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Morning Prayer: A place to rest
cross posted from http://brackishfaith.blogspot.com/
I have not had the best week. Most of the time I was thinking of being someplace else, doing something else. I still managed to pray the daily office each day but often it was perfunctory and done just to say I did it.
I make my morning prayer on the way to work. Not far from my house there is an old iron and wood bridge over the river with a small park beside it. I pull up under he same tree each day and pray the Morning Prayer from the Missio Die Breviary.
At night I wait until everyone else is asleep and then sit in the living room to say the Evening Prayers.
I’m doing ‘week one’ at the moment which is drawn from the Sermon on the Mount.
My Morning Prayers this week have all been rushed because I didn’t give myself enough time, my Night Prayers have been done more as an afterthought to other reading and activity.
This morning as I left for work, I was not so much thinking “TGIF” but “this is BS”. My predominant thought was that my life consisted of nothing but working and surfing the net and that was less than I wanted it to be.
I normally take a right turn onto the highway out of town, which almost immediately takes me to the left turn off the highway and onto the low road back though town.
As I approached the right turn onto the highway I thought about going the other way. I shook off that thought and turned right. A moment later, as I turned left onto the low road, I felt a strong desire to not stop under my usual tree by the bridge but instead continue through town. “Alright” I thought “let see were this leads”
As I took this detour I noticed I was again running a bit late so decided that I would just stop outside the Anglican Church to read my prayer. It is a quite street so I figured I would not get too distracted sitting in the car.
As I pulled up I looked over at the Church. I thought about getting out and praying in the gardens. Just as I decided against doing this the thought came again but much stronger, this time drawing me to a particular spot – the covered entry way. I knew the portico had two stone benches running along both sides, although I could not see them from where I was parked.
‘I’ll have to be quick’ I thought as I grabbed my Breviary.
I walked hastily up the church drive and turned into the opening of the portico.
I don’t know who was more startled, me or the homeless man sleeping on one of the stone benches.
“Sorry mate” I said “I didn’t mean to wake you”
“Na, I wasn’t sleeping!” he replied “I… was just stretching my back”
“You’ve hurt your back?” I said
“Yeah… yeah.” he said
I took a seat on the other bench, my mind was reeling a bit. I realised I had been expecting something from the first moment I had thought of turning a different way.
“Are you having a hard time, mate?” I said
“Na, Na, I’m not having a hard time” He said
I wished he had said “yes” so I could have emptied my wallet into his hands or invited him to the nearby café for some breakfast.
The homeless man sat up and looked a bit sheepish.
I wanted fill the silence to relive him of his embarrassment so I said:
“I just came here to pray”
“Oh, ok” He said
“Not because it’s a church” I said “just because it’s a quite spot”
“I’ll get out of your way” he said
“No, no… you rest your back” I said “I’ll head off”
“No, I’ve got a friend to go see, I’ll just go see him” he said and was off before I could say more.
I sat there slightly stunned…
After a minute I opened my Breviary and prayed it with my whole heart.
I have not had the best week. Most of the time I was thinking of being someplace else, doing something else. I still managed to pray the daily office each day but often it was perfunctory and done just to say I did it.
I make my morning prayer on the way to work. Not far from my house there is an old iron and wood bridge over the river with a small park beside it. I pull up under he same tree each day and pray the Morning Prayer from the Missio Die Breviary.
At night I wait until everyone else is asleep and then sit in the living room to say the Evening Prayers.
I’m doing ‘week one’ at the moment which is drawn from the Sermon on the Mount.
My Morning Prayers this week have all been rushed because I didn’t give myself enough time, my Night Prayers have been done more as an afterthought to other reading and activity.
This morning as I left for work, I was not so much thinking “TGIF” but “this is BS”. My predominant thought was that my life consisted of nothing but working and surfing the net and that was less than I wanted it to be.
I normally take a right turn onto the highway out of town, which almost immediately takes me to the left turn off the highway and onto the low road back though town.
As I approached the right turn onto the highway I thought about going the other way. I shook off that thought and turned right. A moment later, as I turned left onto the low road, I felt a strong desire to not stop under my usual tree by the bridge but instead continue through town. “Alright” I thought “let see were this leads”
As I took this detour I noticed I was again running a bit late so decided that I would just stop outside the Anglican Church to read my prayer. It is a quite street so I figured I would not get too distracted sitting in the car.
As I pulled up I looked over at the Church. I thought about getting out and praying in the gardens. Just as I decided against doing this the thought came again but much stronger, this time drawing me to a particular spot – the covered entry way. I knew the portico had two stone benches running along both sides, although I could not see them from where I was parked.
‘I’ll have to be quick’ I thought as I grabbed my Breviary.
I walked hastily up the church drive and turned into the opening of the portico.
I don’t know who was more startled, me or the homeless man sleeping on one of the stone benches.
“Sorry mate” I said “I didn’t mean to wake you”
“Na, I wasn’t sleeping!” he replied “I… was just stretching my back”
“You’ve hurt your back?” I said
“Yeah… yeah.” he said
I took a seat on the other bench, my mind was reeling a bit. I realised I had been expecting something from the first moment I had thought of turning a different way.
“Are you having a hard time, mate?” I said
“Na, Na, I’m not having a hard time” He said
I wished he had said “yes” so I could have emptied my wallet into his hands or invited him to the nearby café for some breakfast.
The homeless man sat up and looked a bit sheepish.
I wanted fill the silence to relive him of his embarrassment so I said:
“I just came here to pray”
“Oh, ok” He said
“Not because it’s a church” I said “just because it’s a quite spot”
“I’ll get out of your way” he said
“No, no… you rest your back” I said “I’ll head off”
“No, I’ve got a friend to go see, I’ll just go see him” he said and was off before I could say more.
I sat there slightly stunned…
After a minute I opened my Breviary and prayed it with my whole heart.
Add a Comment
2 Comments
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Comment by Ben on August 24, 2008 at 10:14am - I was in much the same boat until about a month ago (and honestly I'm still working it all out). Growing up baptist I had no liturgical experience but I got interested in the daily office as a way of expressing my faith as a way of life and not just a set of beliefs. I read a book called 'In Constant Prayer' by Robert Benson which is a great introduction to the 'why' of the Daily Office if not the 'how'. I then started praying with the Missio Die Breviary because it seemed the most assessable option (compared to say the book of common prayer which is more corporate).
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Comment by Les on August 24, 2008 at 10:06am - Ben. I appreciate your honesty and openness. My personal spiritual life is pretty awful right now and I'd be interested in your ideas. I like the idea of a liturgical structure but it is all very foreign to me. I don't even know what a Breviary is except that is sounds very brief.
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