peace

Create in me an empty space

/ Eric Mathews / Leave a comment
mosaic by Christ City Church, Memphis, TN
 
 
With prayerful pleas
   and Advent songs of longing,
   I await the birth of God’s Anointing One.
Come, O Gift of heaven’s harmony,
   and attune my third ear,
   the ear of my heart,
   so that I may hear,
   just as Mary, faithful woman of Israel, heard.
O God, the time is short,
   these days are too few,
   as I prepare for the feast
   of the birth of Mary’s son.
Busy days, crowded to the brim,
   with long lists of gifts to buy,
   and things that must be done.
Show to me, also your highly favored child,
   how to guard my heart
   from noise and hurry’s whirl,
   so that I might hear your voice
   calling my heart to create an empty space
   that might be pregnant with heaven’s fire.
Quiet me within,
   clothe my body in peacefulness,
   that your Word
   once again may take flesh-
   this time, with me-
   as once it did in holy Mary,
   long Advent days ago.

Edward Hays 1931-2016 American Catholic Priest
___________________________

Luke 1:34-35

“How will this be,” Mary asked the angel, “since I am a virgin?”

The angel answered,
The Holy Spirit will come on you,
    and the power of the Most High will overshadow you.
So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God.
___________________________
 
How do you quiet your heart to hear God’s voice this advent season?
Plan a time this week to pray and listen for God to speak to you.

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bring Life and Peace to us

/ Eric Mathews / Leave a comment
 
O King of the nations,
You are the headstone of the glorious hall of creation.
You are the firm mortar which holds the building together.
Throughout the earth people marvel at your works.
But now the building is being reduced to a ruin by greed and fear:
 
Reveal yourself to mankind, 
    show yourself as the ruler of the world,
    demonstrate the power of your love.
 
O just and faithful King,
    you can unlock the prison-house of sin,
    and let us out into the glorious freedom of love.
Now we sit in darkness,
    grieving over the wrongs we have committed.
We long for the sun,
    we yearn for the warmth and brightness of your truth.
Open the gate of this prison, and lead us to your kingdom,
    which is our true home.
 
Come now, high king of heaven.  
Come to us in flesh and bone.  
Bring life to us who are weary with misery.  
Bring peace to us who are overcome with weeping,
    whose cheeks are covered with bitter salt tears.  
Seek us out, who are lost in the darkness of depression.  
Do not forget us, but show mercy to us.  
Impart to us your everlasting joy,
    so that we, who are fashioned by your hands,
    may praise your glory.
 
Exeter Book, c.960,  codex of Old English poetry
___________________
 
Isaiah 61:1-3

The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me,
    because the Lord has anointed me
    to proclaim good news to the poor.
He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,
    to proclaim freedom for the captives
    and release from darkness for the prisoners,
to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor
    and the day of vengeance of our God,
to comfort all who mourn,
     and provide for those who grieve in Zion—
to bestow on them a crown of beauty
    instead of ashes,
the oil of joy
    instead of mourning,
and a garment of praise
    instead of a spirit of despair.
 
_____________________________
 
Where is God’s life and peace most needed in your community?
Pray that the power of Christ’s love would be revealed in this situation.

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Come Lord Jesus

/ Eric Mathews / Leave a comment
Lindisfarne Island, Chris Combe from York, UK, CC BY 2.0  Wikimedia Commons 
 
Come, Lord Jesus,
Come as King.
Rule in our hearts,
Come as love.
Rule in our minds,
Come as peace.
Rule in our actions,
Come as power.
Rule in our days,
Come as joy.
Rule in our darkness,
Come as light.
Rule in our bodies,
Come as health.
Rule in our labors,
Come as hope.
Thy Kingdom come
Among us.

David Adam 1936-2020 British Anglican priest, served at Lindisfarne
 
____________________________

The people who walked in darkness
    have seen a great light;
those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness,
    on them has light shone.

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Blessing for the day’s work

/ Eric Mathews / Leave a comment

Security of the People, ​Seymour Fogel, Wikimedia Commons

 
I will not let you go, O Lord, until you bless me;
    so bless me this day, this hour, this moment:
 
Bless my mind to discern the one thing that this day requires;
Bless my heart to remain at peace in the face of fear;
Bless my will to resist all needless distractions;
Bless my hands to do the work that you have entrusted to me;
Bless my ears to be attuned to your voice;
Bless my eyes to see the signs of your presence;
Bless my feet to go wherever you would lead me.
 
I pray this so that I might be
    like the birds of the air
    and the lilies of the field,
    free of worry and secure
    in the enfolding care
    of my Father in heaven.
I pray this in your name.
Amen.
 
Prayers for the Pilgrimage
W. David O. Taylor, American theologian and Anglican priest
 
_________________________
 
 
Blessed are all who fear the Lord,
    who walk in obedience to him.
You will eat the fruit of your labor;
    blessings and prosperity will be yours.
 

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prayer for bleary-eyed parents

/ Eric Mathews / Leave a comment
Mother and Child by Julius Gari Melchers, Art Institute of Chicago
 
 
O Lord, you who hold all things together, 
    help me. I pray, not to lose my mind; 
you who calmed the tempest,
    help me not to lose my temper;
you who promised rest to the weary,
    speak a word of peace to my tired body;
you who healed the blind,
    open my eyes to see your presence in the dark;
you who speak things into life,
    help me to hear your small voice over the din of my own noisy mind;
you who welcomed the children,
    take care of my own;
and you who promised to be with us always,
    be with me now in my hour of need,
    so that I may feel your tangible care.
I pray this in the name of Jesus, the Compassionate One,
Amen,
 
W, David O. Taylor, American theologian and Anglican priest
 
_________________________
 
 
Just as parents are kind
    to their children,
the Lord is kind
    to all who worship him,
because he knows
    we are made of dust.

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for those suffering the anguish of inner darkness

/ Eric Mathews / Leave a comment

photo via pixabay CC0

 
Lord Jesus, 
as you bowed your head and died,
a great darkness covered the land.
 
We lay before you
the despair of all
who find life
without meaning or purpose,
who suffer the anguish
of inner darkness
that can only lead them 
to self-destruction and death.
 
Lord,
in your passion, you too
felt abandoned, isolated, derelict.
 
You are one
with all who suffer
pain and torment
of body and mind.
 
Be to them the light
that has never been mastered.
Pierce the darkness
which surrounds and engulfs them,
so that they may know
within themselves
acceptance, forgiveness, and peace.
 
We pray for those who,
through the suicide
of one close to them,
suffer the emptiness of loss
and the burden of untold guilt.
May they know
your gift of acceptance,
so that they may be freed
from self-reproach
and mutual recrimination,
and find in the pattern
of your dying and rising,
new understanding, and purpose
for their lives.
 
Neville Smith, retired Anglican priest and hospital chaplain
 
______________________
 
 
The Lord is close to the brokenhearted
    and saves those who are crushed in spirit.
The righteous person may have many troubles,
    but the Lord delivers him from them all

prayer to live in happiness and peace

/ Eric Mathews / Leave a comment

image by Agnes Leung via Flickr, CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

 
O God, our Father, 
we know that the issues of life and death are in your hands, 
    and we know that you are loving us with an everlasting love.  
If it is your will, grant to us to live in happiness and in peace.
 
In all our undertakings,
    Grant us prosperity and good success.
In all our friendships,
    Grant us to find our friends faithful and true.
In all our bodily things,
    Make us fit and healthy,
        Able for the work of the day.
In all the things of the mind,
    Make us calm and serene,
        Free from anxiety and worry.
In material things,
    Save us from poverty and from want.
In spiritual things,
    Save us from doubt and from distrust.
Grant us 
    In our work satisfaction;
    In our study true wisdom;
    In our pleasure gladness;
    In our love loyalty.
 
And if misfortune does come to us, 
    grant that any trial may only bring us closer to one another and closer to you; 
    and grant that nothing may shake our certainty that you work all things together for good,
    and that a Father’s hand will never cause his child a needless tear. 
Hear this our prayer, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
 
William Barclay, 1907-1978, minister in the Church of Scotland
 
___________________________
 
 
Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord,
    whose trust is the Lord.
He is like a tree planted by water,
    that sends out its roots by the stream,
and does not fear when heat comes,
    for its leaves remain green,
and is not anxious in the year of drought,
    for it does not cease to bear fruit.
 

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Open unto me

/ Eric Mathews / Leave a comment
 
 
Open unto me, light for my darkness
Open unto me, courage for my fear
Open unto me, hope for my despair
Open unto me, peace for my turmoil
Open unto me, joy for my sorrow
Open unto me, strength for my weakness
Open unto me, wisdom for my confusion
Open unto me, forgiveness for my sins
Open unto me, tenderness for my toughness
Open unto me, love for my hates
Open unto me, Thy Self for myself
Lord, Lord, open unto me!

Howard Thurman, 1899-1981, American author, educator and civil rights leader
___________________________________
 
 
The Lord sets the prisoners free;
   the Lord opens the eyes of the blind.
The Lord lifts up those who are bowed down;
    the Lord loves the righteous.
The Lord watches over the sojourners;
    he upholds the widow and the fatherless,
    but the way of the wicked he brings to ruin.
 

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challenging the powers

/ Eric Mathews / Leave a comment
Christ Preaching, called La Petite Tombe, Rembrandt, via Wikimedia commons
 
 
Vulnerable God,
    you challenge the powers that rule this world
    through the needy, the compassionate,
    and those who are filled with longing.
 
Make us hunger and thirst to see right prevail,
    and single-minded in seeking peace;
    that we may see your face
    and be satisfied with you,
  through Jesus Christ.
 
Janet Morely British author, poet, and Christian feminist
 
___________________________
 
 
Looking at his disciples, he said:

“Blessed are you who are poor,
    for yours is the kingdom of God.
Blessed are you who hunger now,
    for you will be satisfied.
Blessed are you who weep now,
    for you will laugh.
Blessed are you when people hate you,
    when they exclude you and insult you
    and reject your name as evil,
        because of the Son of Man.

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Come gentle rain of Advent-tide

/ Eric Mathews / Leave a comment
Hawaii lava flower
 
Isaiah of old prayed,
    “Let the earth open wide her mouth;
    as justice descends, O heavens, 
    like the dew from above,
    like gentle showers,
    let salvation fall from the skies;
    let justice spring up
    and salvation bud forth.”
Come gentle rain of Advent-tide,
    soak deep into my heart,
    calling forth signs of an early spring.
Make buds appear on my heart’s barren rosebush
    and blooms on its dried flower stalks.
Come showers of silence and wet my soul;
    soak deeply with your fertile fingers, dripping heaven’s dew.
May I come forth from my times of prayer
    as from a bath:
    dripping wet from a sacred soaking, 
    refreshed, renewed, revitalized.
Advent prayer of December stillness,
    dampen my dry soul,
    coax forth green leaves of the Spirit 
    and bring forth buds of bright flowers 
    as green trees flicker with magic lights 
    and green wreath circles
    whirl on front doors,
    red-bowed in festive joy.
May soggy souls ooze out awesome gifts,
    for Emmanuel, God-among-us,
    is awakened from a yearlong slumber 
    by gentle mists of Advent longing 
    and is eager to give gifts of love, 
    presents of your presence.
Radiant Rain God,
    make me your brimful cloud,
    ready to shower down Emmanuel’s justice and peace 
    upon all I meet. 
 
Edward Hayes, 1931 – 2016, Catholic Priest, Kansas City
 
____________________________
 
 
Shower, O heavens, from above,
    and let the clouds rain down righteousness;
let the earth open,
    that salvation and righteousness may bear fruit;
    let the earth cause them both to sprout;
    I the Lord have created it.
 

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