A Four-fold Franciscan Blessing

http://browse.deviantart.com/?qh=&section=&global=1&q=Franciscan#/d1k7zl8

I haven’t seen this prayer for years and I had to share it! That fourth stanza is something else isn’t it? May you all be blessed to do what others say couldn’t be done!

A Four-fold Franciscan Blessing

May God bless you with a restless discomfort about easy answers, half-truths and superficial relationships, so that you may seek truth boldly and love deep within your heart.

May God bless you with holy anger at injustice, oppression, and exploitation of people, so that you may tirelessly work for justice, freedom, and peace among all people.

May God bless you with the gift of tears to shed with those who suffer from pain, rejection, starvation, or the loss of all that they cherish, so that you may reach out your hand to comfort them and transform their pain into joy.

May God bless you with enough foolishness to believe that you really CAN make a difference in this world, so that you are able, with God's grace, to do what others claim cannot be done.

And the blessing of God the Supreme Majesty and our Creator,

Jesus Christ the Incarnate Word who is our brother and Saviour,

and the Holy Spirit, our Advocate and Guide,

be with you and remain with you, this day and forevermore.

AMEN

A Blessing for the New Year

We, as a family, rang in the New year at the Klamath Tribes Pow Wow in Klamath Falls, Oregon. It was a great time kicking off the New year with Friends!

Allow me to share this blessing with you all ....

A Blessing for the New Year

May the light of your soul guide you.
May the light of your soul bless the work you do with the secret love and warmth of your heart.
May you see in what you do the beauty of your own soul.
May the sacredness of your work bring healing, light and renewal to those who work with you and to those who see and receive your work.
May your work never weary you.
May it release within you wellsprings of refresment, inspiration and excitment.
May you be present in what you do.
May you never become lost in the bland absences.
May the day never burden.
May dawn find you awake and alert, approaching your new day with dreams, possibilities and promises.
May evening find you gracious and fulfilled.
May you go into the night blessed, sheltered and protected.
May your soul calm, console and renew you.

- John O’Donohue

This poem is an excerpt from the book “Anam Cara”

http://www.johnodonohue.com/

Psalm 51

"Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me." That's a really good prayer to have. But notice how David isn't saying, "Yeah God, I'm gonna make my spirit strong and make my heart clean and then I'll come back and we can talk." No. David is asking God to do it for him. Another thing I like about this. It reminds me that we can't make it all by ourselves. And I know I'm not the only one guitly of trying. Life is such a constant struggle, so many things to overcome, and some days it just gets SO HARD.

But that's what I find my hope in. That I'm not alone. It doesn't matter how lonely I feel. He's right there for me all day. Every day. Forever. And He'll help me through the tough stuff.

Just some thoughts :) .

Psalm 51
1-3Generous in love—God, give grace! Huge in mercy—wipe out my bad record.
Scrub away my guilt,
soak out my sins in your laundry.
I know how bad I've been;
my sins are staring me down.

4-6 You're the One I've violated, and you've seen
it all, seen the full extent of my evil.
You have all the facts before you;
whatever you decide about me is fair.
I've been out of step with you for a long time,
in the wrong since before I was born.
What you're after is truth from the inside out.
Enter me, then; conceive a new, true life.

7-15 Soak me in your laundry and I'll come out clean,
scrub me and I'll have a snow-white life.
Tune me in to foot-tapping songs,
set these once-broken bones to dancing.
Don't look too close for blemishes,
give me a clean bill of health.
God, make a fresh start in me,
shape a Genesis week from the chaos of my life.
Don't throw me out with the trash,
or fail to breathe holiness in me.
Bring me back from gray exile,
put a fresh wind in my sails!
Give me a job teaching rebels your ways
so the lost can find their way home.
Commute my death sentence, God, my salvation God,
and I'll sing anthems to your life-giving ways.
Unbutton my lips, dear God;
I'll let loose with your praise.

16-17 Going through the motions doesn't please you,
a flawless performance is nothing to you.
I learned God-worship
when my pride was shattered.
Heart-shattered lives ready for love
don't for a moment escape God's notice.

18-19 Make Zion the place you delight in,
repair Jerusalem's broken-down walls.
Then you'll get real worship from us,
acts of worship small and large,
Including all the bulls
they can heave onto your altar!

Celtic Circle Prayer

God all powerful and all knowing encircle us

Keep love within and fear without
Keep peace within and violence out
Circle us with your presence

God all loving and all embracing encircle us

Keep wholeness in and disease without
Keep care within and selfishness out
Circle us with your love
God all mighty and all caring encircle us
Keep truth within and injustice out
Keep acceptance in and prejudice out
Circle us with your peace.

- Christine Sine

The Call

So many terrible things happen every day that we start wondering whether the few things we do ourselves make any sense. When people are starving only a few thousand miles away, when wars are raging close to our borders, when countless people in our own cities have no homes to live in, our own activities look futile. Such considerations, however, can paralyse us and depress us.

Here the word call becomes important. We are not called to save the world, solve all problems, and help all people. But we each have our own unique call, in our families, in our work, in our world. We have to keep asking God to help us see clearly what our call is and to give us the strength to live out that call with trust. Then we will discover that our faithfulness to a small task is the most healing response to the illnesses of our time.

~Henri Nouwen

Just a couple of comments ... This seems to have a lot to do with this sense of prayer and the Cross that I've been groping around after for the last couple of days. I have spent far too much of my life feeling guilty about not doing more practically, not having the resources to give more, not having much in the way of the gifts of an evangelist, that kind of thing, instead of getting on with what I have been called to do which is to be me.

Have a most blessed evening everyone!

Tim

Be Still ...

God Speaks to Man:

I speak to you.
Be still
Know I am God.

I spoke to you when you were born.
Be still
Know I am God.

I spoke to you at your first sight.
Be still
Know I am God.

I spoke to you at your first word.
Be still
Know I am God.

I spoke to you at your first thought.
Be still
Know I am God.

I spoke to you at your first love.
Be still
Know I am God.

I spoke to you at your first song.
Be still
Know I am God.

I speak to you through the grass of the meadows.
Be still
Know I am God.

I speak to you through the trees of the forests.
Be still
Know I am God.

I speak to you through the valleys and the hills.
Be still
Know I am God.

I speak to you through the Holy Mountains.
Be still
Know I am God.

I speak to you through the rain and snow.
Be still
Know I am God.

I speak to you through the waves of the sea.
Be still
Know I am God.

I speak to you through the dew of the morning.
Be still
Know I am God.

I speak to you through the peace of the evening.
Be still
Know I am God.

I speak to you through the splendour of the sun.
Be still
Know I am God.

I speak to you through the brilliant stars.
Be still
Know I am God.

I speak to you through the storm and the clouds.
Be still
Know I am God.

I speak to you through the thunder and lightening.
Be still
Know I am God.

I speak to you through the mysterious rainbow.
Be still
Know I am God.

I will speak to you when you are alone
Be still
Know I am God.

I will speak to you through the Wisdom of the Ancients.
Be still
Know I am God.

I will speak to you at the end of time.
Be still
Know I am God.

I will speak to you when you have seen my Angels.
Be still
Know I am God.

I will speak to you throughout Eternity.
Be still
Know I am God.

I speak to you.
Be still
Know I am God.

god speaks to man - essene gospel of peace

I have no idea where I'm going ...

Prayer of Thomas Merton

MY LORD GOD,

I have no idea where I am going.
I do not see the road ahead of me.
I cannot know for certain where it will end.
Nor do I really know myself, and the fact that
I think I am following Your will does not mean
that I am actually doing so.
But I believe that the desire to please You
does in fact please You.
And I hope that I have that desire
in all that I am doing.
I hope that I will never do anything
apart from that desire.
And I know that if I do this
You will lead me by the right road
though I may know nothing about it.
Therefore I will trust You always
though I may seem to be lost
and in the shadow of death.
I will not fear, for You are ever with me,
And you will never leave me
to face my perils alone.

Have a blessed evening everyone! Tim

Beannacht

Beannacht (“Blessing”)


On the day when
the weight deadens
on your shoulders
and you stumble,
may the clay dance
to balance you. And when your eyes
freeze behind
the grey window
and the ghost of loss
gets in to you,
may a flock of colours,
indigo, red, green,
and azure blue
come to awaken in you
a meadow of delight. When the canvas frays
in the currach of thought
and a stain of ocean
blackens beneath you,
may there come across the waters
a path of yellow moonlight
to bring you safely home. May the nourishment of the earth be yours,
may the clarity of light be yours,
may the fluency of the ocean be yours,
may the protection of the ancestors be yours.
And so may a slow
wind work these words
of love around you,
an invisible cloak
to mind your life.

~ John O’Donohue ~ (Echoes of Memory)

A Meditation~Prayer of a Mum

Jesus, good Shepherd, they are not mine but Yours, for I am not mine but Yours. I am Yours, Lord, and they are Yours, because by Your wisdom You have created both them and me, and by Your death You have redeemed us. So we are Yours, good Lord, we are Yours, whom You have made with such wisdom and bought so dearly. Then if You commend them to me, Lord, You do not therefore desert me or them. You commend them to me: I commend myself and them to You. Yours is the flock, Lord, and Yours is the shepherd. Be Shepherd of both Your flock and shepherd. You have made an ignorant mother, a blind leader, an erring ruler: teach the mother You have established, guide the leader You have appointed, govern the ruler You have approved. I beg You, teach me what I am to teach, lead me in the way that I am to lead, rule me so that I may rule others. Or rather, teach them, and me through them, lead them, and me with them, rule them, and me among them.

~Anselm (1033-1099), Archbishop of Canterbury

The Road Ahead

My Lord God, I have no idea where I am going.
I do not see the road ahead of me.
I cannot know for certain where it will end.
Nor do I really know myself,
and the fact that I think I am following your will does not mean that I am actually doing so.
But I believe that the desire to please you does in fact please you.
And I hope that I have that desire in all that I am doing.
I hope that I will never do anything apart from that desire.
And I know that if I do this you will lead me by the right road though I may know nothing about it.
Therefore I will trust you always, though I may seem to be lost and in the shadow of death.
I will not fear, for you are ever with me,
and you will never leave me to face my perils alone.
~Thomas Merton

Have a blessed day!

Tim

The Valley of Vision

Puritans. I know that when I hear that word, I think of "The Crucible" and "The Scarlet Letter", both of which I read at school. Awhile ago I came across a book of prayers from some of the great Puritan leaders called "The Valley of Vision" - many of these prayers have now been made into some absolutely beautiful songs. As an aside, I think it is rather ironic that the Puritans did not approve of what they termed "religious music" and yet now their prayers have been transformed into beautiful spiritual songs. Anyway here is a prayer that particular really struck me. It is the prayer titled "The Valley of Vision."

Lord, high and holy, meek and lowly, Thou hast brought me to the valley of vision, where I live in the depths but see Thee in the heights; hemmed in by mountains of sin I behold Thy glory. Let me learn by paradox that the way down is the way up, that to be low is to be high, that the broken heart is the healed heart, that the contrite spirit is the rejoicing spirit, that the repenting soul is the victorious soul, that to have nothing is to possess all, that to bear the cross is to wear the crown, that to give is to receive, that the valley is the place of vision. Lord, in the daytime stars can be seen from the deepest wells, and the deeper the wells the brighter Thy stars shine; let me find Thy light in my darkness, Thy life in my death, Thy joy in my sorrow, Thy grace in my sin, Thy riches in my poverty, Thy glory in my valley.

No matter what I might have thought of the Puritan Christians in the past, I can see that they too struggled to live out their lives in glory to God. There is an immense depth to what their prayers speak of, and a depth that I think other believers can learn from! Have a blessed Sonday everyone!

Some Ignatius for a Sunday ...

Pray unceasingly for the rest of men...Meet their angry outbursts with your own gentleness, their boastfulness with your humility, their revilings with your prayers, their error with your constancy in the faith and their harshness with your meekness.

- Ignatius of Antioch

Epistle to the Ephesians

John Pipers Prayer For the Church

O Lord, by the truth of your Word, and the power of your Spirit and the ministry of your body, build men and women at Bethlehem . . .

Who don't love the world more than God,
who don't care if they make much money,
who don't care if they own a house,
who don't care if they have a new car or two cars,
who don't need recent styles,
who don't care if they get famous,
who don't miss steak or fancy fare,
who don't expect that life should be comfortable and easy,
who don't feed their minds on TV each night,
who don't measure truth with their finger in the wind,
who don't get paralyzed by others’ disapproval,
who don't return evil for evil,
who don't hold grudges,
who don't gossip,
who don't twist the truth,
who don't brag or boast,
who don't whine or use body language to get pity,
who don't criticize more than praise,
who don't hang out in cliques,
who don't eat too much or exercise too little;

But

who are ablaze for God,
who are utterly God-besotted,
who are filled with the Holy Spirit,
who strive to know the height and depth of Christ’s love,
who are crucified to the world and dead to sin,
who are purified by the Word and addicted to righteousness,
who are mighty in memorizing and using the Scriptures,
who keep the Lord’s Day holy and refreshing,
who are broken by the consciousness of sin,
who are thrilled by the wonder of free grace,
who are stunned into humble silence by the riches of God’s glory,
who are persevering constantly in prayer,
who are ruthless in self-denial,
who are fearless in public witness to Christ’s Lordship,
who are able to unmask error and blow away doctrinal haze,
who are tough in standing for the truth,
who are tender in touching hurting people,
who are passionate about reaching the peoples who have no church,
who are pro-life for the sake of babies and moms and dads and the glory of God,
who are keepers of all their promises, including marriage vows,
who are content with what they have and trusting the promises of God,
who are patient and kind and meek when life is hard.

Pressing for all there is in Christ,

Pastor John Piper

I said a silent prayer in the middle of the night ...

I said a silent prayer in the middle of the night
I needed to know if you could hear me,
I needed to stand within your light.
I need rest within your arms
to feel tranquility and hope
I need you, Lord, within my life
to aid my struggle and help me cope
I would like to know if you can hear me
when I'm praying in the night
Sometimes I feel so alone
and want to give up the fight
I need to know if you can hear me
in the middle of the night
To know if you can hear my prayers
to rest within your loving light
And when I feel all is lost
and am tempted to give it up
I feel your loving sweet caress
I feel you holding me up
You pick me up and dust me off
and wipe my tears away
You tell me not to fear a thing;
You're with me throughout the day.
I know you have surrounded me
with your angels, saints and light
and because you have surrounded me
I can endure the lonely night
I know sometimes my faith may slip
and I begin to doubt
But then I feel your sweet caress
and your love washes my fear right out
When I say a silent prayer
in the darkness of the night
I know that you can hear me
and I can rest within your light.

~Patrick Stalinski

Morning Poem

Morning Poem

Every morning
the world
is created.
Under the orange

sticks of the sun
the heaped
ashes of the night
turn into leaves again

and fasten themselves to the high branches —
and the ponds appear
like black cloth
on which are painted islands

of summer lilies.
If it is your nature
to be happy
you will swim away along the soft trails

for hours, your imagination
alighting everywhere.
And if your spirit
carries within it

the thorn
that is heavier than lead —
if it’s all you can do
to keep on trudging —

there is still
somewhere deep within you
a beast shouting that the earth
is exactly what it wanted —

each pond with its blazing lilies
is a prayer heard and answered
lavishly,
every morning,

whether or not
you have ever dared to be happy,
whether or not
you have ever dared to pray.

-Mary Oliver

Cannot Do This Alone

In the world of mystics and mysticism, these virtues set Christian mystics apart: mourning and the perseverance of suffering. Much of “pop-mysticism” is about avoiding suffering and “thinking happy thoughts”, while Christian mysticism takes a more head-on approach. The perseverance of suffering is required because much suffering is caused by our own misplaced desires and worldly attachments, so therefore, much suffering takes place as God purges us of those attachments.

As St. John of the Cross would explain, the darkness is not from God but from the light of God exposing our own darkness. The Dark Night of the Soul is the point at which most people give up, and usually take medication. For those who preserver, God rewards them with the secrets of His Kingdom.

The world tells us that sadness and pain is an unnatural state of being that we must escape at all costs (Prozac anyone?). The mystic heart knows that sadness and suffering are often the gateways to discovering the light of truth. Do not run from the darkness, for it brings the light.

With that ... Allow me to share this poem/prayer by Dietrich Bonhoeffer ...

Cannot Do This Alone O God,
early in the morning I cry to you.
Help me to pray
And to concentrate my thoughts on you:
I cannot do this alone.
In me there is darkness,
But with you there is light;
I am lonely, but you do not leave me;
I am feeble in heart, but with you there is help;
I am restless, but with you there is peace.
In me there is bitterness, but with you there is patience;
I do not understand your ways,
But you know the way for me…
Restore me to liberty,
And enable me to live now
That I may answer before you and before me.
Lord, whatever this day may bring,
Your name be praised.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer

“Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you. Lament and mourn and weep! Let your laughter be turned to mourning and double-minded. your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up.” - James 4:8-10

The Grace Prayer

The Grace Prayer

For Thee I thirst.
Into Thy hands I commit my spirit,
My soul, my body, my life,
This problem, all unforgiven states.
Thy will is my will.
Thy will be done through me.
Heal me at depth.
Reveal that which needs to be revealed.
Heal that which needs to be healed
So I can glorify You, God,
And live in the fullness of grace.
It is finished.

By Reverend Debbie Tyson

Have a blessed evening everyone!

Tim

A Prayer in the Morning

O Lord Eternal and Creator of all things,
Who of Thine inscrutable goodness didst call me to this life;
Who didst bestow on me the grace of Baptism
and the Seal of the Holy Spirit;
Who hast imbued me with the desire to seek Thee,
the one true God: hear my prayer.

I have no life, no light, no joy or wisdom;
no strength except in Thee, O God.
Because of my unrighteousness I dare not raise my eyes to Thee.
But Thou didst say to Thy disciples,
'Whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer believing, ye shall receives
and 'Whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do'.
Wherefore I dare to invoke Thee.
Purify me from all taint of flesh and spirit.
Teach me to pray aright.

Bless this day which Thou dost give unto me,
Thine unworthy servant. By the power of Thy blessing
enable me at all times to speak and act to Thy glory
with a pure spirit, with humility patience, love,
gentleness, peace, courage and wisdom:
aware always of Thy presence.

Of Thine immense goodness, OLord God, shew me the path of Thy will,
and grant me to walk in Thy sight without sin.

OLord, unto Whom all hearts be open,
Thou knowest what things I have need of.
Thou art acquainted with my blindness and my ignorance,
Thou knowest my infirmity and my soul's corruption;
but neither are my pain and anguish hid from Thee.


Wherefore I beseech Thee, hear my prayer
and by Thy Holy Spirit teach me the way wherein I should walk;
and when my perverted will would lead me down other paths
spare me not, O Lord, but force me back to Thee.
By the power of Thy love, grant me to hold fast to that which is good.
Preserve me from every word or deed that corrupts the soul;
from every impulse unpleasing in Thy sight
and hurtful to my brother-man.
Teach me what I should say and how I should speak.
If it be Thy will that I make no answer,
inspire me to keep silent in a spirit of peace
that causeth ncithcr sorrow nor hurt to my fellow
Establish me in the path of Thy commandments
and to my last breath let me not stray from the light of Thine ordinances,
that Thy commandments may become the sole law of my being
on this earth and in all eternity

Yea, Lord, I pray Thee, have pity on me.
Spare me in mine affliction and my misery
and hide not the way of salvation from me.

In my foolishness, O God, I plead with Thee for many and great things.
Yet am I ever mindful of my wickedness, my baseness, my vileness.
Have mercy upon me.
Cast me not away from Thy presence because of my presumption.
Do Thou rather increase in me this presumption,
and grant unto me, the worst of men,
to love Thee as Thou hast commanded,
with all my heart, and with all my soul,
and with all my mind, and with all my strength:
with my whole being.

Yea, O Lord, by Thy Holy Spirit,
teach me good judgment and knowledge.
Grant me to know Thy truth before I go down into the grave.
Maintain my life in this world until I may offer unto Thee worthy repentance.
Take me not away in the midst of my days,
nor while my mind is still blind.
When Thou shalt be pleased to bring my life to an end,
forewarn me that I may prepare my soul to come before Thee.
Be with me, O Lord, at that dread hour
and grant me the joy of salvation.
Cleanse Thou me from secret faults,
from all iniquity that is hid in me;
and give me a right answer before Thy judgment-seat.

Yea, Lord, of Thy great mercy
and immeasurable love for mankind,

Hear my prayer.


[Archimandrite Sophrony(Sakharov) the disciple of St. Silouan
from the book On Prayer published by the Monastery of St. John the Baptist, Tolleshunt Knights, by Maldon, Essex CM9 8EZ, England ISBN -1-674679-14-2]

Prayer of A Clown

A little bit different prayer ...

As I stumble through this life,

help me to create more laughter than tears,

dispense more cheer than gloom,

spread more cheer than despair.

Never let me become so indifferent,

that I will fail to see

the wonders in the eyes of a child,

or the twinkle in the eyes of the aged.

Never let me forget that my total effort is to cheer people,

make them happy,

and forget momentarily,

all the unpleasantness in their lives.

And in my final moment,

may I hear You whisper:

"When you made My people smile,

you made Me smile."

-Anonymous-

Have a blessed evening everyone! Tim

St Anselm Returns!

O Lord my God,

Teach my heart this day where and how to see you,

Where and how to find you.

You have made me and remade me,

And you have bestowed on me

All the good things I possess,

And still I do not know you.

I have not yet done that

For which I was made.

Teach me to seek you,

For I cannot seek you

Unless you teach me,

Or find you

Unless you show yourself to me.

Let me seek you in my desire,

Let me desire you in my seeking.

Let me find you by loving you,

Let me love you when I find you.

St. Anselm

Amen! Have a blessed evening everyone! Tim