Prayer
A Home in Your Heart – Br. James Koester
Br. James Koester
Preached at Church of St. Augustine and St. Martin, Boston
The Sixth Sunday of Easter
Over the last several weeks I have been busy in the greenhouse and the kitchen garden. I have begun to create a food forest by planting some fruit trees. Last week another Brother and I set up two bee hives. I have all kinds of things starting in the greenhouse. As I dig, and plant, and watch, a long-ago memory comes to mind as I remember that as a five-year-old, I wanted to be a farmer when I grew up. As I stand surveying the garden a deep sense of satisfaction comes over me as the dreams of that five-year-old unfold all over again.
And I am also aware of something else. I am aware of the presence and mystery of God. What I am doing as I dig and plant may not be prayer in the technical sense, but it is prayerful, and I am aware of the presence and mystery of God. Read More
The Shackles of Ignorance – Br. Lain Wilson
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Br. Lain Wilson
Here in the Chapel, you will never hear chanted portions of several psalms, or even the entirety of two. Our Society’s practice follows other monastic communities in “mak[ing] provision for optional omissions of imprecatory verses” as an expression of hospitality.[1]
Imprecatory, meaning “to invoke evil upon” or “to curse,” certainly captures the thrust of much of my prayer as I look out on our troubled world. I see evil and suffering, and find myself wanting those perpetrating it to suffer in return. I’d like to say that I’m above that, but I’m not. It has been shockingly easy for me to get there in my prayer. I’ve found a real invitation in praying imprecatory verses – not to discover new horrible things to wish on others, but to discover that what I feel is distinctly human. Read More
Standing before God – Br. Lain Wilson
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Br. Lain Wilson
One thing I struggle with is getting out of my head when I’m trying to talk with God. I’m sure that may be familiar to some of you as well. I’ve found something helpful is checking in with my body – how I’m feeling, what my posture is. I find that it often mirrors what’s going on in my own heart and in my soul.
One thing that always strikes me when I hear this familiar parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector is that we are given details, not only of what is on their lips and in their hearts, but what they are doing with their bodies. Read More
Keep Digging That Well and Don’t Give Up – Br. Geoffrey Tristram
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Br. Geoffrey Tristram
The Third Sunday in Lent
“Give me this water, so that I may never be thirsty.” The story of Jesus and the woman of Samaria is one of my favorite Gospel stories. One of the great moments of my life was when, on a pilgrimage to the Holy Land, I went to that same well where Jesus met with that woman of Samaria. Jacob’s well is now in the modern town of Nablus, near the Biblical site of Shechem. Archeologists affirm that the very same well has been there, and in daily use, for almost four thousand years, ever since the land had been purchased by Jacob. Having bought the land, the first task was to dig a well to find water. It must have been a Herculean task, for it was dug through bedrock, and it is 151 feet deep, which is the height of a 15-story building! Of all the places in the Holy Land, it is probably the one exact spot where we know that Jesus stood. I will never forget the overwhelming feeling that Jesus had actually stood right here, where I am now! Read More
Wanting Real Prayer – Br. James Koester
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Br. James Koester
Esther 14:1-6, 12-14
Matthew 7:7-12
I’ll tell you a secret! This passage from Esther appears nowhere in the Hebrew scriptures. It is only found in the Greek Septuagint. That means it is not part of the Jewish canonical scriptures, and is only included in Christian scriptures as part of the Apocrypha. Because of that, this portion of Esther (indeed the whole of Esther) is only included in Scripture by Roman Catholics and Orthodox. As Anglicans we read it (and other parts of the Apocrypha) as an “example of life and instruction of manners, yet [we do] not apply them to establish doctrine.”[1]
Curiously, despite their negative regard for the Apocrypha, the Protestant Reformers loved Esther. Read More
Light in the Darkness – Br. James Koester
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Br. James Koester
We used a pretty strong word this morning. In fact, we said it three times within a single prayer, and then, it appeared in our reading from Isaiah. We said, “We repent of the evil that enslaves us, the evil we have done, and the evil done on our behalf.”[1] Shortly after, we heard Isaiah say, “If you remove the yoke from among you, the pointing of the finger, the speaking of evil . . .” (Isaiah 58:9b).
Few of us, I hope, would describe ourselves as evil, but we have just said that evil enslaves us, and that we do evil things. More boldly, we have admitted that others do evil on our behalf. So, while you and I may not be personally evil, evil surrounds us. We cannot escape it. The news, and our lives, are full of evil. Read More
Praying for the Lovely and the Nasty – Br. Curtis Almquist
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Br. Curtis Almquist
Hilary of Poitiers
In the calendar of the church we remember today a fourth-century bishop named Hilary of Poitiers, what is now central France. Hilary was pilloried. That is, Bishop Hilary was rejected and betrayed by a good many people, including those closest to him. Bishop Hilary was convinced that Jesus’ love was to encompass everyone, including those who so meanly rejected Hilary.
In the church calendar, this is the season of Epiphany. The Greek word “epiphany” means manifestation, which is a clear revelation. The church’s observance of the season of Epiphany is inspired by the wise men from the east who visited the Christ Child.[1] They were foreigners, most likely not Jewish, and yet they were received, honored, and remembered. From the very start, Jesus consistently bequeathed dignity and showed the warmest welcome to the widest cast of people: not just to kindred spirits; not just to those with gold, frankincense, and myrrh; but also to those among the least, and the last, and the lost. Jesus was at home with everyone.
Momentarily we will be invited to pray what we call the Lord’s Prayer.[2] It is the prayer Jesus shared in response to his disciple’s question, “How shall we pray?” Jesus’ prayer is addressed in first person plural, not first person singular. Jesus did not say, “My Father in heaven.” Nor did Jesus pray, “Give me today my daily bread.” The prayer is addressed in the plural to “our Father” and is about “our daily bread.”
Jesus’ prayer signals that our relationship with God is very personal, but it is not private. Not that our own needs are insignificant, nor that they go unnoticed by God. Jesus’ point is that we pray for ourselves in the same way that we are pray for others. And the “others” are everyone. We pray for people whom we love. We counterbalance our lovely prayer list with our nasty list: to pray for those whom we may find abhorrent and do not love. We pray for those whom we tenderly carry in our hearts, and we pray for those for whom our hearts are hardened; those with whom we most disagree and want to forget, or condemn, or punish, and those whom we regard with disdain. We pray for them like we pray for ourselves, for the intervention of God’s love. In the words of Martin Luther King, Jr.: “Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.”[3]
This is how Bishop Hilary understood Jesus, and how Hilary prayed and practiced his life. And he paid a considerable personal cost to his discipleship, which was stellar. May Hilary be a beacon for our inspiration and courage.
Blessed Hilary whom we remember today.
[1] Matthew 2:1-12.
[2] Matthew 6:5-15; Luke 11:1-13.
[3] Quoted from MLK, Jr.’s 1957 Christmas Day sermon, “Loving Your Enemies.”
Rehearsing Life – Br. Curtis Almquist
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Br. Curtis Almquist
The opening verb in our reading from the First Letter of John is revealing: “See.” “See,” also translated as “Behold,” which is to look, to notice, to pay attention, to remember![1] Remember! If we do not draw on memory from our past, we are vulnerable to living our lives superficially, simply reacting to the bombardment of media and advertisements and requests coming at us all the time. Living our lives reactively is whiplash to the soul.
Rather, living our lives reflectively, meditatively, responsively draws from a much deeper well. The English word “meditation” comes from the Latin, meditari, which is to rehearse one’s lines. Read More
Power and Violence – Br. Jack Crowley
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Br. Jack Crowley
The Holy Innocents
Today we observe the Feast of the Holy Innocents. We remember all the children slain by King Herod in his attempt to murder Jesus. I know to observe this feast in the midst of the twelve days of Christmas can feel like emotional whiplash, but in my experience, it is always healthy to remember and respect the blood that has been spilt for us to be here today.
In my own prayer life, every year on this feast, I take some to reflect on fear. I think it’s safe to say that King Herod was filled with fear. King Herod feared a baby. I know for a grown man, never mind a king, to fear a baby sounds ridiculous, but it is true. Herod feared that the baby Jesus would grow up and take away his power. King Herod acted on that fear, and the consequences were horrific and violent. Read More
The Perfect Time for Healing – Br. Jack Crowley
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Br. Jack Crowley
I once had a therapist tell me that there will never be a perfect time to heal. That quote has always stuck with me. There will never be a perfect time to heal.
On one hand, it’s kind of a sad quote. It implies that if we keep waiting for the circumstances of our life to be perfect in order to heal, then we will spend the rest of our lives waiting.
On the other hand, the quote also implies a certain sense of freedom. If there will never be a perfect time to heal, then why wait? This day is just as good any other.
One of the many things that fascinates me about Jesus’ healings is how often Jesus was judged for healing people. People especially judged the timing of his healings. You would think that healing, of all actions, would be noncontroversial. You would think that healing, at any time, would be supported by all. Yet this is not the case. Read More