Good Evening Dear Ones!
Happy Friday! Wow! If I had thought that I would be writing this blog a few hours ago after completing the Virtual Episcopal Latino Ministry Competency Course that kept me mentally stimulated for 5 days (4 of those are 6 hours 30 minutes and the last day 5 hours). I know that is TMI but it is how I engaged in Holy Living like the partial title of our featured saint of the day, Jeremy Taylor wrote. Holy living stretches us beyond our comfort zone.Today we will ponder just a few quotes and then enter into our weekly and daily mindfulness work. Tomorrow we will remember Jonathan Myrick Daniels. So let us begin.
"God hath given to man a short time here upon earth, and yet upon this short time eternity depends." ~ Jeremy Taylor
"Love is the greatest thing that God can give us; for Himself is love: and it is the greatest thing we can give to God; for it will also give ourselves, and carry with it all that is ours. The apostle calls it the band of perfection; it is the old, and it is the new, and it is the great commandment, and it is all the commandments; for it is the fulfilling of the Law." ~ Jeremy Taylor
"A religion without mystery must be a religion without God." ~ Jeremy Taylor
"Love is friendship set on fire. Hate is friendship burned." ~ Jeremy Taylor
"...Learn to give thanks for everything." ~ Jeremy Taylor
"Mercy is like the rainbow, which God hath set in the clouds; it never shines after it is night. If we refuse mercy here, we shall have justice in eternity." ~ Jeremy Taylor
"Know that you are your greatest enemy, but also your greatest friend." ~ Jeremy Taylor
"Prayer is the peace of our spirit, the stillness of our thoughts, the evenness of recollection, the seat of meditation, the rest of our cares and the calm of our tempest; prayer is the issue of a quiet mind, of untroubled thoughts, it is the daughter of charity, and the sister of meekness." ~ Jeremy Taylor
"From David learn to give thanks for everything. Every furrow in the book of Psalms is sown with the seeds of thanksgiving." ~ Jeremy Taylor
"Avoid idleness, and fill up all the spaces of thy time with severe and useful employment; for lust easily creeps in at those emptinesses where the soul is unemployed and the body is at ease; for no easy, healthful, idle person was ever chaste if he could be tempted; but of all employments, bodily labor is the most useful, and of the greatest benefit for driving away the Devil." ~ Jeremy Taylor
"The best theology is rather a divine life than a divine knowledge." ~ Jeremy Taylor
"Faith is the root of all blessings. Believe, and you shall be saved; believe, and you must needs be satisfied; believe, and you cannot but be comforted and happy" ~ Jeremy Taylor
"Friendship is the strongest bond in the world." ~ Jeremy Taylor
"When we pray for any virtue, we should cultivate the virtue as well as pray for it; the form of your prayer should be the rule of your life; every petition to God is a precept to man. Look not, therefore, upon your prayers as a method of good and salvation only, but as a perpetual monition of duty. By what we require of God we see what he requires of us." ~ Jeremy Taylor
"Teach us to pray often, that we may pray oftener." ~ Jeremy Taylor
+++
Lovingkindness (Metta) Prayer
May "all beings" be happy, healthy and whole.
May they have love, warmth and affection.
May they be protected from harm, and free from fear.
May they be alive, engaged and joyful.
May "all beings" enjoy inner peace and ease.
May that peace expand into their world and throughout the entire universe.
This prayer is traditionally done for successively wider circles of caring, with “all beings”replaced appropriately. The first round would be for yourself, then those closest to you, then those who you feel neutral toward, then those with whom you have difficulties, and continuing outward until it includes all beings.
Let us begin with our new mindfulness passages:
Let us breathe in peace.
Let us breathe out worry.
Be still and hear the whisper of God in the Wind, in the waves, and in our hearts
Be still and hear the whisper of God in the Wind,in the waves.
Be still and hear the whisper of God in the Wind.
Be still and hear the whisper of God.
Be still and hear the whisper.
Be still and hear.
Be still.
Be.
Loving God, we thank you for the gift of life in all its diversity and beauty. Lord Jesus Christ, crucified and risen, we praise you that you came to find the lost, to free the oppressed, to heal the sick, and to convert the self-centred. Holy Spirit, we rejoice that you breathe in the life of the world and are poured out into our hearts. As we live in the Spirit, may we also walk in the Spirit. Grant us faith and courage to deny ourselves, take up our cross and follow Jesus: becoming pilgrims of justice and peace in our time. For the blessing of your people, the sustaining of the earth, and the glory of your name. Through Christ our Lord, Amen.
1. Become aware of God’s presence.
This is the time when we become aware of our breathing and grounding ourselves. Let us use the "Peace be stills".
Inhale
Hold
Exhale gently.
Pause and repeat!
Peace be still.
Peace be.
Peace.
Repeat two more times.
2. Review the day with gratitude.
3. Pay attention to your emotions.
4. Choose one feature of the day and pray from it.
5. Look toward tomorrow.
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More help from Ignatian Spirituality
Come let us worship:
A PERSONAL INVOCATION - Augustine
O Love of God, descend into my heart;
Enlighten the dark corners of this neglected dwelling,
And scatter there Your cheerful beams.
Dwell in the soul that longs to be Your temple;
Water that barren soil overrun with weeds and briars
And lost for lack of cultivating.
Make it fruitful with Your dew.
Come, dear Refreshment of those who languish;
Come, Star and Guide of those who sail amidst tempests.
You are the Haven of the tossed and shipwrecked.
Come now, Glory and Crown of the living,
As well as the Safeguard of the dying.
Come, Sacred Spirit;
Come, and fit me to receive You.
Joseph Barth: A Grace
We give thanks for Being;
We give thanks for being here;
We give thanks for being here together.
Watch at all times, praying for the strength to stand with confidence before the Son of man. Luke 21:36
Look up and raise your heads, because your redemption is drawing near. Luke 21:28
In the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord, make straight in the desert a highway for our God. Isaiah 40:3
The glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all the world shall see it together. Isaiah 40:5
Prepare the way of the Lord, make the paths straight, and all the world shall see the salvation of God. Luke 3:4, 6
Restore us again O God: show us the light of your face and we shall be saved. Psalm 80:3
There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and those who are afraid are not perfected in love. We love because God first loved us. If anyone says, I love God, and hates his brother or sister, that person is a liar; for those who do not love their brothers and sisters whom they have seen, cannot love God whom they have not seen. 1 John 4:18-20
Light of the World Phos hilaron
Light of the world, in grace and beauty,
Mirror of God’s eternal face,
Transparent flame of love’s free duty,
You bring salvation to our race.
Now, as we see the lights of evening,
We raise our voice in hymns of praise;
Worthy are you of endless blessing,
Sun of our night, lamp of our days.
“In me there is darkness,
But with You there is light;
I am lonely, but You do not leave me;
I am feeble in heart, but with You there is help;
I am restless, but with You there is peace.
In me there is bitterness, but with You there is patience;
I do not understand Your ways,
But You know the way for me.”
“Lord Jesus Christ,
You were poor
And in distress, a captive and forsaken as I am.
You know all man’s troubles;
You abide with me
When all men fail me;
You remember and seek me;
It is Your will that I should know You
And turn to You.
Lord, I hear Your call and follow;
Help me.”
― Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Letters and Papers from Prison
Creator, our Father in heaven, we come to you as your children. We confess that we are weak and broken images of you. We pray for the forgiveness and healing you give in Jesus Christ. May his Spirit clean our spirits, minds, hearts, and bodies. We pray that your Holy Spirit will help us to worship in spirit and truth. We pray in the name of Jesus, so that his Spirit will carry our prayers to you. Amen.
IN LAK’ECH
Tú eres mi otro yo.
You are my other me.
Si te hago daño a ti,
If I do harm to you,
Me hago daño a mi mismo.
I do harm to myself.
Si te amo y respeto,
If I love and respect you,
Me amo y respeto yo.
I love and respect myself.
Luis Valdez
A voice I am sending as I walk.
In a sacred manner I am walking.
With visible tracks I am walking.
In a sacred manner I walk.
bringing the sacred pipe - white buffalo maiden
139 Domine, probasti
1 Lord, you have searched me out and known me; *
you know my sitting down and my rising up;
you discern my thoughts from afar.
2 You trace my journeys and my resting-places *
and are acquainted with all my ways.
3 Indeed, there is not a word on my lips, *
but you, O Lord, know it altogether.
4 You press upon me behind and before *
and lay your hand upon me.
5 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; *
it is so high that I cannot attain to it.
6 Where can I go then from your Spirit? *
where can I flee from your presence?
7 If I climb up to heaven, you are there; *
if I make the grave my bed, you are there also.
8 If I take the wings of the morning *
and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea,
9 Even there your hand will lead me *
and your right hand hold me fast.
A Song of Our True Nature
Julian of Norwich
Christ revealed our frailty and our falling, *
our trespasses and our humiliations.
Christ also revealed his blessed power, *
his blessed wisdom and love.
He protects us as tenderly and as sweetly when we are in greatest need; *
he raises us in spirit
and turns everything to glory and joy without ending.
God is the ground and the substance, the very essence of nature;
*
God is the true father and mother of natures.
We are all bound to God by nature, *
and we are all bound to God by grace.
And this grace is for all the world, *
because it is our precious mother, Christ.
For this fair nature was prepared by Christ
for the honor and nobility of all, *
and for the joy and bliss of salvation.
Ecclesiastes 3:1-15
Everything Has Its Time
3For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven:
2 a time to be born, and a time to die;
a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted;
3 a time to kill, and a time to heal;
a time to break down, and a time to build up;
4 a time to weep, and a time to laugh;
a time to mourn, and a time to dance;
5 a time to throw away stones, and a time to gather stones together;
a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;
6 a time to seek, and a time to lose;
a time to keep, and a time to throw away;
7 a time to tear, and a time to sew;
a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;
8 a time to love, and a time to hate;
a time for war, and a time for peace.
The God-Given Task
9 What gain have the workers from their toil? 10I have seen the business that God has given to everyone to be busy with. 11He has made everything suitable for its time; moreover, he has put a sense of past and future into their minds, yet they cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end. 12I know that there is nothing better for them than to be happy and enjoy themselves as long as they live; 13moreover, it is God’s gift that all should eat and drink and take pleasure in all their toil. 14I know that whatever God does endures for ever; nothing can be added to it, nor anything taken from it; God has done this, so that all should stand in awe before him. 15That which is, already has been; that which is to be, already is; and God seeks out what has gone by.*
Mark 13:32-37
The Necessity for Watchfulness
32 ‘But about that day or hour no one knows, neither the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. 33Beware, keep alert;* for you do not know when the time will come. 34It is like a man going on a journey, when he leaves home and puts his slaves in charge, each with his work, and commands the doorkeeper to be on the watch. 35Therefore, keep awake—for you do not know when the master of the house will come, in the evening, or at midnight, or at cockcrow, or at dawn, 36or else he may find you asleep when he comes suddenly. 37And what I say to you I say to all: Keep awake.’
O God, whose days are without end, and whose mercies cannot be numbered: Make us, like your servant Jeremy Taylor, deeply aware of the shortness and uncertainty of human life; and let your Holy Spirit direct us in holiness and righteousness all our days, through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.
Prayers from the Golden Grove by Jeremy Taylor in the original English of the day!
A Short Prayer to be Said every Morning.
O Almighty God, Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the God of mercy and comfort, with reverence and fear, with humble confidence and strong desires, I approach to the Throne of Grace, begging of thee mercy and protection, pardon and salvation. O my God, I am a sinner, but sorrowful and repenting: Thou art justly offended at me, but yet thou art my Lord and my Father, merciful and gracious: Be pleased to blot all my sins out of thy remembrance, and heal my soul, that I may never any more sin against thee. Lord open my eyes, that I may see my own infirmities, and watch against them; and my own follies, that I may amend them: and be pleased to give me perfect understanding in the way of godliness, that I may walk in it all the dayes of my pilgrimage. Give me a spirit diligent in the works of my Calling, chearful and zealous in Religion, fervent and frequent in my Prayers, charitable and useful in my conversation: Give me a healthful and a chaste body, a pure and a holy soul, a sanctified and an humble spirit; and let my body and soul and spirit be preserved unblameable to the coming of the Lord Jesus. Amen.
II. Blessed be thy Name, O God, and blessed be thy Mercies, who hast preserved me this night from sin and sorrow, from bad chances, and a violent death, from the malice of the Devil, and the evil effects of my own corrupted nature and infirmity. The out-goings of the Morning and Evening shall praise thee, and thy servants shall rejoyce in giving thee praise for the operation of thy hands. Let thy providence and care watch over me this day, and all my whole life, that I may never sin against thee by idleness or folly, by evil company or private sins, by word or deed, by thought or desire; and let the imployment of my day leave no sorrow, or the remembrance of an evil conscience at night: but let it be holy and profitable, blessed, and alwayes innocent; that when the dayes of my short abode are done, and the shadow is departed, I may die in thy fear and favour, and rest in a holy hope, and at last return to the joyes of a blessed Resurrection, through Jesus Christ: In whose Name, and in whose words, in behalf of my self and all my friends, and all thy servants, I humbly and heartily pray, Our Father. &c.
A Prayer for the Evening.
Eternall God, Almighty Father of Men and Angels, by whose care and providence I am preserved and blessed, comforted and assisted, I humbly beg of thee to pardon the sins and follies of this day, the weaknesses of my services, and the strength of my passions, the rashness of my words, and the vanity and evil of my actions. O just and dear God, how long shall I confess my sins, and pray against them, and yet fall under them! O let it be so no more, let me never return to the follies of which I am ashamed, which bring sorrow, and death, and thy displeasure, worse then death. Give me a command over my evil inclinations, and a perfect hatred of sin, and a love to thee above all the desires of this world. Be pleased to bless and preserve me this night from all sin, and all violence of Chance, and the malice of the Spirits of darkness: watch over me in my sleep, and whether sleep or wake, let me be thy servant. Be thou first and last in all my thoughts, and the guide and continual assistance of all my actions: Preserve my body, pardon the sin of my soul, and sanctifie my soul; let me alwayes live holily, and justly, and soberly; and when I die, receive my soul into thy hands, O holy and ever Blessed Jesus, that I may lie in thy bosome, and long for thy coming, and hear thy blessed Sentence at Doomsday, and behold thy face, and live in thy Kingdome, singing praises to God for ever and ever. Amen.
Our Father, &c.
For FRIDAY. A Prayer against Wrath and inordinate Anger.
I. O Almighty Judge of Men and Angels, whose anger is alwayes the minister of Justice, slow, but severe, not lightly arising, but falling heavily when it comes: Give to thy servant a meek and a gentle spirit, that I also may be slow to anger, and easie to mercy and forgiveness. Give me a wise and a constant heart, that I may not be moved with every trifling mistake, and inconsiderable accident in the conversation and entercourse of others; never be moved to an intemperate anger for any injury that is done or offered; let my anger ever be upon a just cause, measured with moderation and reason, expressed with charity and prudence, lasting but till it hath done some good, either upon my self or others.
II. Lord let me be ever courteous, and easie to be intreated; never let me fall into a peevish or contentious spirit, but follow peace with all men, offering forgiveness, inviting them by courtesies, ready to confess my own errors, apt to make amends, and desirous to be reconciled. Let no sickness, or cross accident, no imployment or weariness, make me angry or ungentle, and discontent, or unthankful, or uneasie to them that minister to me; but in all things make me like unto the holy Jesus. Give me the spirit of a Christian, charitable, humble, merciful and meek, useful and liberal, complying with every chance; angry at nothing but my own sins, and grieving for the sins of others; that while my passion obeys my reason, and my reason is religious, and my religion is pure and undefiled, managed with humility, and adorned with charity, I may escape thy anger which I have deserved, and may dwell in thy love, and be thy Son and Servant for ever, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
6
Lord,
it is night.
The night is for stillness.
Let us be still in the presence of God.
It is night after a long day.
What has been done has been done;
what has not been done has not been done;
let it be.
The night is dark.
Let our fears of the darkness of the world and of our own lives
rest in you.
The night is quiet.
Let the quietness of your peace enfold us,
all dear to us,
and all who have no peace.
The night heralds the dawn.
Let us look expectantly to a new day,
new joys,
new possibilities.
In your name we pray.
Amen. (ANZPB)
Satucket Lectionary
Walk With Me On Our Journey
A New Zealand Prayer Book
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