Praying thank you

I guess harvest time is a time which makes me aware of the need to be grateful. And how much there is to be grateful for!
The many daily provisions and encounters and blessings - many of which I simply take for granted.

So I have decided to make October my month of gratitude and thanks-giving. Making myself aware of the things which give me joy and which I am grateful for will be my main form of prayer this month.

“If the only prayer you said in your whole life was, ‘thank you,’ that would suffice.” 

– Meister Eckhart

PEACE

Peace between neighbours,
Peace between kindred,
Peace between lovers,
In the love of the King of life.

Peace between person and person,
Peace between husband and wife,
Peace between woman and children,
The peace of Christ above all peace.

(Carmina Gadelica)

A Christian Ramadan

Oh dear, it's a long time since I have blogged and much has happened since.

Our daughter went to Bangladesh and is back later this week.
We have spent much of the last weeks with harvesting fruit and vegetables, foraging and food-processing. The freezer is full of frozen  berries, hubby has made several batches of jam (causing a debate whether strawberry jam or blackcurrant jam is the better one!) and several litres of elderflower cordial and elderflower champagne is done, with two gallons of sparkling elderflower wine on the go.

But there is time to blog about all that another time ...


Ramadan started on 8th July this year and, as in previous years, I am joining my Muslim friends in their Ramadan - well, after a fashion, that is.
Last year I adapted the Muslim prayer routine to fit verses from the Bible.
I found that so beneficial that I am doing it again this year. Except, I am veering even further from the Islamic practice (Please forgive me, my Muslim friends!) by not praying five times a day at set times, but by trying to go through the prayer routine once every hour.
Where that's not possible, I catch up with the missed prayers at a later time (for example, if I wake up at 6 am, I pray for the six hours which have already passed since midnight) - but I aim to pray hourly as much as possible and add my prayers to 24 times per day.

I have found this extremely calming and soothing.
Depending on your own belief system or world view, you might have different explanations for this.
Is it God at work in me?
Or Satan trying to deceive into straying from the right path?
Or simply my mind benefitting from taking regular time out from my daily routine and focus within?

I have my own thoughts and you probably have yours.

My Ramadan charity this year will be the Foundation for Relief and Reconciliation in the Middle East, which aims to provide a spiritual home, medical care and humanitarian relief as well as promoting reconciliation amongst different religious groups in Iraq in the face of great difficulties and hardship.

Wishing you a blessed Ramadan! May God work in us all and draw us closet to himself - whoever and wherever we are.

All Souls Day

Today is the day when many Christians remember those loved ones who have died.

It was humbling to take part in the evening service, a quiet and solemn occasion, which gave people the opportunity to remember and grieve in their own way.

Support us, O Lord, all the day long,

until the shadows lengthen, the evening comes,

the busy world is hushed,

the fever of life is over and our work is done.

Then, in your mercy, grant us safe lodging,

a holy rest, and peace at last;

through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen

(Methodist Worship Book)

For all who grieve for loved ones, may you find peace and rest. My thoughts and prayers are with you.

Praying five times a day

Here is a practice I have picked up from my Muslim friends.

How many of us say "Yes, I pray every day"? But what do we mean?
Many of us mean that we turn to God with requests and petitions - often with the right intention and a good heart, with a desire to help people who are in need or hurting or suffering all across the world.
But we don't always just pray, as in 'spend time to praise and worship God' ...

In the Church of England it has been a practice over the centuries to read daily morning, evening and night-time prayers. A wonderful practice, but often just left to the clergy and not many parishioners come to attend.

My Muslim friends are very familiar with daily prayers. One of the five pillars of Islam is to pray (say Salah) five times a day at specific times.

So I have adapted this concept of regular prayer by putting verses and readings from the Bible to the Islamic prayer movements (standing, bowing and prostrating). I have found prostrating myself before God a particularly powerful experience.

Here is a rough outline of the prayers and readings I use. (I might change the readings and prayers occasionally, depending on what is particularly on my heart)

1)Stand, hand to ears

“Glory to the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be”

2)Stand, hands clasped over chest

Collect of the day

Matthew 5:3-12

“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.

Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.

Blessed are the merciful, for they will receive mercy.

Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.

Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.

Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Blessed are you when people revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.”

3)Hands on knees

1 Corinthians 13:4-8

“Love is patient; love is kind; love is not envious or boastful or arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice in wrongdoing, but rejoices in the truth. It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

Love never ends. “

4)Stand, “Glory to God and peace to his people on earth”, then

Kneel and prostrate

Lord's Prayer

Kneel and prostrate again

Matthew 22:37-40

“ You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.” This is the greatest and first commandment. And a second is like it: “You shall love your neighbour as yourself.” On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.”

Repeat 2)-4) two- four times, ending on your knees, looking right and left

May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ,
and the love of God,
and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit
be with us all,
evermore.
Amen.

Intercessory prayer can be added at the end.

Maranatha

For some time now have I started my day with exercising.

The wii fit introduced me to Yoga - something which I have not done for many, many years. So I have started replacing my morning exercise routine with gentle Yoga stretches and postures. I have found this 21-day-Yoga challenge, which is giving me a clear and easy introduction to Yoga.

I follow these exercises with a time of meditation, reading the Bible and prayer.
I was recommended a 'Christian meditation' method by a friend. The principles of focusing on ones breath is similar to other methods of meditation, but the words repeated in ones mind is Maranatha, an Aramaic word meaning 'Come, Lord'.

To aid the meditation and to prevent myself from distracting myself by counting the repetitions I made myself these simple meditation beads - made from some wooden beads which I still had from another project. The bracelet consists of 27 beads, knotted at an interval of three beads. With relatively slow breathing and each bead representing one count of 'Maranatha', moving round the bracelet takes approximately 13-15 minutes.

Poverty & Homelessness Action Week 2012

Poverty & Homelessness Action Week 2012 will run from 28 January to 5 February.

Father, we thank you that Jesus came to break down barriers. He did not see the migrant or the settled, the housed or the homeless, the employed or the unemployed; He saw and loved the person. Forgive us when we put up barriers between ourselves and others; help us show love to all without constraint. Help us, your church, to build communities without barriers, where all are valued because all are made in your image. In Jesus’ name, Amen

For more information click here.

Pray as you go

A friend shared this lovely resource with me.

It is set up by the Jesuits in Britain.

There is a prayer, Bible reading, some spiritual music and the opportunity to meditate on and prepare for the new day every day of the week. It can be accessed via the website or downloaded onto the mp3 player.

I have found it a great way to prepare myself for the day, and to keep focused on God and his Word. 

Prayer for Serenity

I just spoke to my mother on the phone - listening to her sobbing, because her husband is very ill and she feels so helpless. Unable to make him well, yet not able to accept the situation they are both in and the suffering he is going through.

How often do we try to change a situation for the better, when really it is outside our ability to do so, and when we would do better to try to accept what cannot be changed and move on to other things.

Easier said than done, I know. I can think of countless situations when I have done the same - knowing that all my fretting, worrying and fighting would lead to nothing.

How I hope and pray that my mother will be able to change and influence the things which are within her control, and learn to accept those things which she cannot change.

It can be hard to believe that God has a purpose, when things are painful and difficult ...