Good Wednesday morning, my friends.
As I was searching for a prayer this morning, I came across this definition of prayer by Catherine de Hueck Doherty:
Prayer is as infinite as God. Prayer is constant. Prayer is work. Prayer is loving. Prayer is dying. Prayer is stripping onself of one's needs. Prayer is serving the needs of others. Prayer is conversation with God that never ceases. … Prayer is living in the presence of God.
I have experienced all of those attributes of prayer at different times, however all too often I find that "Prayer is work".
The prayer below was written almost a thousand years ago, and what struck me about it was that it applies as much to my situation as it did to the author, even across all those centuries. I guess human nature hasn't changed much. Thankfully, "God nature" doesn't change at all.
Amazing Grace and Eternal Peace to you today,
Bruce
Lord, I sometimes wander away from you. But this is not because I am deliberately turning my back on you. It is because of the inconstancy of my mind.
I weaken in my intention to give my whole soul to you. I fall back into thinking of myself as my own master.
But when I wander from you, my life becomes a burden, and within me I find nothing but darkness and wretchedness, fear and anxiety.
So I come back to you, and confess that I have sinned against you. And I know you will forgive me.
Aelred of Rievaulx 1110 - 1167
 | Bruce MacPherson macpherson@celtic.ca |
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