Next Foot Forward

One of the most difficult parts of a journey is just putting the next foot forward. Lacking momentum, generally content and comfortable where we find ourselves, the prospects of a journey may be alluring, but the energy needed to begin has a host of hindrances. This is especially true for a journey like the one we are on through the Lenten season—a pilgrimage with Jesus that has us falling and rising.

While we know what awaits us on the other side, it still takes courage and faith to confess what keeps us from life anew today. So this week, let’s put our next foot forward together, knowing that what we are confessing is being confessed by our sisters and brothers too. And that together, we make our confession from the sure orientation, “Blessed is the one whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered.” (Ps. 32:1)

As we did on Ash Wednesday, we’ll pray a portion of the “Litany of Penitence,” but this time, as we pray get specific. Let yourself dwell long enough in the “general” confession (emboldened) until there are specifics for you to share with our gracious Father. Then, pray the remainder of the prayer as one who is already “Blessed…whom the LORD counts no iniquity” because of Jesus.

Most holy and merciful Father:
We confess to you and with one another,
that we have sinned.

We have not loved you with our whole heart, nor mind, nor strength. We have not loved our neighbors as ourselves. We have not forgiven others, as we have been forgiven. Have mercy on us, gracious Father.

We turn to you, Father, acknowledging our divided, wounded, and self-absorbed hearts.

Restore us, good Father,
Favorably hear us, for your mercy is great.

Bring to maturity the fruit of your salvation,
That we may show forth your glory in the world.

By the cross and passion of your Son our King and Friend,
Bring us with all your saints into the complete joy of Jesus’ resurrection.

Amen.

Praying Like Psalmists

The psalms are a “school of prayer” that God’s children have attended for millennia. These poetic prayers do more than give us words to use in our prayers, they invite us to find our voice within them. The language of the psalms is not merely descriptive, it is evocative. It is language mean to evoke, to bring to mind an image, a memory, a feeling, that then leads us to prayer.

This evocative nature is especially true for our seven psalms of Lent. The words of these psalms particularly, draw us into an image or memory or feeling of pain or surprise for ourselves and/or those around us. And in doing so, invite us to find God at these needy places.

So today, take a moment to pray Psalm 6. Before starting, ask the Spirit to help you see as you go, who and for what you are praying. Then, read each paragraph and let whatever image, memory, or feeling that comes to mind (whether for you or another) lead you to express the psalmists words in your own words. Then do the same for the next paragraph and the next, until the you’ve concluded the psalm.

WRESTLING WITH GOD

Please, God, no more yelling, no more trips to the woodshed. Treat me nice for a change; I’m so starved for affection. Can’t you see I’m black-and-blue, beat up badly in bones and soul? God, how long will it take for you to let up?

WRESTLING WITH LIFE

Break in, God, and break up this fight; if you love me at all, get me out of here. I’m no good to you dead, am I? I can’t sing in your choir if I’m buried in some tomb!

DONE WRESTLING

I’m tired of all this—so tired. My bed has been floating forty days and nights On the flood of my tears. My mattress is soaked, soggy with tears. The sockets of my eyes are black holes; nearly blind, I squint and grope.

SURPRISED BY HOPE

Get out of here, you Devil’s crew: at last God has heard my sobs. My requests have all been granted, my prayers are answered. Cowards, my enemies disappear. Disgraced, they turn tail and run.

Lord, When Did We See You

“Lord, when did we see you…?” That is the question “the righteous” ask when welcomed fully and finally into the life prepared for them. It is the question we’ll be asking ourselves and one another throughout this Lenten season. And, our prayer this week is a prayer we’ll be praying with and for one another as we journey with Jesus through his fall and rising…and ours too.

So, let’s pray together,

Father, as we open ourselves to your life in us and our lives in yours, help us to see those in need of life, those longing for it, striving after it, and even the ones giving up on it. Let our heart be yours and grant us the compassion and courage to enter into their neediness, as you have entered into ours. Give us eyes to see you in our spouses, our children, our siblings, in our roommates, classmates, teammates, in our coworkers, neighbors, strangers, and in the neglected and one another. And, with eyes fixed on you, let us give what we have graciously been given, your life in ours for those in need. In Jesus’ name we pray, Amen.

Plain & Personal

We began the year taking Jesus at his word, praying with him for our Father’s kingdom to come and will done in our city as it is in heaven. This week we’ll keep to the habit of taking God at this word, praying for the manifestation of what He said is a good life, for us and for our neighbors.

This week, pray Micah 6:6-8 three times through. When you’ve finished, give yourself a minute or two to sit in the silence, breathing in the truth of the plain and personal expectations God has for you, and why, in your life with Him.

Father, how can we stand before YOU

and show proper respect to our GOD of gods?

Do You desire us to bring an armload of offerings

topped off with our finest possessions?

Would You, Father, be impressed with if we emptied our bank accounts,

poured out to You buckets and barrels of all that we can produce?

Father, would You be moved if we sacrificed our firstborn, the precious fruit of our body for the sin of our soul?

No?! That’s not what You require. You’ve already made it plain how to live, what to do,

what You, Father, are looking for in humanity, in us. It’s quite simple, and personal You say:

Do what is fair and just to your neighbor,

be compassionate and loyal in your love,

And don’t take yourselves too seriously—

take You and You with us, seriously.

That’s it! And if we know what is good for us, we’ll listen.


Praying As Abiding

Sometimes I tend to think of the things we do in our faith, things like reading the Bible, worshiping with others, serving one another, and, especially, prayer, as something done so that I can get in on life with God. That is, after I read, worship, serve, and pray, I’ll be more in step with God. Stack together enough of these things, and I’ll really be living right. Or so I think, and therefore act, on occasion.

You may not think or act like me, but if you do, I want to encourage you this week as I encourage myself. Rather than praying our Collective Prayer as a means to get us somewhere in our faith, let’s pray as our abiding, as if the very thing we do is done because we are already in life with God, trusting that our praying doesn’t change us, but we are changed in praying. Because our life is hidden in Christ, and God’s Kingdom is within us, we pray:

Our Father in heaven,

hallowed be Your name.

Your kingdom come,

Your will be done,

on earth as it is in heaven.

Give us today our daily bread, and let us trust in bread for tomorrow.

Forgive us our debts, as we also forgive those who owe us.

Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil and the evil one.

For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever.

Amen.

Galvanize Our Days

This week we conclude our exercise in particularizing Jesus’ instruction to pray for our Father’s kingdom to come and will to be done in our time and place as it is in heaven.

Adapting Ernest Campbell’s “A City-Dweller’s Prayer,” we’ll focus our attention on the final stanza (embolden below). When you get to this part of the prayer, slow down. Let the words sink into your heart, and let the Spirit lead you to express the specifics on which they light: the maze of opportunities, of could be’s and what if’s which suffocate hope, and the heart of Jesus which grants us energy and clarity to live the Way as people new. Confess and express these things, for yourself and as a part of our social collective, in the presence of the One for whom nothing is hidden. Then conclude with a shared “Amen”.

Come back to these words and insights throughout the week ahead, allowing the heart and life of Jesus to galvanize our way forward together.

Pray with your faith family…

Father, our God of every time and place,

prevail among us too;

within the city that we live

among the people whose streets we share

and whose souls we learn to love,

your promise to renew.

Our people move with downcast eyes,

tight, sullen, and afraid;

Surprise us with your joy divine,

for we would be remade.

O Father whose will we can resist,

but cannot overcome,

Forgive our harsh and strident ways,

the harm that we have done.

Like Babel’s builders long ago

we raise our lofty towers,

And like them, too, our words divide,

and pride lays waste our powers.

Behind the masks that we maintain

to shut our sadness in,

There lurks the hope, however dim,

to live once more as your design.

Let wrong embolden us to fight,

and need excite our care;

If not us, who? If not now, when?

If not here, Father, then where?

Our forebears stayed their minds on you

in village, farm, and plain;

Help us, their crowded, harried kin,

no less your peace to claim.

Give us to know that you do love

each soul that you have made;

That size does not diminish grace,

nor concrete hide your gaze.

Grant us, Father, those who labor here

within this throbbing maze,

A forward-looking, saving hope

to galvanize our days.

Let Jesus, who loved Jerusalem,

and wept its sin to mourn,

Make just our laws and pure our hearts;

so shall we be reborn!

In, Through, and To Jesus we pray, Amen.

To Live Once More

We’ll continue to make particular Jesus’ instruction to pray for our Father’s kingdom to come and will to be done in our time and place as it is in heaven.

Adapting Ernest Campbell’s “A City-Dweller’s Prayer,” we’ll focus our attention this week on the third stanza (embolden below). When you get to this part of the prayer, slow down. Let the words sink into your heart, and let the Spirit lead you to express the specifics on which they light: the masks we and neighbors wear as protection, the longings, and pursuits to be who we are truly created to be (and all the false selfs sold and bought in our society), the timidity that keeps us from “issues” and the courage to know our place in salvation's story here and now. Confess and express these things, for yourself and as a part of our social collective, in the presence of the One for whom nothing is hidden. Then finish the prayer.

Come back to these words and insights throughout the week ahead, seeing through what divides to what and who unites, and trusting that He is working in and through you for those around you even now.

Pray with your faith family…

Father, our God of every time and place,

prevail among us too;

within the city that we live

among the people whose streets we share

and whose souls we learn to love,

your promise to renew.

Our people move with downcast eyes,

tight, sullen, and afraid;

Surprise us with your joy divine,

for we would be remade.

O Father whose will we can resist,

but cannot overcome,

Forgive our harsh and strident ways,

the harm that we have done.

Like Babel’s builders long ago

we raise our lofty towers,

And like them, too, our words divide,

and pride lays waste our powers.

Behind the masks that we maintain

to shut our sadness in,

There lurks the hope, however dim,

to live once more as your design.

Let wrong embolden us to fight,

and need excite our care;

If not us, who? If not now, when?

If not here, Father, then where?

Our forebears stayed their minds on you

in village, farm, and plain;

Help us, their crowded, harried kin,

no less your peace to claim.

Give us to know that you do love

each soul that you have made;

That size does not diminish grace,

nor concrete hide your gaze.

Grant us, Father, those who labor here

within this throbbing maze,

A forward-looking, saving hope

to galvanize our days.

Let Jesus, who loved Jerusalem,

and wept its sin to mourn,

Make just our laws and pure our hearts;

so shall we be reborn!

We Can Resist...But Cannot Overcome

Last week we began praying a prayer as a particularized expression of the way Jesus taught us to pray:

“Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.”

We’ll continue the adaptation of Ernest Campbell’s “A City-Dweller’s Prayer” this week, focussing our attention on the second stanza (embolden below). When you get to this part of the prayer, slow down. Let the words sink into your heart, and let the Spirit lead you to express the specifics on which they light: your and our ways of resisting, which are harsh, divisive, and prideful. Confess them, for yourself and as a part of our social collective, and then finish the prayer.

Come back to these words and insights throughout the week ahead, confessing, repenting, and receiving the grace of the One through whom you are reborn, whose will cannot be overcome.

Pray with your faith family…

Father, our God of every time and place,

prevail among us too;

within the city that we live

among the people whose streets we share

and whose souls we learn to love,

your promise to renew.

Our people move with downcast eyes,

tight, sullen, and afraid;

Surprise us with your joy divine,

for we would be remade.

O Father whose will we can resist,

but cannot overcome,

Forgive our harsh and strident ways,

the harm that we have done.

Like Babel’s builders long ago

we raise our lofty towers,

And like them, too, our words divide,

and pride lays waste our powers.

Behind the masks that we maintain

to shut our sadness in,

There lurks the hope, however dim,

to live once more as your design.

Let wrong embolden us to fight,

and need excite our care;

If not us, who? If not now, when?

If not here, Father, then where?

Our forebears stayed their minds on you

in village, farm, and plain;

Help us, their crowded, harried kin,

no less your peace to claim.

Give us to know that you do love

each soul that you have made;

That size does not diminish grace,

nor concrete hide your gaze.

Grant us, Father, those who labor here

within this throbbing maze,

A forward-looking, saving hope

to galvanize our days.

Let Jesus, who loved Jerusalem,

and wept its sin to mourn,

Make just our laws and pure our hearts;

so shall we be reborn!

God of Every Time and Place

When asked by his apprentices how to pray, Jesus gave them a rather straightforward model to get them started. “The Lord’s Prayer,” as we call it, begins with the declarative invocation, “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” All at once, Jesus proclaims the majestic truth of intimacy and breadth of God‘s rule and humbly summons that authority over the details of daily life.

This month, as we did so a year ago, we are going to pray a prayer together that is learned from Jesus’ prayer. A prayer for our Father’s kingdom to come and his will to be done in our time and place in His-story. In each of the following weeks, we’ll draw out a particular part of this prayer to give us focus. This week though, let’s refamiliarize ourselves with the prayer, letting the Spirit lead us to invite the “God of every time and place,” to be the Father whose care and wisdom take active shape in us, through us, and for our neighbors.

Let us pray together an adaption of Ernest Campbell’s “A City-Dweller’s Prayer.”

Father, our God of every time and place,

prevail among us too;

within the city that we live

among the people whose streets we share

and whose souls we learn to love,

your promise to renew.

Our people move with downcast eyes,

tight, sullen, and afraid;

Surprise us with your joy divine,

for we would be remade.

O Father whose will we can resist,

but cannot overcome,

Forgive our harsh and strident ways,

the harm that we have done.

Like Babel’s builders long ago

we raise our lofty towers,

And like them, too, our words divide,

and pride lays waste our powers.

Behind the masks that we maintain

to shut our sadness in,

There lurks the hope, however dim,

to live once more as your design.

Let wrong embolden us to fight,

and need excite our care;

If not us, who? If not now, when?

If not here, Father, then where?

Our forebears stayed their minds on you

in village, farm, and plain;

Help us, their crowded, harried kin,

no less your peace to claim.

Give us to know that you do love

each soul that you have made;

That size does not diminish grace,

nor concrete hide your gaze.

Grant us, Father, those who labor here

within this throbbing maze,

A forward-looking, saving hope

to galvanize our days.

Let Jesus, who loved Jerusalem,

and wept its sin to mourn,

Make just our laws and pure our hearts;

so shall we be reborn!

On The Twelfth Day of Christmas...

Refugee | Malcolm Guite

We think of him as safe beneath the steeple,

Or cosy in a crib beside the font,

But he is with a million displaced people

On the long road of weariness and want.

For even as we sing our final carol

His family is up and on the road,

Fleeing the wrath of someone else’s quarrel,

Glancing behind and shouldering the load.

Whilst Herod rages still from his dark tower,

Christ clings to Mary, fingers tightly curled,

The lambs are slaughtered by the men of power,

And death squads spread their curse across the world.

But every Herod dies, and comes alone

To stand before the Lamb upon the throne.

On The Eleventh Day of Christmas...

On The Edge | Malcolm Guite

Christmas sets the centre on the edge;

The edge of town, out-buildings of an inn,

The fringe of empire, far from privilege

And power, on the edge and outer spin

Of turning worlds, a margin of small stars

That edge a galaxy itself light years

From some unguessed-at cosmic origin.

Christmas sets the centre at the edge.

And from this day our world is re-aligned;

A tiny seed unfolding in the womb

Becomes the source from which we all unfold

And flower into being. We are healed,

The End begins, the tomb becomes a womb,

For now in him all things are re-aligned.

On The Tenth Day of Christmas...

Mary | Malcolm Guite

You bore for me the One who came to bless

And bear for all, to make the broken whole.

You heard his call, and in your open ‘yes’

You spoke aloud for every living soul.

Oh gracious Lady, child of your child,

Whose mother-love still calls the child in me,

Call me again, for I am lost and wild

Waves surround me now. On this dark sea

Shine as a star and call me to the shore.

Open a door that all my sins would close

And hold me in your garden. Let me share

The prayer that fold the petals of the Rose.

Enfold me too in love’s last mystery,

And bring me to the One you bore for me.

On The Ninth Day of Christmas...

O Emmanuel | Malcolm Guite

You’ve come, You’ve come, to be our God-with-us,

O long-sought with-ness for a world without,

O secret seed, O hidden spring of light.

You’ve Come to us Wisdom, you’ve come unspoken Name,

O quickened little wick so tightly curled,

You’re folded with us into time and place,

You’ve unfolded for us the mystery of grace

And made a womb of all this wounded world.

O heart of heaven beating in the earth,

O tiny hope within our hopelessness,

You’ve come, born to bear us to our birth,

To touch a dying world with new-made hands

And made these rags of tie our swaddling bands.

On The Seventh Day of Christmas...

O Rex Gentium | Malcolm Guite

O King of our desire whom we despise,

King of the nations never on the throne,

Unfounded foundation, cast-off cornerstone,

Rejected joiner, making many one:

You have no form or beauty for our eyes,

A King who comes to give away his crown,

A King within our rags of flesh and bone.

We pierce the flesh that pierces our disguise,

For we ourselves are found in you alone.

You’ve Come to us now and found in us your throne,

O King within the child within the clay,

O hidden King who shapes us in the play

Of all creation. Shape us for the day

Your coming Kingdom comes into its own.

On The Sixth Day of Christmas...

O Oriens | Malcolm Guite

First light and then first lines along the east

To touch and brush a sheen on light on water,

As though behind the sky itself they traced

The shift and shimmer of another river

Flowing unbidden from its hidden source;

The Day-Spring, the eternal Prima Vera.

Are bathing in it now, away upstream…

So every trace of light begins a grace

In me, a beckoning. The smallest gleam

Is somehow a beginning and a calling:

‘Sleeper awake, the darkness was a dream

For you will see the Dayspring at your waking,

Beyond your long last line the dawn is breaking.’

On The Fifth Day of Christmas...

O Clavis | Malcolm Guite

Even in the darkness where I sit

And huddle in the midst of misery

I can remember freedom, but forget

That every lock must answer to a key,

That each dark clasp, sharp and intimate,

Must find a counter-clasp to meet its guard.

Particular, exact and intricate,

The clutch and catch that meshes with its ward.

I cried out for the key I threw away

That turned and over turned with certain touch

And with the lovely lifting of a latch

Opened my darkness to the light of day.

You’ve come again, come quickly, have set me free,

Cut to the quick to fit, the master key.

On The Fourth Day of Christmas...

O Radix | Malcolm Guite

All of us sprung from one deep-hidden seed,

Rose from a root invisible to all.

We knew the virtues once of every weed,

But, severed form the roots of ritual,

We surf the surface of a wide-screen world

And find no virtue in the virtual.

We shrivel on the edges of the wood

Whose heart we once inhabited in love,

Now we have need of you, forgotten Root,

The stock and stem of every living thing

Whom once we worshipped in the sacred grove,

For now is winter, now is withering

Unless we let you root us deep within,

Under the ground of being, you’ve grafted us in.

On The Third Day of Christmas...

“If Advent is the season of waiting, Christmas is the season of wonder,” so may this poem and the ones to follow aid us in our wondering at heaven’s answer to our heart's deepest pleas.

O Adonai | Malcolm Guite

Unsayable, you chose to speak one tongue;

Unseeable, you gave yourself away;

The Adonai, the Tetragrammaton

Grew by a wayside in the light of day.

O you who dared to be a tribal God,

To own a language, people, and place,

Who chose to be exploited and betrayed,

If so you might be met with face to face:

You’ve Come to us here, who would not find you there,

Who chose to know the skin and not the pith,

Who heard no more than thunder in the air,

Who marked the mere events and not the myth;

You’ve Touched the bare branches of our unbelief

And blazed again like fire in every leaf.