Tag Archives: prayer

“Reflection on the Daily Office: Jonah and the gold mine”

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Daily Office for 10/13/2010:  OT Reading – Jonah 1:17 – 2:10

This morning we hear the frightful adventure of Jonah, trapped in the belly of a whale for 3 days. One cannot hear this story and not think of the similarly frightful ordeal of the 33 Chilean miners, trapped more than 1/2 mile below the surface of the earth for almost 3 months. The reading from Jonah captures Jonah’s prayer to God, seeking relief from his current state of bondage in the whale’s belly. God hears Jonah and we are relieved to hear that the whale frees Jonah, spitting him on to the dry land. Again, we are reminded of the ongoing episode of the miners, who are in the midst of rising from the tomb of their entrapment and are free – free to be with their families and friends and free to live life again, but to live life in a very different manner as some of the freed miners have already testified.

We, too, can become entombed by things that contain us: contain and consume us if we allow them to become the center of our lives.  “Those who worship vain idols forsake their true loyalty.” (Jonah 2:8) An exercise for healthy living that always provides benefit is to consider the people and events in your life that hold great significance and reflect on how much time and attention you are giving them. As one of the miners, Mario Sepulvedo, recently told CNN News, “I buried 40 years of my life down there, and I’m going to live a lot longer to be a new person…I think I have learned a lot of wonderful lessons about taking the good path in life.” Like Mario and Jonah, take the time to pray to God, bury the false idols that hold you back and take the good path in life.

“Reflection of the Daily Lectionary: Do not remain in the Darkness”

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Daily Lectionary 10/06/2010 (William Tyndale):  Gospel – John 12:44-50

Today, we remember William Tyndale, English theologian and one of the most influential biblical translators of the 16th century. Tyndale spent much of his life in hiding, as King Henry VIII of England and those loyal to the king searched for Tyndale throughout continental Europe in hopes of ending his efforts of translating the Bible into English. Those who sought Tyndale eventually achieved their goal and he was captured in 1535 and put to death in 1536. Ironically, the earliest English Bibles (approved by King Henry VIII) owe much of their content to Tyndale’s work.

Today, we reflect on a passage from John’s Gospel account that tells of Jesus’ mission to humanity – to come as a light to the world so that we would not remain in the darkness. Tyndale’s work was focused on bringing the Word of God out of the unavailable languages of Latin, Greek and Hebrew and helping the common English Christian to read the Bible in their native language. Our passage from John’s Gospel account reminds us that we are responsible for reflecting on God’s Word and opening ourselves to the power of God’s message in our lives, as well as serving others as Tyndale did – helping others to come out of the darkness and into the light of God’s love.

“Persistence in prayer – Drawing close to God”

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Proper 12C (Luke 11:1-13)  07/25/2010

Jeremy Taylor, the 17th century Anglican bishop and theologian wrote in a letter, “Pray frequently and effectually; I had rather your prayers should be often than long.”[i] This morning we hear Jesus teaching his friends a lesson about prayer. Prayer is one of our most powerful and personal connections to God. Prayer is the conversational connection that nourishes and strengthens our relationship with God. And if we seek relationship with God, or anyone else for that matter, we need to be in regular conversation.

More than 30 years ago, a young man sat among a group of his peers and celebrated his college graduation: a day that recognizes the culmination of many hours of hard work and a day that celebrates the graduate’s relationship with others – family, friends, and professors. After throwing his cap in the air and receiving the congratulations of his family, the young man searched for his favorite college professor. He found his professor and thanked him for his wisdom and his friendship throughout his college years. The professor was fond of the young man and asked him if he would please stay in touch throughout the years ahead – and the young man promised that he would stay in touch. The young man then began his journey in the world, searching for all the success the world had to offer him. As the days after his college graduation turned to months and the months turned to years, he finally achieved the success he sought, but he never did keep the promise he made to his old college professor. He drifted away from him, pulled by the strong current of the pressing cares of the world…until one day when he heard his professor’s name on a late night television show.[ii] Continue reading →

“No mighty acts – instead, an invitation to pray with God”

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Proper 7C (1 Kings 19:1-15a)  06/20/2010

Last weekend I was very happy to be part of the group of volunteers that represented St. John’s Church at Celebrate! West Hartford. Although the rain did dampen the turnout of people for a time on Saturday, we had a great experience and met many people – friends both new and old. And we had many fun events: drawings for gift cards; colorful wristbands; face painting; and the ever challenging “guess how many jellybeans are in the jar” contest. As I watched the people come and go from our booth, the jar of jellybeans was among the most fun to watch. Throughout the weekend, I observed many different types of people. There was the “just guess because your first thought is the right answer” person; there was “pick up the jar and shake the jellybeans” person; and there were several mathematicians of all ages, who carefully counted the jellybeans within a selected area of the jar and then carefully applied various equations to achieve their answer. And as interesting as all these approaches were to watch, my favorite jellybean guesser was a young girl, probably about 3 or 4 years old, who was perhaps just an inch or two taller than the table that held the jar of jellybeans. She approached the table with great confidence and stared intently at the looming jar of jellybeans before her. After a few moments of intense examination, I asked her if she knew how many jellybeans were in the jar and if she would like to write her guess down on the entry form. She told me that she did know how many jellybeans were in the jar, but she did not know how to write the number. I told her if she could tell me her guess, I would write the number on the paper for her. She agreed and with both hands shooting into the air she joyfully exclaimed, “my guess is infinity!” Continue reading →