International Presbytery of the Church of Scotland
We need off time.
We need thinking time.
We need slower time.
We need bored time.
We need mind wandering time.
We need time without the doing.
That time isn’t just a pause, or a break,
it is also the way onto whatever lies ahead.
by Anne Brones, from creativefuel.substack.com
From the blog
Theme for July 2020: Time
Open ending
Amazing to consider
Take time this week to pause and savour these words, inspired by Paul’s teaching on the fruit of the Spirit in Galatians 3:22-23.
Lord, may we bear the fruits of your Spirit:
give us love,
that boundless, healing energy that transforms the world; (pause)
give us joy,
because no darkness or evil can overcome you; (pause)
give us peace,
to quiet our hearts, and to free us from bitterness; (pause)
give us patience,
to go on following you even when it is hard; (pause)
give us kindness,
to reach out to our neighbour and to the person who needs to be loved; (pause)
give us goodness,
to give with a generous heart and without ulterior motive; (pause)
give us faithfulness,
to stay at your side, come what may; (pause)
give us gentleness,
to respect the freedom and integrity of others; (pause)
give us self-control,
to see our weaknesses and overcome them in your strength. (pause)
Lord, may we bear the fruits of your Spirit.
written by Angela Ashwin, from The Book of a Thousand Prayers by Angela Ashwin, #857
From the blog
Summer-friendly spiritual practices (gardening, swimming, journaling)
Daily / van liefde (from love) – collage by Irene Bom
inspired by Jeremiah 33:14-16
The time is surely coming
when our love for one another
and all of God’s children will increase.
We would live into that time
with hope and joy.
The day is surely coming
when God will strengthen our hearts
with humility and holiness.
We would anticipate that day
as we reach out to serve
all of those in need.
The days are surely coming
when we will walk the paths
of faithfulness and steadfast love.
We begin this journey,
knowing that all of God’s promises
will be fulfilled.
~ written by Thom Shuman, posted on re:worship
SUMMER SCHOOL: CREATIVE ASSIGNMENT
Create your own collage inspired by the phrase, “slowly but surely”.
From the blog
Make us a chalice
The fruit of lips
Thank you. For the sunrise
a prayer poem
by Mary Oliver, from Devotions: The selected poems of Mary Oliver, p. 141
SUMMER SCHOOL: CREATIVE ASSIGNMENT
Write a prayer poem, inspired by Mary Oliver’s offering.
From the blog
In the school of prayer with Eddie Askew
The empty cup
Re-turn
O God, we long to rest in you,
to trust in your goodness,
in your care for us,
in your abundant life.
But we don’t know how to rest
and we have forgotten how to trust:
We seek material goods that we don’t really need.
We befriend people not always out of love.
We ask questions of you like the Sadducees did of Jesus,
questions that try only to prove our point,
not to grow in understanding of your desires for us.
Slow us down, Holy One.
Attend to us, Holy One,
and show us that you are our salvation and our resting place.
~ by Rev. Catherine Rolling, posted on re:worship
From the blog
In quietness and trust is your strength
Broken spirit sacrifice
3 Ancient prayers
Last week I was in Yorkshire for the annual Resound Worship Songwriter Retreat held at Wydale Hall. One afternoon I joined an excursion to Bempton Cliffs, hoping to see a real puffin up close. It didn’t happen for me (others had more luck). I saw lots of birds though, and stunning scenery. Along the cliff path I also stumble on this blooming thistle with a bumble bee bumbling about, sampling the nectar.
May you find time this summer to bumble about and sample things that are sweet and nourishing for your heart and mind and soul.
Pierre Teilhard de Chardin said,
“Above all, trust in the slow work of God. We are quite naturally impatient in everything to reach the end without delay. We would like to skip the intermediate stages. We are impatient of being on the way to something unknown, something new. And yet, it is the law of all progress that it is made by passing through some stages of instability — and that it may take a very long time. Above all, trust in the slow work of God, our loving vine-dresser.”
from Common Prayer: A Liturgy for Ordinary Radicals by Shane Claiborne, Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove and Enuma Okoro, p. 335
From the blog
When hot and bothered
All my days and forever
Bright and beautiful
“Prayer is not only a matter of saying the right sort of words to the right kind of God. Our being is involved, the way we are.”
by Eugene Peterson,
from Answering God: The Psalms as Tools for Prayer, p. 24
inspired by Psalm 1
King of all the earth,
Creator of the universe,
Holy Triune God,
from everlasting to everlasting,
you are Lord.
Your law brings life, O Lord,
and we meditate on it day and night;
Happy are we when we walk in your ways, O Lord.
You are a rich stream of living waters,
and we would immerse ourselves in you;
Happy are we when we walk in your ways, O Lord.
You bring forth fruit in due season
and establish the work of our hands;
Happy are we when we walk in your ways, O Lord.
Who is like our God,
the One whose ways are full of life?
Happy are we when we walk in your ways, O Lord.
This is our God, the Holy One.
Come before him with thanksgiving
and offer him the sacrifice of praise.
from Oratio Contemplativa, posted on re:worship
From the blog
In the school of prayer with Eugene Peterson
Lament
Continually curious
Lord,
teach me your way of treating others –
sinners, children, Pharisees, Pilates and Herods,
and also John the Baptists.
Teach me your way of eating and drinking,
and how to act when I’m tired from work and need rest.
Teach me compassion for the suffering, the poor, the blind, and the lame.
You who shed tears, show me how to live my deepest emotions.
Above all, I want to learn how you endured your Cross.
Teach me your way of looking at people:
the way you glanced at Peter after his denial,
the way you touched the heart of the rich young man
and the hearts of your disciples.
I would like to meet you as you really are,
since you change those who really know you.
If only I could hear you speak
as when you spoke in the synagogue of Capernaum
or on the Mount of Beatitudes!
Give me grace to live my life, within and without,
the way you lived your life, O Lord. Amen.
— written by Pedro Arrupe, SJ, posted on re:worship
From the blog
On Writing Prayer-Poems
3 Prayers for summer
The wells of salvation
based on ‘Suscipe me’,
a prayer made by a novice on entering a Benedictine Community
Accept me, O Lord,
just as I am,
in my frailty,
my inadequacy,
my contradictions
and my confusions.
Accept me,
with all those discordant currents
that pull me in so many directions.
Accept all of this,
and help me so to live with what I am,
that what I am
may become my way to you.
from The Book of a Thousand Prayers by Angela Ashwin, #935
based on Matthew 6:9-13, Luke 11:2-4
O God, you love us like a good parent,
and are present in every aspect of our existence.
May your nature become known and respected by all.
May your joy, peace, wholeness and justice
be the reality for everyone
as we live by the Jesus Way.
Give us all that we really need to live every day for you.
And forgive us our failures as we forgive others for their failures.
Keep us from doing those things which are not of you,
and cause us always to be centred on your love.
For you are the true reality in this our now,
and in all our future.
In the Jesus Way we pray.
~ by D. Sorril, posted on re:worship
From the blog
People of the way
3 Prayers to our Father
Theme: Change my heart, O God [prayer sheet]