Morning Prayer Wednesday, 8 July 2020
Good morning I hope you have not been blown away in the last few days
Psalm 131
O Lord, my heart is not proud;
my eyes are not raised in haughty looks.
I do not occupy myself in great matters,
with things that are too high for me.
But I have quieted and stilled my soul,
like a weaned child on its mother’s breast;
so my soul is quieted within me.
O Israel, trust in the Lord
from this time forth for evermore.
That is a difficult read for me. I do want to find out things and scurry about searching for information that I think I ought to know. I then want to verify it from a reliable source. Being stilled and quieted does not come easily for me. It is interesting that Ernesto’s sermon on Sunday warned us that there is much we cannot know and not being able to understand leaves us with the capacity for wonder and remembering that we rely on faith much more than we wish to acknowledge.
This reminded me of a poem by Walt Whitman, The Explorers, one verse of which reads:
Down from the gardens of Asia descending,
Adam and Eve appear, then their myriad progeny after them,
Wandering, yearning, with restless explorations,
questionings, baffled, formless, feverish, with never happy hearts
that sad incessant refrain – “Wherefore unsatisfied soul? Wither O mocking life?”
Ah, who shall soothe these feverish children?
Who justify these restless explorations?
Who speak the secret of the impassive earth?
Ralph Vaughan-Williams used this and other poems of Whitman in his Sea Symphony, a choral symphony with full orchestra and soloists. This verse uses the lower voices in the choir and I have sung this piece several times and hope to do so again. When will we be able to sing again?
I feel more yearning than stilled nowadays.
How about you?
None the less the message of the Psalm is clear.
Eternal God, calm and quieten our souls;
keep us humble and full of wonder
and trusting as we live in your love;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen
St John’s gospel chapter 13 verses 3,4 & 5 and 12, 13 & 14
Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he had come from God, and was going to God, got up from the table, took off his outer robe and tied a towel about himself. Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet and wipe them with the towel that was wrapped around him.
After he had washed their feet, had put on his robe and had returned to the table, he said to them ‘Do you know what I have done for you? You call me Teacher and Lord – and you are right for that is what I am. So if I. your Lord and teacher have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. For I have set you an example.’
Again another of those readings that is clear but often difficult for us to put into practice. I’m not saying this in the sense that our social practice is not to wash feet like they did in our Lord’s time, but any duty that asks us to take the lowest place when we meet others, whoever they are does not come easy for most of us. That level of humble service can only be achieved by prayer and discipline.
Let us pray for the church that we and all Christian people may find the ways in which they are called to put on their towel in the service of others. Let us pray for the witness of church buildings as we move to resuming use of them for worship and service to our communities. Please also pray for Rev. George Mwaura who has been sent on sick leave by his doctor and needs rest and seclusion.
Come down O love divine,
Seek thou this soul of mine
and visit it with thine own ardour glowing:
O comforter draw near,
within my heart appear,
and kindle it, thy holy flame bestowing.
Amen
Let us pray for the world.
For all those who are serving the needs of others, by healing, caring, organising, listening, understanding, learning, feeding, and just being with others for company. For those who have been placed in isolation for their own health needs as they start, from yesterday to re-integrate with families and friends.
Let holy charity
mine outward vesture be,
and lowliness become mine inner clothing:
True lowliness of heart,
which takes the humbler part,
and o’er its own shortcomings weeps with loathing.
Amen
The verses are from a hymn written by Richard Littledale who with John Mason-Neale, both clergymen in the Oxford movement, wrote bible commentaries in the nineteenth century. They both, also, but individually, wrote hymns based upon earlier poems by medieval mystics. This one is based upon a poem by Bianco da Siena who lived in the fourteenth century.
The music was written by Ralph Vaughan-Williams for English Hymnal in the early twentieth century; you cannot have too much of music by RVW.
Jesus has called each of us to come to him and has blessed us with his riches;
Now he asks us to be his disciples so that people we meet may meet him also
and listen to him through us.
What a responsibility, what a challenge!
May we have a day with an awareness that; Almighty God our Father, Jesus Christ, our brother and the Holy Spirit, our strength and guide, will be with us all today and always.
Amen
Don Head
