Take my moments and my days, let them flow in ceaseless praise.
Sound familiar? These words from Frances Havergal, poet and hymn writer, are from the song “Take My Life.”
This SongFacts webpage has a link to an audio version of the song and also contains background of why Frances was compelled to write this just a few years prior to her death. She clearly was an evangelistically-minded individual and one can imagine feeling compelled to write a song after the “Lord, give me all in this house” experience she had in converting and refocusing acquaintances (song lyrics are HERE.)
ACTION: May this day find us all letting our moments and our days “flow in ceaseless praise!”
In the early 2010s, Rev. Dr. LP Jones prepared and shared the prayer below with the MWPC community as part of his weekly newsletter column. He granted us permission for use of this with the Christian Playbook community.* It is also available to listen to HERE
Lenten Prayer* – Rev. Dr. L.P. Jones
Guiding God, we are traveling the Lenten road. We are ready for it to end. We prefer celebration to reflection and self-examination. On the table, pulpit, and lectern, we prefer pure white, festive red, hopeful blue, or gentle green to Lent’s pensive purple. We know our sins are many, but why must we confess them so often? Remind us, gracious God, that you call us to confession not to burden us, but to free us. Help us to offer you every fear, failure, and sin, so that your forgiveness can calm and cleanse us and your steadfast love can draw us to new beginnings.
We thank you, God of wonders, for countless blessings. We thank you for those special people whose embrace, friendship, and accepting eyes ease our burdens and heighten our joys. We thank you for the songbirds who greet the dawn with exuberant melody. We thank you for the ability to laugh: to laugh at ourselves when we are mistaken; to laugh with our friends when we take ourselves too seriously; to laugh for the pure pleasure it brings. We thank you for eyes that see familiar friends and a new face in the crowd, savor a peaceful sunrise or sunset, and note a hand in need of our touch and open arms waiting to receive us.
Because we are so blessed, help us to respond faithfully to life and its goodness. Because people and relationships are so important, help us to look beyond ourselves and share our plenty with those in need. Help us to build a community known for the risks it takes to help others experience your loving presence. Because life can be so abundant, help us to be a community as joyous in our celebrations as we are committed to service in Jesus’ name. Because not everyone sees your blessings so readily, help us to comfort the bereaved, accompany the lonely, offer hope to the despairing, and reach for a better world for all.
We pray for all whose needs and concerns touch our hearts. We pray for those in need whom we cannot or do not see. We pray for new members and those preparing to receive baptism. We pray for all making difficult decisions. We pray for those enduring illness of body, mind, or spirit, and those who struggle to hope. We pray that we will complete our Lenten journey by seeing our brokenness borne by and entombed with Jesus, which will prepare us to hear anew the almost unimaginable proclamation that the tomb is empty, Jesus is risen, and life and love prevail. These and all our prayers we offer with confidence, for we bring them in Jesus’ name. Amen.
* ever-so-slight alterations made so the original Holy Week prayer applies throughout Lent
My brother turns 55 today (happy birthday Thad!) It seems fitting to celebrate Thad with a devotional website he recommended to me years back.
Rick’s commentary on goal-setting (a topic Thad likes) is HERE and includes two major focus questions:
Will my goal honor God?
Is my goal motivated by love?
Seems our personal goals can focus this way, but over a business career, my goals rarely involved answering either of these two questions affirmatively. However, as Rick suggests, can virtually all of our goals – both personal and professional – be framed for positive response on honoring and loving? The challenge is to examine the issue fully and frame it appropriately. And isn’t that what we want to do with most of our Christian life?
ACTION: Ask yourself these questions from Rick’s devotional: “What goals have you set for yourself for this year? How do they hold up under these two questions?”
How about “When you give of yourself you get so much in return.”
That’s more like it. 🙂
Jesus shared plenty of words and examples of altruistic egoism including Luke 6:31. “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you” is the one we heard regularly from our mom while growing up. It did (and does) resonate within me, helping the Spirit move me to do some things outside my comfort zone. She is a great mom and human being – not only does she say the words, she also “walks her talk” (at age 84 she about as active as she’s ever been!) And not only does she bless, she is blessed and grateful.
During Lent, our church is encouraging folks to “Take Something On for Lent” and on 2/25 they’ll be hearing from me about altruistic egoism. There will be pictures of folks helping others on the screen. Guess what. Most of the time, those pictures show helpers smiling and engaging with others. Another bonus of altruism…
PRAYER: Dear God, help us to remember about loving another the way we want to be loved…
ACTION: What can you “take on this week” to help another? Allow the Spirit to stir you to move outside your comfort zone if you can…
Enjoy the day, filled with the Spirit!
Lectionary Texts for this Sunday, February 25, 2018:
Increasing the physical aspect of prayer by incorporating ideas from this Praying with Icons article is intriguing. Jim Forest encourages finding icons for use in prayer. As one who has evolved to praying with eyes open and head upraised at varying times since the late 70s, these sentences are particularly noteworthy:
“Because icons are physical objects, they serve as invitations to keep our eyes open when we pray.” ~ Jim Forest
“The icon exists to help connect you.” ~ Jim Forest
As an extension of this thinking, maybe the fact that some of us wear crosses during the day are an icon for us? Even if worn underneath the clothes, the sense of touch rather than the sense of sight can be a way to connect us. And maybe Pocket Prayer Shawls do the same?
ACTION: Consider finding an icon for some physical connection in prayer. Try some of the practices Jim Forest mentions in his article or come up with a few ideas of your own. If you have some “aha” moments, please COMMENT below – it’ll be fun to share some thoughts.
Enjoy the day, filled with the Spirit!
Lectionary Texts for this Sunday, February 25, 2018:
Worship at MWPC was blessed a few weeks back when our chancel choir shared the song Make This Church A Welcome Place. You can hear another choir’s rendition – with choral score and lyrics – HERE. In addition to the overall concept of making our churches welcome places, the song lyrics also resonate with those of us “taking on” activities for Lent:
“Reaching out to others, serving both great and small”
“in our words and through our deeds, knowing you will meet our needs”
POTENTIAL ACTIONS:
Think of a few members of your worshipping/spiritual community and send along the song link above. Maybe it’s an opportunity to brainstorm actions to make your community an even more welcome place?
To whom can you reach out to this week and “lighten life?”
PRAYER: Dear God, in our week ahead, strengthen us to reach out with complete confidence that you will meet our needs in ways we cannot even begin to understand.
Enjoy the day, filled with the Spirit!
Lectionary Texts for this Sunday, February 18, 2018:
Born 209 years ago, Abe Lincoln was a master at injecting humor. Many of us believe that Jesus Christ, like Lincoln, was pretty good with a tale and a grin.**
Lincoln used material from many sources. In his book Jesus, Man of Joy, Sherwood Wirt writes…
I cannot help believing that Artemus Ward, Abraham Lincoln’s favorite humorist, was reflecting the mind of Christ when he told the Pharisees of his day, “Your religion is small pertaters, I must say. You air in a dreary fog all the time, and you treat the jolly sunshine of life as though it were a thief, drivin’ it from your doors by them pecooler noshuns of yourn.” ***
Seems like a good idea to stay away from any such pecooler noshuns that allow dreary fog to overcome the jolly sunshine of life… In our religion and life in general, let’s go about sharing the Joy of Christ!
Along those lines, HERE are “humorous bulletin blunders” to enjoy (with apologies to religious office staff members everywhere who usually get the material right!) Here’s one, as a teaser…
The Associate Minister unveiled the church’s new campaign slogan last Sunday: ‘I Upped My Pledge – Up Yours.’
Have a great day, filled with joy, humor and the Spirit!
** In his book The Humor of Christ, Elton Trueblood says “We do not know with certainty how much humor there is in Christ’s teaching, but we can be sure that there is far more than is normally recognized.” (Preface, page 10)
*** Topical Encyclopedia, no. 1139
Lectionary Texts for this Sunday, February 18, 2018:
Shall we accept good from God, and not trouble? ~ Job 2:10
During our devotional time, it’s sometimes comforting to hear stories and scripture instead of reading them. Our Daily Bread provides this service on a regular basis with their devotionals. As an example, the commentary “Praising Through Problems” is HERE along with the accompanying Job 1:13-22 scripture. The audio is a link on that site and is HERE for those who like to listen instead of – or in addition to – reading.
ACTION: This quote from the Our Daily Bread resonates: “Even at our lowest point, we can lift our eyes to the Lord.” Consider taking a minute in prayer right now and during that time literally lift your eyes and enjoy that feeling of praising God in the midst of whatever joys and concerns you are experiencing.
Enjoy the day, filled with the Spirit!
Lectionary Texts for this Sunday, February 11, 2018:
“We shall overcome – deep in my heart I do believe we shall overcome.” ~ Martin Luther King Jr.
Abe Lincoln was known to say something along the lines of: books serve to show man how unoriginal his thoughts are… “The song “We Shall Overcome” suffers “copyright confusion” a little akin to what Lincoln says, with roots in Cincinnati, Ohio according to THIS source and yet SongFacts says differently HERE.
The PBS American Masters program on Woody Guthrie describes the evolution of many songs Woody did as relating to what he heard in the camps he was visiting during difficult times. So how much of Woody’s tunes and lyrics are truly his own is perhaps a bit contentious? Yet we can celebrate the beauty of the music and how it transforms us to those times.
While not knowing Charles Tindley nor Louise Shropshire nor Pete Seeger, my guess is that the important thing to them is that this song endures with some of the principal musical and lyrical messages they wanted to share. The fact that the civil rights movement could use it effectively and many others now have this in the public domain for use whenever they wish would probably please all three!
PRAYER: Dear God, as we go throughout our days, may we worry less of credit, and focus more on praise! Amen. [Is this prayer a Christian Playbook original or do we need to give credit elsewhere? 🙂 ]
ACTION: Listen to these songs one right after the other to hear the similarities
We Shall Overcome – this is a 1967 version by Pete Seeger in Berlin with a rather heart-catching additional verse about Montgomery Alabama and “We are Not Afraid TODAY!”
How can you help another overcome this day?
Enjoy the day, filled with the Spirit!
“BONUS FEATURE” – check out THIS 8 minute video that includes more background on If My Jesus Wills and includes a wonderful performance of “If My Jesus Wills/We Shall Overcome” arrangement by Berens and performed by the Classical Roots Community Mass Choir, Greater Cincinnati Indian Community Choir, and the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra led by conductor John Morris Russell.
Lectionary Texts for this Sunday, February 11, 2018:
