Evening Prayer Monday, 8 February 2021
JUG
by Elizabeth Burns
after Vermeer
A thin stream of milk
poured from the heavy earthenware jug
into a tureen
this little slip of liquid
tipping over the lip of the jug
continually flowing
from one vessel to another
as we, all our lives, are being filled
replenished and replenished
Good evening and welcome to Evening Prayer
The Lord almighty grant us a quiet night and a perfect end.
Amen.
Our help is in the name of the Lord
who made heaven and earth
That this evening may be holy, good and peaceful,
let us pray with one heart and mind.
Silence is kept.
As our evening prayer rises before you, O God,
so may your mercy come down upon us
to cleanse our hearts
and set us free to sing your praise
now and for ever.
Amen.
Presence
Let my heart rejoice and be glad
in this time of prayer.
Remind me often of the great
blessings You have bestowed on me.
Freedom
There are very few people
who realise what God would make of them
if they abandoned themselves into his hands,
and let themselves be formed by his grace. (Saint Ignatius)
I ask for the grace to trust myself totally to God’s love.
Consciousness
We are all pilgrims on a journey to you, Lord.
May we contemplate your time on earth,
and, with Your help, follow in your footsteps.
THE WORD OF GOD
Mark 6:53-56
When Jesus and the disciples had crossed over, they came to land at Gennesaret and moored the boat.
When they got out of the boat, people at once recognized him, and rushed about that whole region and began to bring the sick on mats to wherever they heard he was. And wherever he went, into villages or cities or farms, they laid the sick in the marketplaces, and begged him that they might touch even the fringe of his cloak; and all who touched it were healed.
WORDS OF WISDOM
Like many of us, I have found this third lockdown much harder to fathom. Today, struggling to get motivated, I began, with yet more displacement therapy; I shuffled some things around on the mantelpiece. Over the last three weeks, I have rearranged books in alphabetical order, tidied the inside of cupboards and even organised my in-tray! For a few moments, I have felt a tiny sense of being in control. These activities are a form of distraction from the uncertainties of a world that seems out of control.
A temporary form of relief, but one where I have become more aware of the beauty and order of well-placed ornaments and objects around the home. A gourd, bought whilst travelling, with leather strap and beadwork, the inside of which, still smells of Ethiopia. A cider mug, given by an Uncle and Aunt, made of gritty clay with an indent in the shape of a scallop to place the thumb in.
The curved, sculptural ceramics made by Liz, my wife, full of colour and sensuous form. These are all things of beauty and memory made or given in the spirit of love, friendship and discovery. We might live in a world where humanity appears to be steering towards its capacity for self-destruction. We might feel a growing terror at the impact we are having on creation. Yet, these mugs, gourds and pots are a reminder of our capacity for creation.
The revealing of relationship; form to function to proportion; of part to whole and whole to other wholes. These objects possess an ancient, unyielding stillness, an echo of when the clay slept in the dark, sedimentary layers, of the earth. The dark earth, out of which the incalculable colour and forms of spring will flow. I love the way the potter will have gathered up the clay, and, with all four limbs, turned a wheel, moulded, marked and poured water, all in unison with a mind that finds within its intricate poetry, a simple beauty.
That whole conglomeration of mind, body and soul is a mystery. The act of making, and then the delight of contemplating form, is an experience that includes but cannot be reduced to the firing of synapses in the neuro pathways of our brains. A mug contains within it a web of memory, temperament, association, aesthetic intelligence, meaning and story. The memory of the earth, the hands of the potter, the eyes of the viewer. Each pot is born out of the womb of the makers vision, out of joy and suffering; the inner weather of thought and feeling.
After a long day, my cider mug contains within it, not just cider that gladdens the heart, but a familiarity and intimacy that calms the inner weather of my own thoughts and feelings. I delight in the sheer ‘thisness’ of the mug; as I imagine the Divine delights in creation. To contemplate a well-made object, even a functional one, such as a mug, is to become more aware of the true self.
The true self, which some have called the ‘higher self’ or ‘second self’ is the self that loves to love. The true self is not the weather system of thoughts constantly on the move over the surface of the mind that the Buddhists call the ‘monkey mind’. The true self, is the self that is conscious of what it delights in. The self that drinks deeply from beneath the ‘monkey mind’; from the well in the soul that mirrors the presence of beauty.
To stand still in that reflection is a form of revelation beyond information, beyond the closed world of measurement and explanation where mystery is the essential food of the soul. The food of discovery. There is a Chinese proverb that says; ‘If you have two pennies, spend one on bread, to give you life, and one on a flower to give meaning to your life’. We need food to nourish the body in order for beauty to nourish the mind. A beauty that is quietly luminous. A radiance that replenishes.
Revd Simon Lockett
PRAYERS AND INTERCESSIONS
We pray for the world…
Lord, in your mercy
hear our prayer.
We pray for the universal church of Christ…
Lord, in your mercy
hear our prayer.
We pray for one another and all those known to us…
Lord, in your mercy
hear our prayer.
THE LORD’S PRAYER
As our Saviour taught us, so we pray
Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.
Forgive us our sins
as we forgive those who sin against us.
Lead us not into temptation
but deliver us from evil.
For the kingdom, the power,
and the glory are yours
now and for ever.
Amen.
Silence….
Visit this place, O Lord, we pray,
and drive far from it the snares of the enemy;
may your holy angels dwell with us and guard us in peace,
and may your blessing be always upon us;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.
See that you are at peace among yourselves, my children,
and love one another.
Follow the example of the wise and good
and God will comfort you and help you,
both in this world
and in the world which is to come.
THE BLESSINGS
May God’s Spirit surround you,
and those whom you love.
Rest now, in that calm embrace,
let your hearts be warmed
and all storms be stilled
by the whisper of his voice.
An the blessing of God almighty, the Father,
the Son and the Holy Spirit,
be upon you today and always.
Amen.
THANK YOU FOR JOIN US!
Goodnight and God bless…by the grace of God tomorrow will be a better day!
Revd. Ernesto Lozada-Uzuriaga
