Morning Prayer Monday, 8 February 2021
River
by Ted Hughes
Fallen from heaven, lies across
The lap of his mother, broken by world.
But water will go on
Issuing from heaven
In dumbness uttering spirit brightness
Through its broken mouth.
Scattered in a million pieces and buried
Its dry tombs will split, at a sign in the sky,
At a rending of veils.
It will rise, in a time after times,
After swallowing death and the pit
It will return stainless
For the delivery of this world.
So the river is a god
Knee-deep among reeds, watching men,
Or hung by the heels down the door of a dam
It is a god, and inviolable.
Immortal. And will wash itself of all deaths.
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
I pause for a moment and think of the love
and the grace that God showers on me:
I am created in the image and likeness of God;
I am God’s dwelling-place.
Freedom
A thick and shapeless tree-trunk
would never believe that it could become a statue,
admired as a miracle of sculpture,
and would never submit itself to the chisel of the sculptor,
who sees by his genius what he can make of it.
(Saint Ignatius)I ask for the grace to let myself
be shaped by my loving Creator.
Consciousness
Help me Lord to be more conscious of your presence.
Teach me to recognise your presence in others.
Fill my heart with gratitude for the times Your
love has been shown to me through the care of others.
THE WORD OF GOD
Mark 6:7-13
Jesus called the twelve and began to send them out two by two, and gave them authority over the unclean spirits. He ordered them to take nothing for their journey except a staff; no bread, no bag, no money in their belts; but to wear sandals and not to put on two tunics.
He said to them, “Wherever you enter a house, stay there until you leave the place. If any place will not welcome you and they refuse to hear you, as you leave, shake off the dust that is on your feet as a testimony against them.”
So they went out and proclaimed that all should repent. They cast out many demons, and anointed with oil many who were sick and cured them.
WORDS OF WISDOM
I went to look at the River Wye last week. It was in full spate. An awe inducing sight. Awe is a complex feeling, a recognition of connection, tinged sometimes with fear, always with love. I reminded myself of a canoe trip one beautiful afternoon last summer. The boughs of the trees were bowing over the river, as if in prayer. The sunlight was flickering through the leaves. Mergansers flew upstream, oblivious, so it seemed, of the humans below, heading downstream. Being out on the water always seems to refresh the soul. There is something about canoeing that touches an essential nerve. It’s simple, elemental and it slows you down. The art of spirituality.
Paddling is like contemplative prayer, the river the journey. Paddle strokes, breaking the surface of the water, guide you through the river in the same way contemplative prayer breaks the surface of the mind, reaching for the true self. Rapids strike a note of tension in the heart; making it race. The rapids are the struggles of life. When you know there are rapids coming up you seek an eddy, in the same way that you might seek wise counsel or pray to God for help.
After the rapids you look for another eddy, a place of safety and rest, like an oasis or a quiet church; a place of recovery and wonder. Sitting in the canoe is like being enveloped in the wisdom of sacred writing. The more you become familiar with it, the more the shape of it and the feel of it, makes sense to you and the easier it is to steer. Once in a while, the canoe and you and the river become one.
An experienced canoeist is able to read the river in the same way that a wise person, experienced in living and spiritual practice, navigates life. In time, this person is able to discern the love of God in all things; they become spiritually sensitive. Perhaps that feels like the stillness and peace that many sense when they are near water; “The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not be in want. He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, he restores my soul.” [Psalm 23]
Our souls might be restored and we may be full of awe but the River Wye is dying. Pollution must cease, but is that enough? My sense is that without awe and wonder we and the river will perish. Without a sense of awe before this river, we will find it hard to protect the life, including our own, that it sustains.
It was Aleksander Solzhenitsyn who said “the west is in a state of spiritual exhaustion”. Only awe, it seems, can bring about practical expressions of a healthy spirituality that will deliver, both ourselves and the non-human community from exhaustion. I believe that the teachings of Christ point towards this transforming awe. He tried to reform the religion of his time; the exhausting, constricting, institutionalised law of the Pharisees.
All mature forms of religion, in contrast, are about freedom, a lightness of being that flows from reverence rooted in awe. God is in all things. The cross of Christ speaks of that Divine love being found even in the suffering, the broken and the polluted. The River Wye, at present, is an increasingly black scar winding its way across the green fields. A wound in the landscape, but a wound that could become sacred.
A sacred wound is a crucible of healing. We often learn through our wounds. Jungians speak of ‘necessary soul suffering.’ If we avoid suffering, more serious, long-term damage can result. If God is in all things, then a suffering river is a part of the body of the Divine; a Divinity who turns death into life; dead water into the river of life. Christians consistently celebrate this transfiguration in the eucharist and if we awaken to the wound, the rivers suffering can be the turning point for transfiguration.
In a disenchanted world, full of cynicism and uncertainty, transfiguration is the hardest thing to see but if the wounded Wye awakens our consciousness, that wound has the possibility of becoming a benefaction. An aching gift, that inspires us to care for the life blood of the earth. J.R.R. Tolkien would call it a eucatastrophe. All great mythologies, all great mystics and wisdom teachers, tell us we will, at some stage in our lives, be wounded. What we do with the wound is often the difference between abundant life and an exhausted disintegration. There are some who are still waiting for the rivers to become crystal clear so they can feed the trees of a peaceable kingdom. They are the keepers of the earth.
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…
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
