compline

Compline is a prayer for the end of the day.  This one comes from Northumbria Community :

The Sacred Three
to save
to shield
to surround
the hearth
the home
this night
and every night....

O God who is one,
O God who is true,
O God who is first....

O God of life, this night,
O darken not to me Thy light.O God of life, this night,
close not Thy gladness to my sight.

Keep Your people, Lord,
in the arms of Your embrace.
Shelter them under Your wings.

* Be their light in darkness.
Be their hope in distress.
Be their calm in anxiety.

* Be strength in their weakness.

* Be their comfort in pain.

* Be their song in the night.

In peace will I lie down, for it is You, O Lord,
You alone who makes me to rest secure.
Be it on Your own beloved arm,
O God of grace, that I in peace shall awake.

Be the peace of the Spirit
mine this night.
Be the peace of the Son
mine this night.
Be the peace of the Father
mine this night.
The peace of all peace
be mine this night
+ in the name of the Father,
and of the Son,
and of the Holy Spirit.
Amen.

Today I pray with Crys from A Life In Ordinary.  I don't have anything of my own to add at this time, so I lift up Crys's prayer as my own.  What are you praying for?

W: Whirling dervishes

From Ya-Yas in Bloom by Rebecca Wells:
"The girls spun round and round and round the ice cream parlor, scarves in their hands, between their teeth, wrapped around their fingers like scarf rings. They did not dance madly, like Mehnaz from some Greek tragedy, but like muses: graceful and ready to inspire. The spark that lived in all of them rejoiced when they turned in circles, little whirling wild spirits, like junior priestesses of some undomesticated tribe. They went somewhere else as they spun, into a trance of dizziness, as if they were praying. It looked as if they were bad little girls acting like wild sprites, and some of the folks in the ice cream parlor thought them rude and uncouth, but that is only because these townspeople did not know about whirling dervishes and what happens when they dance and pray, pray and dance. They did not know that dance can become prayer, and prayer can become dance."

I'm so blessed to have some whirling dervishes in my life who draw me into the dance (especially one who loves to wear her cowboy boots with anything, including multi-colored striped tights):

anglican prayer beads and project 52 update

I called them Orthodox prayer beads in my list of Project 52 goals; these are actually called Anglican prayer beads.  This way of prayer is new for me; I am intrigued by it.  The stone at the bottom is from Wednesday's retreat in the Flint Hills and serves as the cross.  The locket above the stone is heart-shaped, which reminds me that this is an invitation to love, not a bunch of "shoulds."

Project 52 goals completed so far:
#4 - Learn more about blogging - ongoing; I am learning!
#12 - Write a handwritten letter to R. and send it by snail mail - done today!  I don't think I would have done this yet had I not set this goal for myself and had a way to keep track of it - I guess goal-setting can work.
#16 - Spend quality time reading other blogs - ongoing.
#18 - Get rid of more stuff - I've gone through my CDs and pulled several out for the "garage sale" box - books and DVDs are next, I think.
#19 - Make prayer beads - now to use them...
#23 - Improve natural sleep patterns - I got a full, drug-free night's sleep last night, woo hoo!  I didn't sleep at all the night before, though - is that progress?

I will listen to what you say.

You and I can turn and look

at the silent river and wait. We know

the current is there, hidden; and there

are comings and goings from miles away

that hold the stillness exactly before us.

What the river says, that is what I say.

From "Ask Me" by William Stafford

Photo from:  http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1353330/Egypt-protests-Christians-join-hands-protect-Muslims-pray-Cairo-protests.html

an afternoon prayer with God

"Kerri, wake up."
I wake, turn in bed, and wait.
"Kerri, get up.  Come walk with me."
I leave my bed, get my shoes, and go out in the backyard.  I see the sidewalk going around the edges of the yard, along the fence.  I remember a labyrinth, and I begin to walk slowly.
"The time for mourning has gone, for now."
"Was that you, Lord, or me?  Was I jumping ahead, or do I just know it's time to stop mourning for now because of the way you said my name?  I can't tell."  I come to a tree swing, and I stop walking and sit down.  I quiet myself, and listen.
'Get up, come walk with me,' I remember, and sit with that for a while.  The afternoon light is dying, the pecans at my feet are dead, the trees are bare.
I get up and walk some more.  It's true: mourning is done for now.  "They're dead, Lord.  Chester's dead."  I cry.
"I know, my child, I know."  God's voice and presence are soft and loving, so caring.
I sit again and God reminds me of the new pack I have now, new tribe, new group.  I remember the ones that are gone: the dogs, former students.  I wonder how long this present situation will last, what will come next.
God lets me wonder.  He lets me know he loves me.
I go back into the house and open the door from my room to the rest of the house.