A prayer from Lindesfarne

"Leave me alone with God as much as may be.
As the tide draws the waters close in upon the shore,
Make me an island, set apart,
alone with you, God, holy to you.

Then with the turning of the tide
prepare me to carry your presence to the busy world beyond,
the world that rushes in on me
till the waters come again and fold me back to you."
- St Aidan of Lindisfarne

Another Celtic prayer

"Life of God be with you this day,
Love of the Creator fill your heart,
Light of the Saviour guide your steps,
Hope of the Sanctifier teach your minds,
Life of the Three sustain you,

Love of the One encircle you,
Now and always, this day and forever."
- Celtic prayer

Celtic prayer for the new day

"Let us walk into this day
God’s light before us,
God’s shield behind us,
God’s friends beside us.
Let us be filled

With the music of God’s world,
With the wonder of God’s love,
With the glory of God’s presence."
- Celtic prayer

Gentleness and strength

“Nothing is so strong as gentleness, nothing so gentle as real strength.” 

- Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (August 28, 1749 - March 22, 1832)

Love

 

"Spread love everywhere you go:
first of all in your own house.
Give love to your children, to your wife or husband,
to a next door neighbor....
Let no one come to you without leaving better or happier.

Be the living expression of God's kindness;
kindness in your face, kindness in your eyes,
kindness in your smile and kindness in your warm greeting."

- Mother Teresa (26 August 1910 – 5 September 1997)

   Image courtesy of Stuart Miles / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

A modern Irish blessing

‎"May God protect you…
From scary nights,
from hasty flights;
From too much food,
from a somber mood;

From ringing bells,
from self-made hells;
From sickish pains,
from dishonest gains;
From excessive needs,
from tricky deeds;
From foolish quarrels,
from resting on laurels;
From silly fears,
from idle tears;
From forgotten lines,
And from all bad times.
We pray, Father, Son and Holy Spirit."
- Irish blessing (by Fr. Andrew Greeley)

Wise words from Thomas a Kempis

"We would have much peace if we would not busy ourselves with the sayings and doings of others." - Thomas à Kempis

A Jewish proverb

"If you always assume the person sitting next to you is the Messiah waiting for some human kindness,
You will soon come to weigh your words and watch your hands. And if he/she so chooses not to reveal him/herself in your time - It will not matter." -  A Rabbi's proverb

Another celtic prayer

"You are the peace of all things calm
You are the place to hide from harm
You are the light that shines in dark
You are the heart's eternal spark
You are the door that's open wide

You are the guest who waits inside
You are the stranger at the door
You are the calling of the poor
You are my Lord and with me still
You are my love, keep me from ill
You are the light, the truth, the way
You are my Saviour this very day."
- Celtic prayer (oral tradition)

Thomas Merton Quotation

"The only true joy on earth is to escape from the prison of our own false self, and enter by love into union with the Life Who dwells and sings within the essence of every creature and in the core of our own souls." - Thomas Merton

Celtic prayer

"I am bending my knee
in the Eye of the Father, who created me,
in the Eye of the Son, who purchased me,
in the Eye of the Spirit, who cleansed me.
By your own Anointed One, O God,

bestow upon us fullness in our need.
Love towards God, the affection of God, the smile of God,
the wisdom of God, the grace of God, the fear of God,
and the will of God to do on the world of the Three
as angels and saints do in heaven;
each shade and light, each day and night,
each time in kindness, give us your Spirit."
- Paul F. Rack, from 'Celtic Connections'

Celtic prayer

O Being of life !
O Being of peace !
O Being of time !
O Being of eternity !
O Being of eternity !

Keep me in good means,
Keep me in good intent,
Keep me in good estate,
Better than I know to ask,
Better than I know to ask !

Shepherd me this day,
Relieve my distress,
Enfold me this night.
Pour upon me Thy grace,
Pour upon me Thy grace !
- Celtic prayer from 'Carmina Gadelica'

The best...

The best way to make your dreams come true is to wake up!

The best time to repair your roof is when the sun is shining.

Alan Paton's prayer

"O Lord, open my eyes
that I may see the need of others,
open my ears that I may hear their cries,
open my heart so that they need not be without succour.
Let me not be afraid to defend the weak

because of the anger of the strong,
nor afraid to defend the poor
because of the anger of the rich.
Show me where love and hope and faith are needed,
and use me to bring them to these places.
Open my eyes and ears that I may, this coming day,
be able to do some work of peace for you."
- Alan Paton

Aristotle's wisdom

"It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it."

Seen on facebook

A friend put this as their facebook status today and I liked it....

Our faith may waiver. Our hope may stumble. But love, the DNA of God himself, will never fail us. It's God's love that renews our faith and our hope in our weakness and times of need. "Come - all who are weary - come into God's love and you will find rest for your soul."

  Image courtesy of Stuart Miles / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Dogma and mysticism

I saw the following quotation on the Christian Century: 

Poet Christian Wiman says that “mystical experience needs some form of dogma in order not to dissipate into moments of spiritual intensity that are merely personal.” On the other hand, “dogma needs regular infusions of unknowingness to keep from calcifying into the predictable, pontificating, and anti-intellectual services so common in mainstream American churches.” Practically, this means that “conservative churches that are infused with the bouncy brand of American optimism one finds in sales pitches are selling shit. It means that liberal churches that go months without mentioning the name of Jesus, much less the dying Christ, have no more spiritual purpose or significance than a local union hall. It means that we—those of us who call ourselves Christians—need a revolution in the way we worship”

trees and roots...

"He who has more learning than goodness is like a tree with many branches and few roots, which the first wind throws down; whilst he whose works are greater than his knowledge is like a tree with many roots and fewer branches, which all the winds of heaven cannot uproot." - The Talmud

An inspiring quote

Desmond Tutu the influential African bishop said:          

"You and I are created for transcendence, laughter, caring. God deliberately did not make the world perfect, for God is looking for you and me to be fellow workers with God."

wisdom

"The best preacher is the heart; the best teacher is time; the best book is the world; the best friend is God." - The Talmud

Deep peace

deep peace of the rushing wind to you,

deep peace of the rolling wave to you,

deep peace of the prince of peace to you.

Celtic blessing

Morning prayer

"As the sun scatters the mist
at the dawning of a new day,
So you calm our fears and anxieties
if we trust you.
You give us strength and courage
to live our daily lives
knowing you are with us
and we do not walk alone.
As the midday sun warms us,
we feel your protecting arms around us

and sense your loving presence.
As the sun sinks in a kaleidoscope of colour
you give us hope and renewal."
- Celtic prayer

Love

When you love people, you see all the good in them, all the Christ in them. God sees Christ, His Son, in us and loves us. And so we should see Christ in others, and nothing else, and love them. There can never be enough of it. There can never be enough thinking about it.

Dorothy Day

Celtic prayer for the morning

"As the sun rises, Lord, Let your light shine on me.
Destroy the darkness about me, Scatter the darkness before me, Disperse the darkness behind me, Dispel the darkness within me. Let your light shine on me.
As the sun rises, Lord, Let your light shine on me.
The warmth of your Presence, The brightness of your love, The radiance of your joy, The shining of your hope. Let your light shine on me.
As the sun rises, Lord, Let your light shine on me. Your light to guide, Your light to lead, Your light to direct, Your light to brighten.
Let your light shine on me."
- David Adam, 'Power Lines: Celtic Prayers About Work'

Rowan Williams writes to a six year old...

A six-year-old Scottish girl named Lulu wrote a letter to God: “To God, How did you get invented?” Lulu's father, who is not a believer, sent her letter to various church leaders: the Scottish Episcopal Church (no reply), the Presbyterians (no reply), and the Scottish Catholics (who sent a theologically complex reply). He also sent it to the Archbishop of Canterbury, who sent the following letter in reply:

Dear Lulu,

Your dad has sent on your letter and asked if I have any answers. It’s a difficult one! But I think God might reply a bit like this –

‘Dear Lulu – Nobody invented me – but lots of people discovered me and were quite surprised. They discovered me when they looked round at the world and thought it was really beautiful or really mysterious and wondered where it came from. They discovered me when they were very very quiet on their own and felt a sort of peace and love they hadn’t expected. Then they invented ideas about me – some of them sensible and some of them not very sensible. From time to time I sent them some hints – specially in the life of Jesus – to help them get closer to what I’m really like. But there was nothing and nobody around before me to invent me. Rather like somebody who writes a story in a book, I started making up the story of the world and eventually invented human beings like you who could ask me awkward questions!’

And then he’d send you lots of love and sign off. I know he doesn’t usually write letters, so I have to do the best I can on his behalf. Lots of love from me too.

+Archbishop Rowan

Now that's what I call real theology! Isn't this exactly why we need theological specialists: not to make the faith more complicated and obscure, but to help us grasp how simple it really is?

Collateral damage

If a bomb is deliberately dropped on a house or a vehicle on the grounds that a "suspected terrorist" is inside . . . , the resulting deaths of women and children may not be intentional. But neither are they accidental. The proper description is "inevitable." So if an action will inevitably kill innocent people, it is as immoral as a deliberate attack on civilians. And when you consider that the number of innocent people dying inevitably in "accidental" events has been far, far greater than all the deaths deliberately caused by terrorists, one must reject war as a solution for terrorism.

Howard Zinn

A prayer from Kenya

From the cowardice that dare not face new truth,

From the laziness that is contented with half truth,

From the arrogance that thinks it knows all truth,

Good Lord, deliver us.

Kenyan prayer

Today and me...

There will never be another now -
I'll make the most of today.
There will never be another me -
I'll make the most of myself.
(Helen Keller)