Pax et Bonum

The Online worship resource for St. James Parish

February 4, 2010

For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part;
but then shall I know even as also I am known.
---I Corinthians 13:12---
Christ as a light
Illumine and guide me
Christ as a shield
O’ershadow me
Christ under me
Christ over me
Christ beside me
On my left and my right
This day be within and
Without me
Lowly and meek yet
All-powerful
Be in the heart
Of each to whom I speak
In the mouth of each
Who speaks unto me
This day be within and
Without me
Lowly and meek yet
All-powerful
Christ as a light
Christ as a shield
Christ beside me
On my left and my right.
---from Celtic Daily Prayer---

When There Are No Words

As many of you know, we have been holding vigil for my father-in-law, Dan Penner, for some time now. Dan was diagnosed with Esophageal Cancer in May of last year. Since then we have been through the ups and downs of the cancer cycle, like many others. Last night, Dan passed away with his sons and his wife at his side.

Today I sit and try to come up with prayers, words, wisdom, and instead it appears my brain has checked out and gone to Albuquerque to be with the rest of the family. Yet in the midst of it all, I find comfort in the fact that God promises to be present in all things; that in spite of our inability to put our feelings into words, God knows our need; that when there are no words, it is enough to know God hears our silent, un-thought prayers.

In Debra’s article below, she eloquently describes God’s knowledge of us. I find comfort in that fact that there is One who knows us so well that we have no need to find the right words. God’s love was manifest in sending his Son to be among us, to live and die as one of us, to give himself for us. No greater love, no greater understanding exists.

Lord, you have searched me and known me;
You know my sitting down and my rising up;
You discern my thoughts from afar.
 
You trace my journeys and my resting-places
And are acquainted with all my ways.
 
Indeed, there is not a word on my lips,
But you, O Lord, know it all together...
 
Search me out , O God, and know my heart;
Try me and know my restless thoughts.
 
Look well whether there be any wickedness in me
And lead me in the way that is everlasting.
---Psalm 139:1-3,22,23---

We Are Known

Now the word of the Lord came to me saying, "Before I formed you in the womb I knew you,
and before you were born I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet to the nations."
Jeremiah 1:4-5

Much of my work deals with offering possibilities for discerning God’s call. All of my work is about discernment of a God-ward direction.

The opening of Jeremiah puts that vocational discernment work into an appropriate context. The call comes to the unformed being at the soul level. God knows us.

And this forming, referred to in Jeremiah, reminds us of the first forming of human out of dust and spirit in Genesis. Each of us is formed. We are clay and we are spirit.

Dust and water become clay and when shaped by divine impulses can become resonant vessels for prayer and for prophecy.

And thus the struggle begins. When we are too much dust, we are stiff and resistant to being shaped. When life moves in and tries to shape us we crack and sometimes we break.

If we are too much water, we cannot hold a shape. Any movement into our being is met by melting and sliding away.

So discernment of the knowing hands, which are longing to create a vessel that can hold both holiness and creativity, requires both solidity and elasticity.

We must hold ourselves lightly as we listen for and discern God’s call in our life. This does not mean that we are not intently listening.

If God already knows us, we have nothing to lose. We can be ourselves. In fact, God is hoping that we will relax enough to let the beauty of the soul shimmer through both the dust and the water of our clay vessels.

In the high desert of New Mexico, up in the mountains there are deposits of micaceous clay, which is 80% mica. When these pots are formed and fired they shine like gold from the mica. This is how I begin to visualize our own clay vessels, unearthed, shaped and fired-in other words-formed by the divine Potter who is the author of our shining moments, and startlingly beautiful souls.

This is what one of the potters from New Mexico says about the pottery made from this extraordinary clay:

"Indian people view pottery not only as containers for food or other items, but also as containers and givers of life. They are beings created by the union of clay and water through the potter’s hands and thoughts, which are transferred into the vessel." ~Felipe Ortega

As we return to our scripture from Jeremiah, we can begin to see some clear directions for our prayer and our understanding:

We are known.
We are being formed by God’s insistent presence, and
We are beautiful.

Blessings,
Debra

Daily Morning Prayer

Daily Morning Prayer

This Week at St. James

Prayers Etc.

For those on our prayer list:

For the repose of Dan Penner, and for his family and friends who mourn.

For Matt our Postulant and his family
For those who are deployed and their families
For the victims of the Haitian Earthquake, and all those who work so diligently on their behalf.

In Closing:

May the peace of the Lord Christ go with you,
Wherever he may send you,
May he guide you through the wilderness,
Protect you through the storm.
May he bring you home rejoicing
At the wonders he has shown you,
May he bring you home rejoicing
Once again into our doors.
--from Celtic Daily Prayer--

Pax et Bonum,
Loree+

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