Word was the agent of all creation,
Fell silent in her womb.
By this means your voice could be heard by all humanity.

You entered her, and became weak and vulnerable.
You, who is the nourished of all creation,
Became hungry and thirsty within her.
In this way all humanity could receive the bread of life.

You, the King of Kings became lowly within her.
You, the source of all wealth, became poor within her.
You, the mightiest of all warriors, became powerless within her.
You, who clothe even the birds, became naked within her.

Thus you can lift up the lowly,
You can feed the poor,
Give strength to the powerless,
And clothe the naked.

- Ephrem the Syrian

Monday Prayer: Let There Be Peace on Earth

Instructions: 

1. Listen to this video. 

2. Thank God for Gladys Knight. 

3. Thank God that peace begins in Christ and continues in you and me. 

4. Say "Amen". 

Advent prayer and book!

O God, who makest us glad with the yearly remembrance of the birth of thy only Son Jesus Christ: Grant that as we joyfully receive him for our Redeemer, so we may have sure confidence to behold him when he shall come to be our Judge: who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Ghost, ever one God, world without end.

~~Gelasian Sacramentary, eighth century

This is a prayer at the end of a day's reading in John Polkinghorne's Advent devotional book, Living with Hope: A Scientist Looks at Advent, Christmas, and Epiphany. This is available from Christian Book.Com at 78% off its price (which I originally paid at Amazon)--go to the book link or here.

This is the most thought provoking Advent book I have in my possession. It is written by John Polkinghorne, who was a Professor of mathematical physics at Cambridge until he decided to become an Anglican priest when he was 47 years old. If I was rich enough, I would give a copy to everyone I know!

Thursday Prayer

Winter God, in the darkest time of year
you brought in starlight, angel song, and baby cries.
Stay with me as I journey to new birth
and celebrate this year of saints, psalms, and prayer.
In the silence and stillness,
fashion my prayer into a carol of praise
and focus my life
so that I may act as a herald of Christ
the child of peace and the prophet of justice.
Amen.

Saturday: turning

Thursday Thought on Waiting

“How do we wait for God? We wait with patience. But patience does not mean passivity. Waiting patiently is not like waiting for the bus to come, the rain to stop, or the sun to rise. It is an active waiting in which we live the present moment to the full in order to find there the signs of the One we are waiting for.

“The word patience comes from the Latin verb patior, which means to ‘suffer.’ Waiting patiently is suffering through the present moment, tasting it to the full, and letting the seeds that are sown in the ground on which we stand grow into strong plants. Waiting patiently always means paying attention to what is happening right before our eyes and seeing there the first rays of God’s glorious coming.”

~~Henri J. M. Nouwen

Good is the Lord to one who waits for him, to the soul that seeks him; it is good to hope in silence for the saving help of the Lord.

Lamentations 3:25-26

Advent Prayer

Dear God, the troubles of our world have left many of us speechless. We don’t know how, in the numbness around jobs lost, illnesses we don’t have the resources to cure, a planet imperiled by the accumulated effects of our greed, and the seemingly endless presence of war and violence, to say our prayers. We are lighting candles, though – in our Advent wreaths, quietly, in side chapels of our churches, in our rooms where no one else but You can see. The candle flame is our prayer, wordless but filled with meaning, with petition, hope, and faith. And the candle flame is your answer to our prayer. You lighten our darkness, O Lord. Amen.

-- Marc Andrus, Bishop of California

With thanks to Ellie at The Anchorhold.

Advent Longing

In the darkness of the season, in the silence of Mary's womb,
new life waits and grow.
Hope is shaped in hidden places,
on the edges, in the depths
far from the blinding lights and deafening sounds of consumer frenzy.

In the darkness and silence of my own life,
I wait,
listening for the whisper of angel wings,
longing for a genuine experience of mystery,
hoping for a rekindling of joy and the establishment of peace.

I lean into the darkness
and silence.
Expectant.

~~Larry J. Peacock

(Larry James Peacock is pastor of Malibu United Methodist Church, Malibu, California. For over 20 years he has visited monasteries and retreat centers to chant the Psalms and learn a daily rhythm of prayer. Among the places he has traveled are the Taize Community in France and the Iona Community in Scotland. A spiritual director since 1988, Larry has served on the faculty for both the Five-Day and Two-Year Academy for Spiritual Formation (sponsored by Upper Room Ministries) and has led numerous retreats. Beyond college and seminary, Larry's continuing education includes a sabbatical at Pendle Hill, a Quaker center for study and contemplation; the Two-Year Academy for Spiritual Formation; and the Institute for Spiritual Direction and Retreat Leadership. Larry is married to author Anne Broyles; they have two children. He is a part-time potter and an occasional juggler.)

Advent Prayer

Father in heaven, you came to earth in the person of your Son, Jesus Christ. As the coming of your Spirit upon Mary inspired her to welcome the One who is her child and her lord, so also open our eyes to the gift already given. Forgive us our restless searching for your presence according to our expectations. Direct our searching according to your gift. May we, like the star-led sages of old, be ever guided to the appointed meeting place in the Child of Bethlehem.

In him and by him, let us be found by you. With your apostle Paul we would put on the Lord Jesus Christ, wearing his humility as our robe of splendor. Forbid that we seek any glory that is not his. In his childhood, we become as little children. In his teaching, we are trained to delight you by our service. In his miracles, we are changed, like water into wine, our vain ambitions transformed into obedience to your call. In his suffering and death, we share in his victory over every wrong within us and without.

Fill, we pray you, our every moment with his threefold advent. As then he came and now he comes and will one day come again, awaken us to the then and now and one day of his presence in this present moment. As we put on the Lord Jesus Christ, may all our time be clothed by eternity until we find ourselves at last in the home you have prepared for seekers and searchers who, in our seeking and searching, were hopelessly lost. Give us, we pray, the grace to surrender to being found.

This we ask in the name above every name, the name of Jesus Christ. Amen. Let it be.

~~Richard John Neuhaus

Neuhaus, Richard John. "Prayer." God With Us: Rediscovering the Meaning of Christmas. Ed. Greg Pennoyer and Gregory Wolfe. Brewster, Massachusetts: Paraclete Press, 2007. 20.

Sunrise Thanksgiving

Watching the Sunrise During Dark, Mornings of Advent

Thank you. What a gift this morning from you as I watched the blazing sunrise through a cloudy winter sky. It is hard getting up these dark mornings, Lord, and yet you gift me with a sight that I miss at other times of year, when the weather is warmer and the sun rises before I get up. I stared out the window at the red and purple light, gloriously framed by the gold of the rising sun. "Be still, and know that I am God" was the only thing that came to me. I watched in silence, filled with a sense of your presence in my life.

I am filled with gratitude this day for such a treasure and could feel it and see it as a gift from you. Thank you for your love. Today, let me carry a sense of how much you love me to send me such a gift. Let that awareness of your love change the way I treat others today. Let me be more reverent in the irritations of the day. I ask your help to move through my errands and holiday preparations today with peace and a sense of your sunrise in my heart. Your glory fills my spirit and I want only to give thanks with my life this day.

From the wonderful resource at Creighton University: Online Ministries.

Thursday Prayer

O God of Life,
plant your grace and favor in us this Advent.
Sow your seed.
Teach us to rest and be still,
and
we will rejoice with you
in life's new abundance.
Amen.

Caryll Houselander, Advent, Christmas, and Epiphany with Caryll Houselander, 31.