The following is from the coda of Wesley Hill’s magnificent book, The Lord’s Prayer: A Guide to Praying to Our Father, pp. 99-101. It’s taken a couple of years for me to realize how much looking at [Rembrandt’s “The Return of the Prodigal Son”] hanging over my kneeler has affected the way I pray […] In […]
A (Low-Anthropology) Guide to Quarantine Prayer and ‘Loud Time’
Recently, over coffees and 1000-calorie donuts the size of our heads, a couple of friends and I discussed our morning spiritual routines. I expressed frustration, for the thousandth time, that establishing a morning routine of Bible reading / journaling / prayer / whatever is very difficult for me. And that I consistently feel shame as […]
Overcoming Unbelief: John Updike on Feathers and Faith
Fusty Churches, Creaking Hymns, and Revived Faith
When a Fish Dies at the Children’s Hospital and Other Thoughts on Prayer
Or, What a Dying Fish Reminded Me about God
Things My Grandmothers Taught Me That Are Helping Right Now
Nothing Wrong with Elastic Waisted Pants, and Other Homegrown Wisdom
Join Us for Morning Prayer
For those whose churches aren’t meeting for worship this morning, we at Christ Church in Charlottesville taped our planned Morning Prayer service, which you can follow along with by downloading the service bulletin here. Paul Walker presided, I preached, Sam Bush did the music, and Amanda McMillen did the readings.
Christ Episcopal Church Sunday Prayer Service March 15th 2020 from Mockingbird on Vimeo.
People I Am Praying for Right Now
- A pregnant friend who had to cancel her trip to Disney World.
- My asthmatic dad.
- All of the older people who are coming to church.
- All of the older people who are not coming to church.
- Children in the third ward of Houston who depend on school for food.
- Their parents.
- Anyone making decisions about whether or not to close schools.
- Everyone in our city who just has allergies but believes that their spouse in a bathrobe might be the grim reaper.
- The grim reaper. This is a tough season for her.
- Teenagers who are in love. We need that kind of madness and hope right now. Keep it up, kids.
(c) Bob Eckstein: https://www.weeklyhumorist.com/cartoon-new-coronavirus-mascot/
- The young woman who took a job at CVS to get herself through college. And now gets yelled at about the lack of Purell. Hourly.
- My Asian doctor who told me how racist people have been to her.
- Lonely people.
- People who wanted to spend less time on social media and now are spending three times as much time on social media.
- Flight attendants.
- Anyone with OCD.
- People who have recently been told they only have months left to live. I pray that they can take advantage of cheap cruises. Seriously.
- People who are really scared.
- People who feel the need to be critical of people who are scared.
- Myself. That I can remember that God so loved the world that He gave us Jesus. And that He did not come to condemn the world but that He came to save it. He said so Himself.
Pissed-Off Prayers
This one comes to us from Nathan Hoff. The god of my own imagining used to prefer edited prayers. Knee-deep in the psalter these days, I have greater appreciation for full-blown imprecation, even as a Christian. Imprecatory psalms—the ones that curse enemies—are that category that never gets read in public worship. They don’t fit with […]
