Morning Prayer Monday, 14 September 2020
Ablate the Suncups, not the Ice: an Incantation
By Francine J. Harris
O god of the desublime, allay the vertical penitentes
their limbs, rest them back cold, not in precipitate
but in seed, in potential of hydrogen. Spoon in density
to be sung of their winter’s seed and soak. Sip pond
to suncups, over sunrise. Far from the flat dispatch
of heat, its stench, its wayward ever summer barge
and fallout. Jesus be a river. Be a untainted float
of deliquescent surge. Be saltless and cold.
O pose of hope, allay the waterfall, hear their prayer,
O bed of oxygen, divine surge. Be also brackish sea. Be
seed of the frost, and supercooled. Be shade soup.
Sweet hale of beloved drench and mitochondrial belly,
be flint for the watery flame. Douse out the eventual
crunch, the big scorch, the rip of our primordial anus
and mouth, suckling at the place of eco abundance. O sweet bio teat,
O hygroscopic lordess. Were we to sit still and let ourselves be cold
for hours, wiped of web crack frost, mild sud of the slow glacier,
rimed vat at the edge of rash season, our legs from twitching.
O known keep of tomorrow, might we skill our motor by, pedal
from the crib of our await. O stable evolver, an alms for safe passage,
your earthen cooling, forgive us our erosion. Heal the demanding snows.
Good morning and welcome to Morning Prayer
The night has passed, and the day lies open before us;
let us pray with one heart and mind.
Silence is kept.
As we rejoice in the gift of this new day,
so may the light of your presence, O God,
set our hearts on fire with love for you;
now and for ever.
Amen.
Breathe in
Breathe out
Be still…
Spirit of Truth
who reveals to us the things of God
we praise your name.
Spirit of Wisdom
who inspires the words we ought to speak
we praise your name.
Spirit of Power
who grants the courage we need to act
we praise your name.
Spirit of Love
who knows our nature and loves us still
we praise your name.
Amen
Presence
Dear Lord as I come to you today
Fill my heart and my whole being
with the wonder of Your presence
Freedom
I try to let go of any prejudices and narrow mindedness
That may be clouding my vision at this present moment.
I hand them over to God’s merciful care,
So I can pray in freedom at this time.
Consciousness
To be conscious about something is to be aware of it.
Dear Lord help me to remember that You gave me life.
Thank you for the gift of life. Teach me to slow down,
to be still and enjoy the pleasures created for me.
To be aware of the beauty that surrounds me.
The marvel of mountains, the calmness of lakes,
the fragility of a flower petal.
I need to remember that all these things come from you.
THE WORD OF GOD
Luke 6:43-49
‘No good tree bears bad fruit, nor again does a bad tree bear good fruit;
for each tree is known by its own fruit.
Figs are not gathered from thorns,
nor are grapes picked from a bramble bush.
The good person out of the good treasure of the heart produces good,
and the evil person out of evil treasure produces evil;
for it is out of the abundance of the heart that the mouth speaks.
‘Why do you call me “Lord, Lord”, and do not do what I tell you?
I will show you what someone is like who comes to me,
hears my words, and acts on them.
That one is like a man building a house,
who dug deeply and laid the foundation on rock;
when a flood arose, the river burst against that house but could not shake it,
because it had been well built.
But the one who hears and does not act is like a man who built
a house on the ground without a foundation.
When the river burst against it, immediately it fell,
and great was the ruin of that house.’
WORDS OF WISDOM
Christianity, in its mature forms, keeps pushing us toward the necessary tragic: “the foolishness of the cross,” as Paul calls it (1 Corinthians 1:18). Normally, the way God pushes us is by disillusioning us with the present mode. Until the present falls apart, we will never look for something more. We will never discover what it is that really sustains us. That dreaded falling-apart experience is always suffering in some form. All of us hate suffering, yet all religions talk about it as necessary. It seems to be the price we pay for the death of the small self and the emergence of the True Self—when we finally come to terms with our true identity in God. Many Jungians describe this in psychological terms as the “necessary soul suffering” that comes from the death of the ego. Jesus would say, “Unless the grain of wheat dies, it remains just a grain of wheat” (John 12:24). By avoiding this legitimate pain of being human, we sadly bring on ourselves much longer lasting and, often, fruitless pain.
In the work I have done with men’s spirituality, we call that suffering in its transformed state “the sacred wound.” The sacred wound is a concept drawn from classical mythology, but also from the Christ story. In mythology, the would-be hero is always wounded. The word innocent (innocens, “not yet wounded”) is not a complimentary term in mythology. The puer is the young boy (puella for the young girl) who refuses to be wounded. More precisely, he refuses to recognize and suffer the wounds that are already there. He’s just going to remain nice and normal so everybody will accept him. In our culture, he might smugly remain white and middle class, healthy, “sinless,” Catholic, good-looking, and happy. Maybe he will drive a fancy car or wear the latest clothing. He refuses to let things fall apart. He refuses to be wounded, much less to allow the humiliating wound to become sacred and sanctifying. Yet, I personally believe that the Gospels are saying there is no other way to know something essential. Allowing our always-unjust wounds to, in fact, become sacred wounds is the unique Christian name for salvation. We always learn our mystery at the price of our innocence.
We must trust the pain and not get rid of it until we have learned its lessons. The suffering can be seen as a part of the great pattern of how God is transforming all things. If there is one consistent and clear revelation in the Bible, it is that the God of Israel is the one who turns death into life (see Isaiah 26:19; Romans 4:17; 2 Corinthians 1:9). When we can trust the transformative pattern, and that God is in the suffering, our wounds become sacred wounds. The actual and ordinary life journey becomes itself the godly journey. We trust God to be in all things, even in sin and suffering.
Fr Richard Rohr
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…
May God the provider
of green pastures
and quiet waters
be the peace in our hearts today
May Jesus our guide
on mountain top
and valley deep
be the hope in our hearts today
May the Spirit of truth
and knowledge
comforter and friend
be the strength in our hearts today
Amen
THE BLESSING
May the beauty of God
be reflected in your eyes,
the love of God
be reflected in your hands,
the wisdom of God
be reflected in your words,
and the knowledge of God
flow from your heart,
that all might see,
and seeing, believe
Amen
Thank you for join us. Have a wonderful day!
Revd. Ernesto Lozada-Uzuriaga
