balance, day 7

Come to Stillness: Take a few minutes to allow your mind and heart to be still before God.

Opening Prayer:

Dear Jesus,

     During this day help me quiet all the thoughts that fill my head—where I must go, whom I must see, and what I must do. In their place, give me a sense of your order, your peace, and your time.

     Help me to understand that you are in control, and I can trust you with my day. Help me to realize that nothing on my to-do list is important if it is not what you want me to do.

      I give all my tasks to you and trust you to bring order to them. In these moments, dear Jesus, come to me, be with me, and free me from the tyranny of “to do.” (Quiet Spaces by Patricia F. Wilson)

Psalm for the Week: Psalm 127

Scripture for the Day: Hebrews 10:19-26

 

Reading for Reflection:

Only by taking our life apart from time to time and examining it carefully, and then putting it back together thoughtfully and prayerfully, only then can we have some measure of confidence that we are living the life that we were meant to lead.

     “Only he who obeys a rhythm that is superior to his own,” wrote Kazantzakis, “is free.”

     The superior rhythm is the one that was made by God and whispered into us at the time that we were whispered into being.  It is a rhythm that is based on the light and darkness of the day itself.  It is a rhythm that supports all of our lives—prayer, rest, community and work. (A Good Life by Robert Benson)

 

What I am looking for is some sort of balance in my life—a balance “so delicate, so risky, so creative”, as Maria Boulding puts it, that she likens it to a bird in flight, a dancer in motion.  One of the favorite words in the Rule of St. Benedict is “run”, St. Benedict tells me to run to Christ.  If I stop for a moment and consider what is being asked of me here, and what is involved in the act of running, I think of how when I run I place first one foot and then the other on the ground, that I let go of my balance for a second and then immediately recover it again.  It is risky, this matter of running.  By daring to lose my balance I keep it. (Living with Contradiction by Esther de Waal)

Reflection and Listening: silent and written

Prayer: for the church, for others, for myself

Song for the Week: Be the Center

Jesus, be the center,
Be my source, be my light, Jesus
Jesus, be the center,
Be my hope, be my song, Jesus

Be the fire in my heart, be the wind in these sails
Be the reason that I live, Jesus, Jesus

Jesus, be my vision,
Be my path, be my guide, Jesus.

Be the fire in my heart, be the wind in these sails

Be the reason that I live, Jesus, Jesus


Closing Prayer
You have taught us that in returning and rest we shall be saved, in quietness and confidence we shall be strengthened. By Your Spirit lift us to Your Presence where we may be still and know that You are God. (from The Book of Common Prayer adapted in Living Prayer by Robert Benson)

balance, day 6

Come to Stillness: Take a few minutes to allow your mind and heart to be still before God.

Opening Prayer:

Dear Jesus,

     During this day help me quiet all the thoughts that fill my head—where I must go, whom I must see, and what I must do. In their place, give me a sense of your order, your peace, and your time.

     Help me to understand that you are in control, and I can trust you with my day. Help me to realize that nothing on my to-do list is important if it is not what you want me to do.

     I give all my tasks to you and trust you to bring order to them. In these moments, dear Jesus, come to me, be with me, and free me from the tyranny of “to do.” (Quiet Spaces by Patricia F. Wilson)

Psalm for the Week: Psalm 127

Scripture for the Day: Luke 10:38-42

Reading for Reflection:

More recently I’m beginning to understand that, in my life with God, the word discipline means the endeavor to create space in my life in which God can act.  Discipline means being intentional about preventing everything in my life from being filled up.  The diligent watchfulness guards my soul from intrusions that crowd out God.

     Marking off space for God to be at work is a challenge because God likes doing things with me that I hadn’t counted on.  He likes to decide the agenda rather than docilely going along with my carefully scripted list of activities.  If I leave God too little space, the desires God has for me and for our time together simply don’t happen.  This is the why of solitude with God.  I simply make room for God to do what only God is able to do.  Yet the excuses I make (to myself and to others) for not making this space are endless.  Why would I want to cheat myself out of God’s deepest longing for me?  Is it because I don’t trust God?  Is it because I’m addicted to being in charge?  Is it because I’m simply afraid to let go and rest in the silence of God’s presence?

     If I am ever to enjoy a rhythm of solitude and silence, I will always need to exert some effort.  However, the effort is not to be building outwardly but to protect that little cell of my heart, the part of me where God and I get to be together—to protect it and then to find the solitude where God will enter and spend time with me. (Running on Empty by Fil Anderson)

Reflection and Listening: silent and written

Prayer: for the church, for others, for myself

Song for the Week: Be the Center

Jesus, be the center,
Be my source, be my light, Jesus
Jesus, be the center,
Be my hope, be my song, Jesus

Be the fire in my heart, be the wind in these sails
Be the reason that I live, Jesus, Jesus

Jesus, be my vision,
Be my path, be my guide, Jesus.

Be the fire in my heart, be the wind in these sails

Be the reason that I live, Jesus, Jesus


Closing Prayer
You have taught us that in returning and rest we shall be saved, in quietness and confidence we shall be strengthened. By Your Spirit lift us to Your Presence where we may be still and know that You are God. (from The Book of Common Prayer adapted in Living Prayer by Robert Benson)

balance, day 5

Come to Stillness:

Take a few minutes to allow your mind and heart to be still before God.

Opening Prayer:

Dear Jesus,

     During this day help me quiet all the thoughts that fill my head—where I must go, whom I must see, and what I must do. In their place, give me a sense of your order, your peace, and your time.

     Help me to understand that you are in control, and I can trust you with my day. Help me to realize that nothing on my to-do list is important if it is not what you want me to do.

      I give all my tasks to you and trust you to bring order to them. In these moments, dear Jesus, come to me, be with me, and free me from the tyranny of “to do.” (Quiet Spaces by Patricia F. Wilson)

 

Psalm for the Week: Psalm 127

Scripture for the Day: Isaiah 55:1-13

Reading for Reflection:

 

I had come to wonder sometimes at the lack of depth in my prayer.  I began to worry, too, at the sense of imbalance in my life and at the lack of centeredness as well.  I began to wonder if those things had a connection to my prayer.  I began to realize that the longing that I had, and have, for the presence of God could no longer be filled by a few stolen moments of extemporaneous prayer.  I began to have a sneaking suspicion that prayer was a larger and deeper and richer and more astonishing thing than I had known before.  I began to desire a way of life that was more like the lively and reasonable sacrifice that is called for by the words of the Eucharist.

     Although my life had been spent largely in the church and around people of faith, I had had a growing sense that I could go no deeper in my journey without some manner of instruction and experience in some ways of prayer other than the one I already knew.  “We fool ourselves if we think that such a sacramental way of living is automatic,” wrote Richard Foster once, in a book about prayer and discipline.  “This kind of living communion does not just fall on our heads.  We must desire it and seek it out.  We must order our lives in particular ways.” (A Good Life by Robert Benson)

 

Reflection and Listening: silent and written

Prayer: for the church, for others, for myself

Song for the Week: Be the Center

Jesus, be the center,
Be my source, be my light, Jesus
Jesus, be the center,
Be my hope, be my song, Jesus

Be the fire in my heart, be the wind in these sails
Be the reason that I live, Jesus, Jesus

Jesus, be my vision,
Be my path, be my guide, Jesus.

Be the fire in my heart, be the wind in these sails

Be the reason that I live, Jesus, Jesus


Closing Prayer
You have taught us that in returning and rest we shall be saved, in quietness and confidence we shall be strengthened. By Your Spirit lift us to Your Presence where we may be still and know that You are God. (from The Book of Common Prayer adapted in Living Prayer by Robert Benson)

balance, day 4

Come to Stillness:

Take a few minutes to allow your mind and heart to be still before God.

Opening Prayer:

Dear Jesus,

     During this day help me quiet all the thoughts that fill my head—where I must go, whom I must see, and what I must do. In their place, give me a sense of your order, your peace, and your time.

     Help me to understand that you are in control, and I can trust you with my day. Help me to realize that nothing on my to-do list is important if it is not what you want me to do.

      I give all my tasks to you and trust you to bring order to them. In these moments, dear Jesus, come to me, be with me, and free me from the tyranny of “to do.” (Quiet Spaces by Patricia F. Wilson)

 

Psalm for the Week: Psalm 127

Scripture for the Day: Matthew 6:25-34

Reading for Reflection:

One reason we have difficulty praying is that we are unable to quiet down enough to become sensitive to the movements of the Spirit.  This usually happens because we have been living our lives at too fast a pace.  Rushing from one activity to the next, we lose touch with the Spirit.  We are not moving against the Spirit in a sinful way, but we are not allowing the Spirit to infuse our activities, enabling us to perform them in peace and joy.  Finding ourselves anxious and worried both about the result of our work and about getting it all finished within the allotted time, we come to prayer restless and find it almost impossible to quiet our minds in a way that allows us to be sensitive to the movements of the Spirit.  Since we cannot allow the Spirit to bring us to the Lord, we begin composing our own monologue to the Lord, expressing our own needs and concerns, often in a rushed and rather compulsive way.  It often seems that we could be using our time more effectively by skipping prayer and finishing the work we left undone.  Prayer will remain difficult until we develop a rhythm of life that enables us to work in tune with the Spirit, thus experiencing the peace and joy that flows from the Spirit’s presence.  If we are living in tune with the Spirit during the day, it is easy to allow the Spirit to unite us to the Lord during prayer. (In His Spirit by Richard J. Hauser)

 

Reflection and Listening: silent and written

Prayer: for the church, for others, for myself

Song for the Week: Be the Center

Jesus, be the center,
Be my source, be my light, Jesus
Jesus, be the center,
Be my hope, be my song, Jesus

Be the fire in my heart, be the wind in these sails
Be the reason that I live, Jesus, Jesus

Jesus, be my vision,
Be my path, be my guide, Jesus.

Be the fire in my heart, be the wind in these sails

Be the reason that I live, Jesus, Jesus


Closing Prayer
You have taught us that in returning and rest we shall be saved, in quietness and confidence we shall be strengthened. By Your Spirit lift us to Your Presence where we may be still and know that You are God. (from The Book of Common Prayer adapted in Living Prayer by Robert Benson)

balance, day 3

Come to Stillness:

Take a few minutes to allow your mind and heart to be still before God.

Opening Prayer:

Dear Jesus,

     During this day help me quiet all the thoughts that fill my head—where I must go, whom I must see, and what I must do. In their place, give me a sense of your order, your peace, and your time.

     Help me to understand that you are in control, and I can trust you with my day. Help me to realize that nothing on my to-do list is important if it is not what you want me to do.

      I give all my tasks to you and trust you to bring order to them. In these moments, dear Jesus, come to me, be with me, and free me from the tyranny of “to do.” (Quiet Spaces by Patricia F. Wilson)

Psalm for the Week: Psalm 127

Scripture for the Day: Isaiah 30:15

Reading for Reflection:

Here the deeper meaning of any rule in the spiritual life becomes visible.  Instead of giving us methods to control and direct and determine our own life, a spiritual rule wants to offer an open and free space within and among us where God can touch us with God’s loving presence.  It wants to make it possible for us not so much to find God as to be found by God, not so much to direct our life towards God, as to be directed by God, not so much to love God, as to be loved by God.
     This might sound quite passive.  But the contrary is true.  It requires active spiritual work to keep space for God.  Why?  Our ever-present fears keep trying to fill up every bit of free space with countless thoughts, words and actions that can give us the illusion that after all we are in control.  Even though we have learned the hard way how little in control we really are, and even though we continue to suffer from the consequences of a life built on illusion, it remains very difficult to let God be the director and guide of our lives.  ~ Henri J. M. Nouwen (from the Foreword to Rule for a New Brother)

Reflection and Listening: silent and written

Prayer: for the church, for others, for myself

Song for the Week: Be the Center

Jesus, be the center,
Be my source, be my light, Jesus
Jesus, be the center,
Be my hope, be my song, Jesus

Be the fire in my heart, be the wind in these sails
Be the reason that I live, Jesus, Jesus

Jesus, be my vision,
Be my path, be my guide, Jesus.

Be the fire in my heart, be the wind in these sails

Be the reason that I live, Jesus, Jesus


Closing Prayer
You have taught us that in returning and rest we shall be saved, in quietness and confidence we shall be strengthened. By Your Spirit lift us to Your Presence where we may be still and know that You are God. (from The Book of Common Prayer adapted in Living Prayer by Robert Benson)

balance, day 2

Come to Stillness:

Take a few minutes to allow your mind and heart to be still before God.

Opening Prayer:

Dear Jesus,

     During this day help me quiet all the thoughts that fill my head—where I must go, whom I must see, and what I must do. In their place, give me a sense of your order, your peace, and your time.

     Help me to understand that you are in control, and I can trust you with my day. Help me to realize that nothing on my to-do list is important if it is not what you want me to do.

      I give all my tasks to you and trust you to bring order to them. In these moments, dear Jesus, come to me, be with me, and free me from the tyranny of “to do.” (Quiet Spaces by Patricia F. Wilson)

Psalm for the Week: Psalm 127

Scripture for the Day: Matthew 11:28-30

Reading for Reflection:

Most of our conflicts and difficulties come from trying to deal with the spiritual and practical aspects of our life separately instead of realizing them as parts of a one whole.  If our practical life is centered on our own interests, cluttered up by possessions, distracted by ambitions, passions, wants and worries, beset by a sense of our own rights and importance, or anxieties for our own future, or longings for our own success, we need not expect that our spiritual life will be a contrast to all this.  The soul’s house is not built on such a convenient plan: there are few soundproof partitions in it.  Only when the conviction—not merely the idea—that the demand of the Spirit, however inconvenient, comes first and IS first, rules the whole of it, will those objectionable noises die down which have a way of penetrating into the nicely furnished oratory, and drowning all the quieter voices by their din. (The Spiritual Life by Evelyn Underhill)

Reflection and Listening: silent and written

Prayer: for the church, for others, for myself

Song for the Week: Be the Center

Jesus, be the center,
Be my source, be my light, Jesus
Jesus, be the center,
Be my hope, be my song, Jesus

Be the fire in my heart, be the wind in these sails
Be the reason that I live, Jesus, Jesus

Jesus, be my vision,
Be my path, be my guide, Jesus.

Be the fire in my heart, be the wind in these sails

Be the reason that I live, Jesus, Jesus

Closing Prayer
You have taught us that in returning and rest we shall be saved, in quietness and confidence we shall be strengthened. By Your Spirit lift us to Your Presence where we may be still and know that You are God. (from The Book of Common Prayer adapted in Living Prayer by Robert Benson)

balance, day 1

Come to Stillness:

Take a few minutes to allow your mind and heart to be still before God.

Opening Prayer:

Dear Jesus,

     During this day help me quiet all the thoughts that fill my head—where I must   go, whom I must see, and what I must do.  In their place, give me a sense of your order, your peace, and your time.

     Help me to understand that you are in control, and I can trust you with my day.  Help me to realize that nothing on my to-do list is important if it is not what you want me to do.

     I give all my tasks to you and trust you to bring order to them.  In these moments, dear Jesus, come to me, be with me, and free me from the tyranny of “to do.” (Quiet Spaces by Patricia F. Wilson)

 

Psalm for the Week: Psalm 127

Scripture for the Day: Psalm 62

Reading for Reflection:

When most of us think of the word balance, we think of a life with equal amounts (or right amounts) of everything—a life in which our work and play and family and friendships and faith all receive comparable amounts of attention and energy.  In the spiritual life, however, the word balance must be defined differently.  As a matter of fact the word balance might not be the most appropriate word to use at all—the word centered might be more accurate.  Because in the life of faith, balance means having Christ as the center around which everything else revolves.  Thus, life is only balanced when everything is centered on Christ.  Christ is the hub of the wheel; the focal point of our lives that allows life to function the way it was created to function.  So the question becomes not “Do I have enough of God in my life?” but “Is Christ the center of my life?  What does my life revolve around?”  The answer to these questions will tell me a lot about whether my life is truly balanced or not.

                                                                                              ~Jim Branch

                                                                                            August 2004

Reflection and Listening: silent and written

Prayer: for the church, for others, for myself

Song for the Week: Be the Center

Jesus, be the center,
Be my source, be my light, Jesus
Jesus, be the center,
Be my hope, be my song, Jesus

Be the fire in my heart, be the wind in these sails
Be the reason that I live, Jesus, Jesus

Jesus, be my vision,
Be my path, be my guide, Jesus.

Be the fire in my heart, be the wind in these sails

Be the reason that I live, Jesus, Jesus

Closing Prayer
You have taught us that in returning and rest we shall be saved, in quietness and confidence we shall be strengthened.  By Your Spirit lift us to Your Presence where we may be still and know that You are God. (from The Book of Common Prayer adapted in Living Prayer by Robert Benson)