C-19 Reflection #10: Working with What We’ve Got - Two Daily Prayers
C-19 Daily Reflection/Resource #10
Theme: Working With What We’ve Got
Today’s Topic: “Two Daily Prayers”
Scripture: Psalm 121
1
I lift up my eyes to the mountains—
where does my help come from?
2
My help comes from the Lord,
the Maker of heaven and earth.
3
He will not let your foot slip—
he who watches over you will not slumber;
4
indeed, he who watches over Israel
will neither slumber nor sleep.
5
The Lord watches over you—
the Lord is your shade at your right hand;
6
the sun will not harm you by day,
nor the moon by night.
7
The Lord will keep you from all harm—
he will watch over your life;
8
the Lord will watch over your coming and going
both now and forevermore.
Reflection:
If you are like me some part of the rhythm of your day involves watching the news.
How can you not watch the news closely these days? I think we can probably agree that it is somewhat irresponsible as Christians not to pay attention to what’s going on in the world just now – for the sake of our forgetting, our reflection, our identification and compassion, our participation and community health, our loved ones and our neighbors, for the sake of our praying.
Yet, as we are reflecting on our relationship with the news, maybe we should admit that there are at least a few things in life that we need more than getting a handle on the daily news. In fact, it might be good to pause right now and name those things as an exercise in gaining the perspective that gratitude brings(pause).
This morning, by offering you two different prayers that share a similar perspective (one a Psalm and one a Celtic prayer for the day),
I want to point out that we have an opportunity, just at a time when the presence of the news cycle is so dominant in our lives, to reclaim our perspective about God’s active involvement in the world in powerful ways and God’s presence in our daily lives in very personal and particular ways.
The way it seems to work with prayer is that in the praying itself our perspectives are reshaped. In the case of praying this Psalm and this prayer we regain our sense that God is watching over things, big and small (vv4-5). And in this reshaping of our perspective, lets pray for ourselves and for each other and let’s even pray for the whole Christian church, that we will all become better pray-ers and that we all become better watchers of the news because we pray.
~
Morning (a prayer for the day)
Encircle my soul
In morning stillness
Scatter the shadows of fear
~
Be at my side
In midday bustle
Weave through the knot work of time
~
Talk to my heart
In noonday chatter
Speak through the discords of life
~
Lighten the load
Of incoming darkness
Glow like a star at midnight
