Thoughts on Prayer from the Missional Wisdom Foundation:
Encircled by Love
Thoughts on Prayer from the Missional Wisdom Foundation:
Her lips were drawn tight enough to break the skin, and one corner was dark with dried blood.
The smell of incense and wood, purely sung chant, the paten and chalice: suggestions of the holy.
From my point of view the world has no horizon, a person is known by her feet, the road is a slow rolling river of dust.
When I met her, she was sitting in a rocking chair on a front stoop just big enough for her chair, a pot of red geraniums, a mat that did not say welcome, and me.
Here are the things I need to be ready: Boots that fit, Socks that give the boots a little room for error…
For the past several months, I have been spending time with the spiritual practice of The Welcoming Prayer. This prayer was created by Mary Mrozowski and taught and popularized by Father Thomas Keating and the Contemplative Outreach Community.
As a contemplative myself, I am always interested when people talk about silence. For most, a time of silence is about withdrawal from the everyday world for a time of introspection. It is quite common for people to describe a time of silence wistfully, as if it were some unachievable goal. When I suggest getting up a little earlier, or going to bed a few minutes later, or setting an alarm during the day, people often smile and set the idea aside, unwilling to devote any time in their schedule for something as self-indulgent as a quiet time for themselves.
Right Here Right Now
We are excited to share that Amy Oden, one of our instructors for Launch & Lead, has published a new book, Right Here Right Now: The Practice of Christian Mindfulness. Below is a review by Shaun Lambert, Baptist minister in London, for
The Baptism Times: Online newspaper of the Baptist Union of Great Britain
(http://www.baptist.org.uk/), not yet published.
The B-I-B-L-E
The Wesleyan Quadrilateral, Week 2
by Andrea Lingle
The B-I-B-L-E, yes, that’s the book for me.
Actually, I have a rather volatile relationship with the B-I-B-L-E. It is a book that I have read and re-read, but do not understand. It is surprising, confusing, infuriating, and precious. There are stories that have left me terrified, inspired, and everything in between.
The Womb
The Active Presence of the Holy Spirit, Week 4
by Andrea Lingle
When I was a kid, I could beat seminarians in Bible trivia. It depended on the version, but most of the time, I could win against a team. This was not the social boon you might imagine. I read through the entire Bible, including the genealogies, before I was twelve. I memorized piles of Bible verses. Incidentally, many of them focused on obedience and kindness; well played, Mom, well played. I had the answers. I could recite creeds, prayers, and doctrines, and I knew they would keep me safe.
The Breath
The Active Presence of the Holy Spirit, Week 3
Do you know what I find frustrating? When people tell me to try something without a great deal of explanation. I want to know what I should be looking for. I want to know what I am in for. I want to know.
But that is not how we learn to breathe is it? When you emerged into the world, covered in the paraphernalia of birth, you had one task: to breathe. You coughed, snorted, and wolfed down lungs full of the one thing your body cannot go an hour without. Air.
Praying in a Variety of Forms
The Rule of Life, Week 3
by Adam White
We will use a variety of forms of prayer
- From the MWF Rule of Life
The wonderful thing about prayer is that every person will bring to it her or his own unique emphasis, style, and rhythm. Bringing these individual practices into a house or group of persons who come together in prayer offers an intriguing and, at the same time, challenging space to embrace. Questions begin to arise like, “How do I personally and passionately connect to God while sharing with others?”
Prayer, God's Daily Multivitamin of the Holy Spirit
The Rule of Life, Week 2
by Adam White
What expectations and intentions are you bringing into prayer?
Be honest now! Prayer can be a difficult subject to approach because of the weight of the expectations and intentions we carry with us.
God is good. Is this a reliable statement? Reality seems to make it a statement that requires a conjunction.