For this reason....

I spend my first hours of the morning in prayer... Prayer of presence and receptivity. And prayers of intercession. How shall I pray for you...or you...or you?

There are an infinite number of prayer concerns swirling in my heart. A friend is suffering from a chronic physical condition that isn't terminal...but life will never be the same. Another is facing rifts within the family...separation so painful and heart wrenching...that preclude reconciliation...at least for a while. Another wrestles with the spectre of addiction. The temptress of temporary satisfaction gestures with welcome -- "c'mon, just one more time"...and then a few hours later...the same invitation...so subtle...so captivating.

Then there are those who are doubting the relevancy of faith. Folks on the outskirts of the church look at what is going on as the church faces one internal challenge after another. Doctrine, expectations, financial designations, who and how we are as the "church" all are topics of discussion...(some more civil than others). There are many faces within the church that express an angry, judgmental certainty that excludes or discounts that "type" of God's children. And seekers look at that and wonder: So, why would I want to be a part of that?

At times I truly have no clue how to pray in the presence of these abiding concerns...

Then, oh blessed consolation... I am reminded of St. Paul's prayer in the third chapter of Ephesians: 14-21:

For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth takes its name. I pray that, according to the riches of his glory, he may grant that you may be strengthened in your inner being with power through his Spirit, and that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith, as you are being rooted and grounded in love. I pray that you may have the power to comprehend, with all the saints, what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, so that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. Now to him who by the power at work within us is able to accomplish abundantly far more than all we can ask or imagine, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations, for ever and ever. Amen.

Sometimes when I wrestle with the strands of thought generated by my concerns, I end up with nothing more than a wad of knots. I reach dead ends. I can become immobilized by a sense of powerlessness ... even despair.

Freedom enters, though, when I hold those concerns before God and pray that all involved in them will "know" the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge. I can imagine with abundant and radiant hope how all of my prayer concerns settle when I pray that all people are strengthened in their inner being...rooted and grounded in love.

So for this reason, I bow down...and I pray...for you.

Becoming

On Monday evening a handful of folks gathered in the sanctuary. The lights were dim, the space softened by voices that spoke with no amplification...there were some extended periods of gathered silence, when the bodies remained still.

There was the sight of the candle carried into the assembly...joyous light of glory! And the responsive and swirling tones of Psalm 141, "Let my prayer rise up as incense before you...."

There was movement toward the prayer stations...kneel, stand, sit as you wish (or as you are able)... receive words of healing...the laying on of hands...the anointing with oil.

I was there... thankfully without any particular illness or physical pain...but with quite a heap of concerns ... relationships strained to a thin thread, wonderment about whether or not we are making progress as a civilization (I wonder, sometimes when there is such a tidal wave of political mud-slinging that dominates the media)...or as a species, for that matter...

It was a holy huddle, to be sure... in the midst of football frenzy, political foray, and yes, the all too premature invitation to "Holiday Shopping!" we gathered to warm our hearts, minds and souls with words of assurance. We sang of being enveloped by the wings of God's Love, and of nestling in God's breath of protection.

We went our separate ways after 40 minutes or so... rooted in the promise of healing...not necessarily "cured" of all ills, but certainly invigorated with the joy of becoming re-newed in Christ.

We are always in need of healing...as we continue to become ...

"This life, therefore, is not righteousness, but growth in righteousness; not health, but healing; not being, but becoming; not rest, but exercise. We are not yet what we shall be, but we are growing towards it. The process is not yet finished, but it is going on. This is not the end, but it is the road. All does not yet gleam in glory, but all is being purified." Martin Luther