I have been thinking a lot over the last few days about ways I should be engaged in helping to alleviate the world’s suffering in pain. I always feel so inadequate in this area and my heart aches for those who live in poverty. Wrote this prayer earlier in the week
God pierce our hearts with your love,
Break them open into greater capacity,
Break them open ,
That we might hold more of the world’s suffering and joy,
That we might share more of the world’s despair and hope.
Lord break our hearts,
As we stand in the gap between what is and what could be,
Break our hearts open to a largeness that holds the possibility of a better future for all the world’s people.
and just came across this TED talk (have not had time to listen yet but I thought some of you might be interested.
http://www.ted.com/playlists/67/the_quest_to_end_poverty.html
Fernando Gallego [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons
Part of what I have been thinking about today is – “What does it take to get us moving?” “What motivates us to get out into the world and be God’s light of healing, reconciliation and love?” I have reflected on this in a previous post from 2010 and my concerns have not changed. The light of God has not gone out of the world, but it certainly has not gone out into the world as God would desire either. How do you think we can change this?
Through Advent we have watched and waited,
In Christmas we have found the Messiah,
And we have been changed.
Now we must follow God’s guiding star,
Light to the world, redemption for all people.
We can no longer be satisfied with the old life,
We must journey deeper into God.
May we open our ears to listen,
So that we can hear God’s heartbeat.
May we open our eyes to watch,
So that we can see God’s presence.
May we open our minds to believe,
So that we can embrace God’s ways.
May we open our hearts to trust,
So that we can share God’s salvation.
Amen
You may also like to check out these posts from previous years:
The Eve of Epiphany – Saying Goodbye to Christmas
Eve of Epiphany – We have Come, We Have Seen Now We Must Follow
A few days ago I posted this prayer for New Year’s Day 2013. In the last few days however, there have been several beautiful prayers posted on the Light for the Journey Facebook page for the new year which I thought you might enjoy. I normally post all the prayers at once at the end of the week but thought that these needed to stand alone.
Lord Jesus Christ, pierce my soul with your love so that I may always long for you alone, who are the bread of angels and the fulfillment of the soul’s deepest desires.
May my heart always hunger and feed on you, so that my soul may be filled with sweetness in your presence.
May my soul thirst for you, who are the source of life, wisdom, knowledge, light and all the riches of God our Father.
May I always seek and find you, think about you, speak to you and do everything for the honour and glory of your name.
Be always my hope, my pece, my refuge and help in whom my heart is rooted so that I may never separate from you.
(Bonaventure – 13th Century)
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“This is the new year the new you. You can pass through another year, coasting on cruise control. Or you can step out of your comfort zone, trying things you have never done before, & make 2013 as the year that you elevate from where you are & soar high. Make it happen!”
― Pablo (posted by Micha Jazz of Contemplative Network)
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Every moment is a new beginning, every handshake a promise. I know that every quest implicates the other, just as every word can become prayer. If life is not a celebration, why remember it? If life — mine or that of my fellow man — is not an offering to the other, what are we doing on this earth?
— Elie Wiesel from “Open Heart”
Thanks to My Soul in Silence Waits.
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The God who breathed this world alive
and sustains it day by day,
whose hands flung stars into space
and controls our destiny
says, “Do not be afraid, for I am with you.”
The God who filled the ocean depths
and set tides on their way,
who caused mountains to be raised up
and rainbows to display
Says, “I have called you by name, you are mine.”
The God who made the fertile earth
and seed within to sow,
whose artistry creates butterflies
and the early morning dew
says, “You are precious in my sight.”
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God the eternal rock is with us,
From year’s beginning to its end,
In hard times and in good,
God is with us from year’s beginning to its end.
God almighty is faithful,
Present in each day and every moment,
Drawing close in every act and deed,
God is faithful through all eternity.
God is trustworthy,
Yesterday, today and forever,
Sustaining, enlivening, making all things new,
God the eternal rock is with us this day and evermore.
Olympic mountain view
It is the beginning of a new year with incredible potential. We have enjoyed the excitement of fireworks and New Year parties. All of us have hopes and expectations for the months that lie ahead. We eagerly make resolutions about what to eat, when to pray and how to live, knowing that most of these will be discarded before the month is out. Sitting here looking out my office window at the beautiful snow covered Olympic mountains, it is not hard for me to believe that this year holds incredible new possibilities. But I know that by the end of summer the snow will be gone and the hope and promise they offered may be gone too. So how do we make resolutions that stick?
For Tom and I, our refocusing prayer retreats which we take every three months are an important part of our yearly rhythm which helps keep us on the path we believe God wants us to follow. The end of year retreat we have just returned from was no exception.
Retreats are not just important for us as individuals, they are also important for us as an organization. Taking a retreat with your staff or ministry team is something I would highly encourage at this season. Over the years, our MSA staff retreats have totally reshaped the ways we function as an organization. They led us to develop a rule of life, helped us to reimagine ourselves as a community that discerns together the will of God for our organization and pointed us towards the discernment process we use each week in our team meetings. As you can imagine, how we prepare for the new year is a common theme for me at this time of the year. Next week I will share some of the insights I have gained from reading Parker Palmer’s book A Hidden Wholeness but today wanted to repost a revised version of the spiritual audit I have used for years to help me rethink my spiritual journey.
Look back over the last week or month
- Consolations: what has life gaining and deepened your sense of connection to God?
- Desolations: what has been life draining and made you lose that sense of intimacy with God?
- How is God speaking to you through this?
- What are the major pressures in your life? Where do you think the pressure comes from and what are the underlying causes?
- How do these affect your spiritual well being?
- In what ways could they be harnessed so that your heart could be broken open to new possibilities for a better future?
- What daily and weekly events set the rhythm for your life? Which of these contribute to your spiritual well being and which distract from it?
How well are you maintaining your spiritual life:
- What gives you joy in your spiritual journey at present?
- Where do you sense God is currently at work in your transformation? What would give God the most opportunity to continue that work?
- What do you do on a regular basis to nurture your spiritual life?
- What are the major distractions that interfere with regular spiritual disciplines?
How has God spoken to you in the last week:
- through prayer
- through scripture
- through the needs of others
- through the words of others
- through other means
What changes is God prompting you to make in order to further your spiritual growth:
- In your daily or weekly commitments and rhythms?
- In your spiritual routines?
How will you ensure that these changes are adhered to?
- What is one new practice you would like to institute to help maintain your new resolutions?
- What is one relationship you could nurture to provide accountability and encouragement as you walk this journey?
You may also like to revisit some of the other posts I have written in past years that address some of these issues.
Leading Spiritually – A Series on Leading with Discernment
Welcoming the New Year – What Do We Expect?
Tools for Prayer – Moving Beyond Chronic Randomness to Intentionality
Good Samaritan by He Qi
Today on the liturgical calendar, is the day we celebrate the circumcision of Christ. Since our cultures are more squeamish than were those of our ancestors, modern calendars usually list it as the feast of the Holy Name of Jesus. Just like every Jewish boy, Jesus as circumcised and formally named on the eighth day of his life, and so, one week after Christmas, while we are still celebrating the wonder and the joy of the Saviour who came to dwell amongst us, we celebrate this occasion In Jesus day, a name was far more important than it tends to be today. Introducing a person just about gave you their whole genealogy and sometimes even reflected their personality.
As a celebration of then naming of Jesus why not get together with a group of friends for a party maybe not today but after those New Year hangovers have settled. This could be a good way to shake off those post Christmas blues. Bring a name book with you. Look up the names of each person in your group and discuss their meanings. Get each person to share the story of why they were given that name. Then ask the question: In what ways does your name reflect the call that God has placed on your life? Some of you may like to consider a new name that reflects what you believe is God’s call on your life. One friend of mine changed his name from Bill to Will because he felt it better reflected his desire to use his life “doing the will of God.”
Next spend time discussing the names of Jesus. Get each person to write down the names that they remember as being applied to Jesus in the Scriptures. You might like to have a competition to see who can think of the most names. Or you could write a poem or song that reflects these names. End your time with a discussion about how you could represent these different aspects of who Jesus can be to those who live around you.
Names matter. What we call Jesus matters. If we see him as Lord it can imply a distant and unapproachable God who is unconcerned for human suffering. If we call him servant, we see him down in the dirty places of our world and we want to join him. I have written about this previously in the post: Sometimes I want to Call God Mother. Think about it for a few minutes and then listen to this powerful 5 minute sermon by Rev SM Lockridge entitled That’s My King.
Or you might like to use this liturgy to reflect on:
Thank you for making this year the best ever on Godspace. The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2012 annual report for this blog.
Here’s an excerpt:
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God as this new year dawns,
May we take time to see the newness you are giving birth to.
May we not be blinded by the darkness that consumes our world.
Or consumed by the fear that paralyzes our actions.
May we remember,
That out of winter’s darkness you bring forth light,
That out of winter’s death you give birth to new life.
May we remember,
That which has been dormant will spring to life,
That which has been pruned will sprout new strength.
May we remember,
You are the light by which we see,
You are the fountain that gives us life.
God as this new year emerges,
May we give birth to that which honours you,
May we bring to life that which allows your goodness to shine,
May we give fresh expression to your eternal world,
And in the depths of our hearts may we cry,
Your kingdom come,
Your will be done,
On earth as it is in heaven.
Amen
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