Seven Whole Days
Not One in Seven
REFLECTIONS ON DAILY PRAYER
Carol Stevenson
Parishioner
When St. James’ began offering daily Morning Prayer, Ryan Fleenor asked me
if I would be willing to train as an officiant. I turned him down, but said that I
would be interested in attending, which I did beginning three years ago.
I can’t name what made me return after that first MP service, but it has
become a habit and now comes naturally. I know myself to be a disciplined
person and structure makes sense in my life. The regular service helps me
begin my day in a centered spiritual grounding, and I miss Morning Prayer
when I am away from the city — though I am always aware at 8:00 a.m. that
my community of friends is reading together as I am reading aloud to myself.
I appreciate the fact that the leadership of the parish has made the
service of Daily Offices available to me to reap the benefits of learning and
listening to how God might be speaking to me. I cherish hearing the voices
around me each morning as we read the service together and I realize I hear
something new almost each time.
I have experienced changes in my life, both spiritually and emotionally.
The prayers and daily readings of psalms, scripture lessons, and canticles
have prompted me to examine myself in ways that have made me more
content as I let go of those things in my life that I can’t control.
Saying aloud my prayers in community and hearing others ask God for
forgiveness requires me to acknowledge my need for God’s mercy. After
attending Morning Prayer for a while, Ryan sent me another email and asked
if I would be interested in officiating at Evening Prayer. This time I said yes!
Daily Prayer
Fit prayer into your every day!
Monday
8:00 a.m.
5:30 p.m.
6:00 p.m. Morning Prayer
Evening Prayer
Lectio Divina
Tuesday
8:00 a.m.
5:30 p.m.
6:00 p.m. Morning Prayer
Evening Prayer
Centering Prayer
Wednesday
8:00 a.m. Holy Eucharist
12:00 p.m. Centering Prayer
5:30 p.m. Evening Prayer
Thursday
8:00 a.m.
5:30 p.m.
Morning Prayer
Evening Prayer
Friday
8:00 a.m. Morning Prayer
12:00 p.m. Centering Prayer
5:30 p.m. Evening Prayer
Can’t join in person?
Daily Devotions
You can join in the Daily Office
wherever you are, using your Prayer
Book! Pages 37-140 offer lots
of different forms to try out.
Apps
Matthew Leaycraft
Director of Finance & Lay Associate
I recently came across a quote by writer and theologian Henry Nouwen that
wonderfully summarizes and clarifies what we mean when we speak of
spiritual disciplines: “Discipline means to prevent everything in your life from
being filled up. Discipline means that somewhere you're not occupied, and
certainly not preoccupied. In the spiritual life, discipline means to create that
space in which something can happen that you hadn't planned or counted on.”
This applies to any regular routine of spiritual practice, be it Sunday
worship, the Daily Office, and all the host of ways we take time to open
ourselves to God. Nouwen’s concept of discipline is especially apt as a
description of what we are doing when we practice Centering Prayer.
Centering Prayer is at once the simplest of things to do and at the same
Download the Forward Day by Day
and electronic Common Prayer
apps for your phone and take your
prayers with you on the go.
Family
Gathering at meal times and before
bedtime can become cherished
family traditions. Pick up your Family
Prayers booklet from Vicki Hall.
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