Prayer Path

Good Friday

Be my friend, hold me
Wrap me up, un-fold me
I am small, and needy
Warm me up, and breathe me

"As darkness falls, confusion rises. Voices nearby drop away, disappear. Spectators lose interest. Now just the silent sound of hearts breaking, hope evaporating." - Martin Wroe

How shall I bury you, O my God?
How can I wrap you in a shroud?
What dirges can I sing for your departure,
O compassionate One?

Aposticha of Vespers of Holy Friday
Eastern Orthodox

"Joseph went to Pilate and asked for Jesus' body. He took the body down from the cross and wrapped it in fine linen cloth. Then he put it in a tomb that had been cut out of solid rock and had never been used. The women who had come with Jesus from Galilee followed Joseph and watched how Jesus' body was placed in the tomb."
Luke 23:52-53, 55

Maundy Thursday

Eucharist at BUMC for Maundy Thursday. I was pleasantly surprised to see elements from last week's EPIC service intertwined in the traditional. We wrote down prayers, concerns, joys on a black prayer cloth. Our prayers mixed with others as we prayed together. And before kneeling for communion, we stopped to dip our fingers in a bowl of water to feel the coolness and remind us of the healing power of God's spirit.

I loved the fact that we used the old communion table as our common table for the night.

A view of the stained glass window in the Chapel from the outside. It protrays Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane.

From Jonny Baker

Time for Easter, time for Spring, for new beginnings, for open toe shoes and a chance to renew/remember our connection to God in ordinary things on Holy Ground

Seven Sayings

Yesterday, I stumbled upon a great inspiring and beautiful set of meditations on Seven Sayings that Jesus said on the cross. It is from re:jesus. If you click on "Click here to hear and see this saying of Jesus in a new window." on the right, a beautiful flash movie will open, with Martin Wroe narrating (who wrote the reflections as well as the poem "flesh of my flesh" which I love during Advent).

Saying One: Forgive – "Father, forgive these people!"
Saying Two: Remember – "Today you will be with me in paradise."
Saying Three: Others – "This man is now your son. She is now your mother."
Saying Four: Godforsaken – "My God, my God, why have you deserted me?"
Saying Five: Thirst – "I am thirsty!"
Saying Six: Anger – "Father, I put myself in your hands!"
Saying Seven: Everything – "Everything is done!"

It would be great to adapt this for the Good Friday Service...

Thursday, March 16th

WE CONFESS THE SINS OF THE OLDER SON
we confess that we do our duty while hiding our resentment, saying thank you with our lips while saying "is that it?" in our thoughts.
we confess that we insist on our rights rather than waiting for your gifts.
we confess that we judge the younger son harshly and pride ourselves on our superiority; forgetting that pride is a deadly sin.
we confess that we think it rather weak of you to welcome and forgive so readily; we wish you would live up to our moral standards.
we confess that we do in our hearts what the younger son did in a foreign country; our hearts have become a foreign country to you.

We ask to be forgiven and to be helped to live new lives, both those who were away and those who stayed but went away in their hearts. We want to return home to your embracing welcome, and celebrate with you the feast of a son who was dead and is alive again.

Steve Collins

Wednesday, March 14th

WE CONFESS THE SINS OF THE YOUNGER SON

we confess that we take all you have to give while denying that you were ever our father.
we confess that we hoped you were dead.
we confess that we declared ourselves masters of our own destiny, free from the superstitious rules of humanity's childhood; and now find that we have only ourselves to blame for things that go wrong.
we confess that we prefer identities we can buy, wear, and discard to the vulnerable robes of sonship and daughterhood.
we confess that we paint our faces and neglect our souls.
we confess that we are willing victims of those who tell us who to be because it is in their financial interest to do so.
we confess that we are in rags in the pigsty, trying to remember who we once thought we were.
we confess our emptiness; our inability to live on what the system gives us, or to be the machine that the system wants us to be.
we confess that we are to others the system that does not feed; we are to others the system that dehumanizes.
we confess that what we find unbearable when it is asked of us, is what we ask of others.

Steve Collins

Tuesday, March 14th

Prodigal's Brother

Why do I feel so bad, heavy-hearted, sad inside?
Why at a time of celebration am I bitter - unable to join in?
Why do I feel neglected, unwanted, unloved, uncelebrated?

I'm supposed to open my arms too, without judging
I'm supposed to forgive, without entertaining thoughts of punishment or justice
I'm not sure I'm ready for this - it will take time
I'm not sure I'm big enough for this - it will take more love than I feel

"He was lost and has been found" I'm told
"Come and celebrate and rejoice" I'm invited
"All that I have is yours" I'm promised
"He's your brother" I'm reminded

Adrian Riley

Monday, March 13th

Read the story of the Prodigal Son on Bible Gateway.

Prodigal Returns

It was while were yet far off
Before we had hatched a plan
or mapped a route back to your hear.
Before we had sent a postcard
to warn you of our imminent return.
While we were yet far off
you could see our footprints
turning in the opposite direction.
You knew that our hearts were entirely captured
before ever we recognized
a chink in our self-centered armor.
While we were yet far off
You had sent out the invitations
and blown up the balloons.
The presents were wrapped
and the chairs pushed back
to make room for the dancing.
As we rounded the corner
we could dimly see you,
craning your neck and leaping for joy.
We thought then
that a reconciliation might be possible;
While we were yet far off
you popped the cork
and added the final touches
to the party tea.

Tracy Wheeler

Friday, March 9th

Where are the knots in my soul’s muscles that keep me from relaxing in God?

http://www.explorefaith.org/lent06/

Thursday, March 8

God our Father,
in your love and goodness
you have taught us
to overcome our sins with prayer, fasting and generosity;
accept our Lenten disciplines,
and when we fall by our weakness,
raise us up by your unfailing mercy;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.

David Silk

Making Room

I thought this was wonderful. I found it through Sojourners Mail.

MAKING ROOM
LENTEN MESSAGE 2006
Cardinal Roger Mahony
Archbishop of Los Angeles
The Gospel proclamation for the First Sunday of Lent (Mark 1: 12-15) tells of the 40 days Jesus spent in the wilderness preparing for his ministry of announcing the good news of the Reign of God. As we begin our Lenten observance this year, we would do well to fix our eyes on Jesus, to enter with him into the spirit of those 40 days in preparation for the celebration of the Easter mysteries.

At the close of the 40 days, Jesus moves from the wilderness to Galilee. From that point forward, it seems that he is nearly always surrounded by people. Crowds gather around him. Whole groups follow him. They press in on him. We might say that people were always “invading his personal space.” We also know from the Gospels that Jesus took time for himself, time away from the throngs, in order to pray. But the Gospels most often portray Jesus together with others.

Those 40 days in the wilderness were devoted to praying, fasting, and undergoing the harshest kinds of temptation. But the 40 days can also be understood as a period of intense preparation, a time for Jesus to make room in himself for all those he would meet in the course of his public ministry, for all those who would draw near to him, come to him, plead with him, ask him for mercy and healing and help. Our Lenten practices, whatever they may be, are much more than pious devotions. Whether our practice takes the form of “giving up” dessert during Lent, redoubling our efforts at prayer, increasing our contribution to help those in need, fasting, or abstaining from meat, they are all to be understood as a Spirit-assisted effort to empty ourselves of all that would stand in the way of being filled to overflowing with the light and life and love of God. Do we really have room enough for God?

So many of us live amid so much clutter, so much noise. We travel through life at breakneck speed. Lent is the time to empty ourselves not only of the seemingly never-ending stuff, sound and speed in our lives, but also of our pettiness, our prejudice, our anxiety, our fear. It is an opportunity to make room, not only for God, but for those who come our way. How open is our door to those who come to us? Is there room enough in our hearts and our homes for those in need? To take up our Lenten practice this year in the Spirit of Jesus Christ, we face a unique challenge in this call to make room for God. In recent months and in different parts of the world, we have seen the escalation of strong sentiments against immigrants. These sentiments appear to be mounting in our own country as well. How might our various Lenten practices such as prayer, fasting, and almsgiving, our effort to empty ourselves so as to make room for God, relate to the complex reality of immigration, especially in the face of increasing hostility toward immigrants? Pope Benedict XVI’s first Encyclical Letter, Deus Caritas Est (“God is Love”) is helpful to us here. Writing on love as the heart of the Christian faith, our Holy Father says:…if in my life I fail completely to heed others, solely out of a desire to be devout and to perform my “religious duties,” then my relationship with God will also grow arid. It becomes merely “proper” but loveless. Only my readiness to encounter my neighbor and to show him love makes me sensitive to God as well. Only if I serve my neighbor can my eyes be opened to what God does for me and how much he loves me. . . Love of God and love of neighbor are thus inseparable, they form a single commandment. . . No longer is it a question, then, of a “commandment” imposed from without calling for the impossible, but. . . a love which by its very nature must then be shared with others. (Deus Caritas Est no. 18).

To the question: “Who is my neighbor?” Jesus’ answer is clear. As his disciples, we are called to attend to the last, littlest, lowest and least in society and in the Church. This Lenten season, join me in committing our Lenten practices to making room for the stranger in our midst, praying for the courage and strength to offer our spiritual and pastoral ministry to all who come to us, offering our prayer and support for the ones in our midst who, like Jesus, have no place to rest their heads (Matthew 8:20).

The Olympics

The Olympics have come and gone and my thoughts about it keeping coming back to speedskater Joey Cheek (I know... being from Bemidji it's hard to believe that any other events occured besides curling). Who is Joey Cheek? Joey won the gold medal in the 500 meter sprint but that is just a minor part of the story. Each gold-medalist earns a $25,000 bonus from the United States Olympic Committee. Joey donated all of his bonus to "Right to Play", an organization that works in parts of the world devasted by famine, war, and natural disastors. Athletes and others use sports and play to improve the lives of children in these areas.

I have always felt if I ever do something big like this I want to be able to give something back. I love what I do; it's great fun, but honestly, it's a pretty ridiculous thing, I skate around in tights. If you keep it in perspective, I've trained my whole life for this but it's not that big a deal.

He especially wants to help children who are living in refugee camps in Chad. These children were driven out of their homes in Darfur, Sudan. Ok... so I'm not asking you to donate to Right to Play. How about we look at our lives and see where we have been abudantly blessed and figure out how we can share that with others. Sometimes, Lent shouldn't be about given something up but should be about giving.

"Give away your life; you'll find life given back, but not merely given back - given back with a bonus and blessing. Giving, not getting, is the way. Generosity begets generosity." Luke 6:38

A Lenten Prayer

Lord,

take my small offering of self-denial this Lent,

as a sign of my great longing for you.

I hunger for your presence in my life,

and I thirst for your love.

I hunger for justice for those who are wronged and oppressed,

and I thirst for your peace.

I hunger for a glimpse of your glory,

and I thirst for your stillness in my heart.

God of giving, God of longing, God of pain,

I hunger for you.

A.A.

From 'The Book of a Thousand Prayers'