Our Practices
Dear Friends in Christ,
As I’ve mentioned in the past, my regular morning routine includes three practices that help prepare me for the day: prayer and meditation, walking for exercise and reading through the first section of The New York Times. Prayer time centers me, walking energizes me and reading informs me.
There are days, as you might imagine, when reading the paper does more than inform me, it discourages me. Wednesday’s front page included articles on the war in Ukraine, inflation, Elon Musk’s purchase of Twitter and the troubles of Hunter Biden. Articles inside the front section focused on the aging Queen Elizabeth, tensions between North and South Korea, the surge in gun deaths in the United States during 2020 and a shortage of baby formula creating a potential food crisis, especially for infants with allergies.
Keeping up with the news can make it difficult to be optimistic about the future, let alone the present. But I don’t want to surrender to pessimism. So, what do I do? I recall reading a statement many years ago by Desmond Tutu in which he wrote that although he found it difficult if not impossible to feel optimistic about the state of the world, as a Christian he continued to live with hope.
What, then, are my sources of hope? Prayers, passages from the Bible, writings by trusted spiritual guides, getting outside on a lovely day, family time and being with the community of faith on Sundays, to name a few. These resources remind me of God’s power to overcome that which to me feels overwhelming. They recalibrate my mind and my spirit.
One resource I discovered only recently is a medieval Celtic prayer of resurrection. The prayer reminds me that God is not only holding me, but God is also lifting me, allowing me to see beyond the storms of the moment to a brighter horizon. I don’t know that I’ll pray this prayer every morning, but I will pray it regularly when life and the world feel as if they are pushing me down.
Lord from this world’s stormy seas
Give your hand for lifting me.
Lord, lift me from the darkest night.
Lord, lift me into the realm of light.
Lord, lift me from the body’s pain.
Lord, lift me up and keep me sane.
Lord, lift me from the things I dread.
Lord, lift me from the living dead.
Lord, lift me from the place I lie.
Lord, lift me that I never die. Amen.
What sources of hope recalibrate your mind and spirit? What practices — daily, weekly, or otherwise — center and energize you?
Your friend in Christ,
Rector