Category: prayer

In the school of prayer with Eddie Askew

I came across this prayer in my copy of 2000 Years of Prayer (compiled by Michael Counsell). I was particularly taken with the down-to-earth, practical spirituality that ministers to you as you engage with the prayer.

See links below for more about Eddie Askew and his work with the Leprosy Mission and links to further examples of his work.
 

Lord, teach me to pray.
It sounds exciting, put like that.
It sounds real. An exploration.
A chance to do more than catalogue
and list the things I want,
to an eternal Father Christmas.

The chance of meeting you,
of drawing closer to the love that made me,
and keeps me, and knows me.
And, Lord, it’s only just begun.
There is so much more of you,
of love, the limitless expanse of knowing you.
I could be frightened, Lord, in this wide country.
It could be lonely, but you are here, with me.

The chance of learning about myself,
of facing up to what I am.
Admitting my resentments,
bringing my anger to you, my disappointments, my frustration.
And finding that when l do,
when I stop struggling and shouting
and let go
you are still there.
Still loving.

Sometimes, Lord, often –
I don’t know what to say to you.
But I still come, in quiet
for the comfort of two friends
sitting in silence.
And it’s then, Lord, that I learn most from you.
When my mind slows down,
and my heart stops racing.
When I let go and wait in the quiet,
realizing that all the things I was going to ask for
you know already.
Then, Lord, without words,
in the stillness
you are there . . .
And l love you.
Lord, teach me to pray.

by Eddie Askew (1927-2007)
from A Silence and a Shouting: a collection of meditations and prayers
 

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From his obituary in The Guardian (2007)
“Eddie Askew, the former general director of the Leprosy Mission (TLM) … devoted half a century to the disease and its consequences. …
Inspired by his travels and his Christian faith, Eddie found an outlet for his creativity in painting and poetry. A Silence and a Shouting, his first book of meditations and artwork, was published in 1982. It was followed, over the years, by 16 others, and the sale of his books and paintings raised around £2.5m for TLM.” (The Guardian) whole article

A visual meditation based on an excerpt from A Silence and a Shouting
Travelling home

World Day of Prayer 2017 – Geneva

At the Presbytery meeting in March (in Rotterdam), Alice Tulloch of the Geneva congregation told me about the significant local Filipino involvement in the World Day of Prayer activities in Geneva this year.
Here is Alice’s report, including some photographs.

This year the Committee of the Philippines had prepared the liturgy and material for the World Day of Prayer with the theme “Am I being unfair to you?” based on Matthew 20:1-16.

On Thursday, 2nd March, a bible study on the text and theme mentioned above was led by Athena Peralta from the Philippines who is currently responsible for the work on economic and ecological justice at the World Council of Churches. Her research and advocacy focus on just trade and finance and their gender dimensions, among others. She helped us to see how God’s justice is not always how we would expect it. Through her experience of the situation in the Philippines, she explained how we should relate to this text from their perspective.

On Friday, 3th March, the World Day of Prayer celebration took place in the chapel of the Ecumenical Centre, arranged by the group from the English-speaking churches.

It was a truly ecumenical event. This year we were fortunate to have participation of members of the Roman Catholic Church John XXIII. Some of their Filipino choir came to sing and participate in the liturgy. Pastor Romeo Matutino from the Independent Church of the Philippines also participated. It was a colourful and beautiful service, with symbolic acts, such as the distribution of small bags of rice.

The Filipino community also prepared some delicious specialities to add to the bake sale, and the resulting amount of the collection and the bake sale came to CHF 2’500 which will go to an association to help Filipinos in Geneva.

Report by: Alice Tulloch, Church of Scotland, Geneva

Also see: World Day of Prayer 2017 – Rotterdam

World Day of Prayer 2017 – Rotterdam

World Day of Prayer is a movement and a process that requires a commitment in time, study, preparation, and personal stretching in order to bring into a local community, in an authentic way, the realities of women in distant places. It is a movement symbolized by an annual day of celebration – the first Friday of March – to which all people are welcome. Through World Day of Prayer, women around the world affirm their faith in Jesus Christ and are encouraged to strive for wisdom to guide the actions in our daily lives.

[source: http://worlddayofprayer.net/program.html]

Christian women of the Philippines put together the service this year, taking as their theme “Am I being unfair to you?”. Jesus’ parable about the landowner who gives equal pay to all his hired workers, no matter the hours they had put in (Matthew 20:1-16) was the main inspiration.

As a practical example of how we might build a community of love, justice and service, we reflected on the traditional cultural practice in the farming communities of the Philippines called ‘Dagyaw’. Dagyaw is a practice of cooperation and collective work. At planting time and harvest time, the neighbours are called to help. In this way, people labour each others’ farms and benefit equally from the harvest. No one is paid, but the harvest is shared among all.

It was Evelyn’s first World Day of Prayer Service. Her friend, Menen, had invited her to come along and arranged a lift to St Mary’s Anglican Church, Rotterdam where the service was held. “Inspirational. Good to see women taking initiative, bringing women’s views into focus.” Evelyn was already looking forward to next year’s service written by Christian women of Surinam, a country with close links to The Netherlands.

“Women for women”, Menen commented as we reflected on the service together. It’s true, most of the people at the service were women, but not all. There were a number of couples in church that morning, and the service was jointly led by Rev. Jennifer Pridmore (the new minister at St Mary’s) and Rev. Derek Lawson (Scots International Church Rotterdam).

Derek is a keen supporter of the annual World Day of Prayer. “It helps to keep us grounded because every year it tells you something about life in a different part of the world. It puts us in touch with reality … a different reality … the bigger reality. Also it brings people together for a low-key, local expression of ecumenism.”

Remaining copies of the service sheet found their way into Chuck’s briefcase. He works for mission to seafarers and would pass them on to Filipino seamen on his rounds later that day.

Continue to pray for:

  • the multiple burdens that Filipino women experience
  • the ongoing problems and poverty caused by typhoons
  • protection for migrant workers, male and female, against exploitation
  • those working to help vulnerable women from oppression