Sabbath Prayers: Let Me Rise.
LET ME RISE ~ by Wendell Berry
When I rise up let me rise up joyful like a bird
When I fall let me fall without regret like a leaf.
Becoming Chris Kamalski
"There's a Writer outside ourselves, plotting a better story for us" ~Don Miller
Tag: Sabbath Prayers
June 7, 2009
May 3, 2009
Sabbath Prayers: “Yes and Amen.”
Hear Your people saying yes,
Hear Your people saying yes to You.
Yes to anything you ask,
Yes to anything we´re called to do.Hear your people say amen,
Hear Your people say amen to You.
Let Your kingdom come on earth,
Let it be just like we prayed to You.Yes and amen to everything that´s in Your heart,
Yes and amen to everything that You have planned.
We live to see Your will be done,
And see Your perfect kingdom come on earth, on the earth.Yes and amen, we´re taking up our cross for You,
Give us the strength to take these dreams and follow through.
We live to see Your will be done,
And see Your perfect kingdom come on earth, on the earth.All the promises are yes,
All the promises are yes in You.
Every good and perfect gift,
Every blessing that we have was You.
(Yes and Amen, written by Matt Redman, 2006).
- YES: Meaning, I wish what you desire to pass. Meaning, I am willing. Meaning, I say ‘No’ to lesser things. Meaning, I make a choice. Meaning, I stand for something. Meaning, I am hopeful in the midst of a cynical, critical, pessimistic world. Meaning, Your Kingdom is coming, and is better. Meaning, I’m leaping. Meaning, You are somewhere I am moving towards. Meaning, not without your strength. Meaning, I am open.
- AMEN: Meaning, quite literally “May it be so.” Meaning, “I agree.” Meaning, I am joining in the participation and creation of this hope. Meaning, this is out of my hands, and yet I’m available to be used to bless others. Meaning, all that has been said before, I stand with. Meaning, Your Kingdom come, Your Will be done, in my world, as well as in the heavens.
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March 29, 2009
Sabbath Prayers: Teach Me To Listen, Lord.
This was our closing prayer as a community this evening as we ended our Listening Posture Retreat at Lorraine’s place (Mohale Rest and Retreat), literally a block and a half from Pangani. I thought it beautifully captured the spirit of our weekend, and our Listening Posture as a whole, which we finish up this week and then head off Thursday AM to our Men’s Trip to the Drakensberg Mountains!
Teach me to listen, Lord, to those nearest me, my family, my friends, my co-workers. Help me be aware that no matter what words I hear, the message is, ‘Accept the person that I am. Listen to me.’
Teach me to listen, Lord, to those far from me–the whisper of the hopeless, the plea of the forgotten, the cry of the anguished.
Teach me to listen, Lord, to myself. Help me to be less afraid, to trust the voice inside–in the deepest part of me.
Teach me to listen, Lord, for Your Voice–in busyness and in boredom, in certainty and in doubt, in noise and in silence.
Teach me, Lord, to listen. (Anne Long)
May your Sabbath rest be filled with a heart open to the Spirit’s whisper, whether you find yourself in noise or stillness, alone or in a crowd, with strangers or those you hold dear. May you find what you are looking for this Sabbath day.
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March 22, 2009
Sabbath Prayers: Celtic Nightime Lullaby.
I’m about to (attempt to) drift off to sleep, and will find myself praying these words in a few minutes. Join me this Sabbath evening (whenever evening falls for you) in ending your day with these words spoken to the Spirit who dwells within:
I am bending my knee: In the eye of the Father who created me, In the eye of the Son who purchased me, In the eye of the Spirit who cleansed me, In friendship and affection.
(From the Carmina Gadelica tradition, a Celtic prayer ritual for parents to sing in lullaby form to their children at night).
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March 15, 2009
Sabbath Prayers: The Road Ahead.
I identify strongly with Thomas Merton’s heart in this prayer entitled “The Road Ahead” this evening.
My Lord God, I have no idea where I am going. I do not see the road ahead of me. I cannot know for certain where it will end. Nor do I really know myself, and the fact that I think that I am following your will does not mean that I am actually doing so. But I believe that the desire to please you does in fact please you. And I hope I have that desire in all that I am doing. I hope that I will never do anything apart from that desire. And I know that if I do this, you will lead me by the right road though I may know nothing about it. Therefore, I will trust you always though I may seem to be lost and in the shadow of death. I will not fear, for you are ever with me, and you will never leave me to face my perils alone. (Thomas Merton)
Sometimes this is my heart more frequently than I’d ever wish to admit. C.S. Lewis wrote in Mere Christianity that he ‘woke up each morning a practical atheist,’ and that there was a momentary split second where he would choose to will his heart either toward or away from God that day. I feel that tension in my life all too often, and frankly, live far too many moments willingly apart from the Christ who dwells within me.
And yet Merton’s words bring comfort, for in some mysterious way, even as I ‘live apart’ from Christ, Christ lives this ‘with me’ in some manner. This is quite possibly what grace experientially feels like…
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March 8, 2009
Sabbath Prayer: Mighty to Save.
The Prayer Appointed for the Week (Taken from The Divine Hours by Phyllis Tickle):
Almighty God, whose blessed Son was led by the Spirit to be tempted by Satan: Come quickly to help us who are assaulted by many temptations; and, as you know the weaknesses of each of us, let each one find you mighty to save; through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.
Additionally, I have been following along with Mars Hill’s Lenten series on Lamentations, and am enjoying their reflections and prayers around the concept of entering deliberately into a season of mourning, grief, and lament. Here is the prayer they have been praying as a community this past week:
My God, my God. I need courage to move from the safe distance to the uncertain center of my own pain and the pain of others.
My God, my God. Grant me companions in my pain and create a compassionate space within me so that I can incarnate Your presence to others.
May you internalize the presence of the One who is Mighty to Save this Sabbath Day, in order that you may open your heart wide to those in need of salvation in your life.
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February 22, 2009
Sabbath Prayer: “The Three.”
Been reading The Celtic Way of Evangelism recently (It is blowing my mind!) and have become re-familiarized with Celtic prayer, which is rich in a Trinitarian, symbolic, spatial, visual style of imaginative prayer that I deeply, deeply appreciate.
For your Sabbath reflection:
The Three who are over me,
The Three who are below me,
The Three who are above me here,
The Three who are above me yonder,
The Three who are in the earth,
The Three who are in the air,
The Three who are in the heavens,
The Three who are in the great pouring sea.
I love the concept of seeing God–Father, Son, Spirit–in all things…
Rest well today!
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February 15, 2009
Sabbath Prayer: Welcome All Human Beings.
Each Sabbath Sunday, I will strive to post a prayer or short reflection from what I stumble across, or find myself praying…
Just went to the evening service at Third Place (more on this Afrikaaner church plant, and the concept of “Third Places” later) (URL) and this was posted on their wall as a sort of “Welcome/Here’s who we are.” I thought it was brilliant. I apologize for several choice words, but feel like they reflect God’s heart for all…A fun little game to play might be to figure out all the Afrikaaner words that I don’t know, or also to play psychologist and discern why they chose to place several terms together (“confused-mac users-Satanists-Calvinists?” Hmm…)
The following is what I’m chewing on as the Sabbath wraps up here in Pretoria. May it bless and challenge you…
WELCOME ALL (punks, dopeheads, losers, mad scientists, alcoholics, average Joe’s, persons-who-have-gym-memberships-but-never-go, lost, lomographers, Lutherans, rooinekke, posers, wannabees, braggarts, lonely saints, prudes, fornicators, jocks, weirdoes, pc users, Catholics, freaks, verdwaaldes, wankers, sluts, players, drunks, addicts, moffies, porn lovers, geeks, liars, colonialists, air guitarists, skinderbekke, Caucasians, non-smokers, confused, mac users, Satanists, Calvinists, boere, gluttons, barbies, rockstars, perverts, drop outs, failures, villians, cry-babies, nerdes, koeke, ex-Lutherans, magicians, theologians, flirts, lone wolves, lone rangers, Afrikaans punk bands, Pharisees, TV evangelists, witches, blou bul fans, psychos, fat cows, ravers, cheats, sinners, angry wives, bible bashers, racists, dykes, Nigerians, obsessive-compulsives, narcissists, frustrated creatives, ADD kids, blacks, bitter ex-boyfriends, sport fans, hookers, saints, working moms, kleptomaniacs, schizos, students, bloggers, snarfkoppe, hypocrites, goths, fakes, nerds, emergents, cyclists, coloureds, doubters, math teachers, extremists, depressed singles, manne, loners, joggers, fundamentalists, beauty queens, back stabbers, heathens, pansies, shy nudists, haters, warlords, fighters, conservatives, dandies, rejects, pedestrians, girly men, feminists, tree huggers, Buddhists, the filthy rich, adulterers, liberals, divorcees, fairies, drama queens, ooms, closet cases, karnallies, skaters, Americans, wannabee Americans, engineers, couch potatoes, strippers, male models, Germans, realists, Jews, atheists, pimps, emo kids, boude, post post moderns, pagans, stoners, porn stars, clubbers, lawyers, dominees, charismaniacs, doodlers, hedonists, blondes, skinheads, pastors, banjo players, bankers, politikuste, flavios, self-righteous Christians, souties, MG drivers, nuwe ouers, ou ouers, ingenerds, rock spiders, poodle lovers, personal trainers, Afrikaners, the pope with his red Prada shoes, pessimists, German South Africans, priests, Irish, burnt out workaholics, manic depressives, sick people, Arabs, Patsies, rugby players, artists, backsliders, smokers, body builders, nobodies, U2 fans, sexy virgins, ou tannies, orphans, spinning instructors, metal heads, worship stars, untouchables, local celebrities, monks, beggars, abbots, elitists, cripples, weaklings, absent fathers, existentialists, bitches, cowards, skobbejakke and momma’s boys) HUMAN BEINGS.
Becoming Chris Kamalski 