God – Wandering and Wondering

Impermanence

Today in our mid-week meditation group we made prayer bracelets.

The process was gift and the reminder I found in prepping for the class was worthy.

A while ago, I found this book “A String and A Prayer” on my bookshelf and began reading it in preparation for this class. I used some of the prayers in the back as our opening and shared some of its insights during our class:

-The word bead is an offshoot from its Old English origin “bede” which means prayer.

-In Sanskrit the name of a pray bead chain is called a mala.

-That the practice of putting together prayer beads can be a spiritually significant as the practice of praying with them.

-It is said the the Desert Mothers and Fathers would carry a specified number of beads in their pockets with they would drop to the earth throughout the course of their day as they prayed.

And then finally –

-All prayer bead jewelry will eventually fall apart.

This final one sounds depressing, but it is real. It perhaps struck me especially funny because at our our last confirmation meeting when we created the Protestant equivalent to prayer bead rosaries (which by the way are named such because the beads were apparently made out of crushed rose petals) we worked very hard at crimping and trying to secure our creations so that they would be indestructible. Impermanence is not something that we like to think about much. In Christianity, with the exception of Ash Wednesday and perhaps Good Friday, we have a tendency to focus on the eternal and ever-lasting, brushing aside the reality that life here is guaranteed to end. Perhaps though, the reality of our relatively short mortals lives and the reality of our impermanence might be a gift that might allow us to more fully stop and take in the world around us, celebrating the beauty and appreciating the relationships. Recognizing our impermanence may not be a morbid thought that freezes us in fear, but instead a freeing realization that allows us to better notice the many blessings that abound.

Whether or not you choose to create a prayer bracelet yourself, I hope that you might ponder their impermanence and yours as well. Your life may be all the richer having done so.

A Prayer of Gratitude for the Limitedness of our Lives

Holy One,

We are thankful for this time you have granted us on earth. Let us not waste it, nor take it for granted. Let us have clear view of its limits that we might be all the more thankful for the time we have. Grant us the insight that each breath we take is a blessing.

And when at last our time is short and we can feel the true fragility of life coming our way, let us be able to say that we were thankful for the opportunity, that we were thankful for the friends that we met, and that we were thankful for the time we had.

We give you thanks for each breath, each moment, and for our very life however long or short it might be. AMEN

Pastoral Prayer

Holy One,

The world is in need of prayers – not just our typical prayers for those who are physically ill or dying, but for an illness of the heart and a struggle of the soul.

There are too many who are grasping control and forgetting about compassion.

There are too many focused on greed and overlooking the simple rules about sharing that we learned even in the sandbox when we were young .

There are too many who are so focused on their own needs and desires that they are failing to see the suffering that exists, some of which they may have a hand in themselves.

God, today we pray for all people,

for all who need a softer heart,

a deeper conscience,

and wider understanding of your golden rules.

We pray for our own prejudices, frustrations, and anger.

We pray for others’ short sightedness, selfishness, and unwillingness to face the impact of their actions.

We pray that we all look to grow as individuals.

We pray that we are all willing to name our shortcomings.

We pray that we are all willing to grow.

We pray that we all are given strength to support the downtrodden,

voice to speak for the voiceless,

courage to stand up for their siblings.

We pray for changed hearts and transformed souls.

May your son’s teachings continue to teach us all,

and may he lead us into a world filled with deeper compassion and care

where we all look to each other’s care, even the stranger’s.

In this silence, let us lift up those who we know who need to be surrounded by and filled with God’s inexhaustible love and grace today:

Now let us pray in the words of your son –

Our Father / Mother / Creator*, who art in heaven,

hallowed be thy Name,

thy kingdom come,

thy will be done,

on earth as it is in heaven.

Give us this day our daily bread.

And forgive us our trespasses,

as we forgive those

who trespass against us.

And lead us not into temptation,

but deliver us from evil.

For thine is the kingdom,

and the power, and the glory,

for ever and ever. Amen.

*Use the words you are most comfortable with or try something you haven’t before to see how that fits or pushes against your theology (understanding of God). Take some time to reflect on your experience.

Sacred Noticing

Yesterday, as I was preparing to leave for church, I looked out our backdoor to the lake and there I saw the beauty of creation in a way I had never seen it before.

I think it was a rare confluence of events that made it so. In the eves of the overhang to the porch were these fragile ice crystal cobwebs. They were invisible to the naked eye normally (not that we’ve been doing a whole lot of outdoor sitting these days in -6 degrees), but the kerosene heater with an outdoor vent had come on. It was very cold, and the eves caught the moisture.

Every moisture molecule that landed on the spider’s web froze immediately creating this crystalline creation. Each layer upon layer brought forward and made visible the beauty of the underlying design. It is surely a wonder to behold – similar to dew captured on a web as it glints in the sunlight. Part of the wonder in both of these situations is its impermanence. It was there in this moment, but within a few hours they were invisible again. It was a deep reminder to pay attention – deep attention.

When we think of prayer, we often think of words that we say out into the world, but perhaps we should expand our understanding to include that which enters into us as well. Perhaps our prayer is that moment when our breath is caught and all we can utter are syllables: “ahh”, “ohh”, “wow”.

Sacred noticing is a spiritual practice to always be on the look out for wonder and to be willing to pause the rest of the world so that you can fully take it in.

In this case, I called my husband over to behold it with me and he too offered the sacred prayer of “Wow! That is amazing.”

What have you seen today that has taken your breath away?

And the beat goes on . . .

Here is a poem inspired by yesterday’s poem.

The Sunset

As the pink and blues morph and move,

I think of all who have stopped to watch the sky before me.

I think of all that will come after this night

and all my nights.

I think of all who are in this moment looking up to see God’s glorious artistry.

I think of Ahs and Ohhs and Ooooohs.

I think of the silent watching that stills the soul

and the movement which happens so subtly it’s barely perceptible

until the vision has somehow vanishes before our eyes.

And I think of those who never thought to look

or saw but were not caught up by the beauty.

I weep for those who do not see the wonder in a setting sun

and think that they must go to a museum to see a masterpiece.

May all who breathe be awed by the everchanging and fleeting artistry of God.