I’ve been traveling to Beech Grove, Indiana, to the Monastery of our Lady of Grace for over twenty years. First, as a part of a Lilly renewal ministry for women clergy called Women Touched by Grace, and then as a Benedictine Oblate of the Monastery.
I’m here on retreat with intentional prayer and discernment for what my response is to be in the chaotic, cruel times we find ourselves in.
I’m guided by questions of discernment offered by the Rev. Nadia Bolz-Weber:
What’s mine to do? What’s not mine to do?
What’s mine to say? What’s not mine to say?
What’s mine to care about? What’s not mine to care about (meaning the work of others to do)?
I’ve taken walks in the Peace Garden, a community project of reclaiming part of the monastery property with native plants and as a natural habitat.
I’ve prayed with the Sisters in the morning, at noon, and in the evening.
I’ve painted prayers.
I’ve knitted.
I’ve had times of silence.
I’ve had time of listening to the wisdom of the Sisters.
I’ve read.
I had an unexpected evening with women who share devotion to St. Mary in fellowship, praying the rosary, and more listening.
My very best friend and I are continuing our year of larks. By our definition, a lark is a trip of less than a week; often a weekend long; often planned at the last minute or on a whim.
This lark started as a weekend in Ft. Wayne, Indiana to attend an Indigo Girls/Melissa Ethridge concert and then expanded to travel to Brandywine, Pennsylvania to see an art exhibit we’d heard about on the PBS Newshour.
I flew from Houston to Atlanta to meet up with my very best friend. After a long layover and a delayed flight, we were in Ft. Wayne.
The delayed flight resulted in a wait at the Ft. Wayne airport for our shuttle to our hotel. I decided to seek beauty around me, this time outside the terminal in a construction site. It’s a spiritual practice I’ve been nurturing when I might become anxious or irritable.
Saturday was a free day to explore sights within walking distance of our hotel.
Coffee, of course, to start the day.
Next was the Botanical Garden for a view of “something blue.” That was the title of the current exhibit though it turned out to be more things green and purple and pink with a sort of scavenger hunt for the blue. A very nice search indeed. Especially from our sitting space in our blue chairs.
Our next walk was for a delicious lunch. The walk back to our hotel took us on an unexpected tour of a small portion of the Fort Wayne Public Art Trail.
After this walk, summer hot, it was time for yet another coffee.
The lovely day in Ft. Wayne (who knew?) ended with one short walk to the Embassy Theater for a night of spectacular music and the joy of singing and dancing along with the Melissa, Amy, and Emily.
In churches this coming Sunday, many people will dress in red, white, and blue. Hymn selections may feature patriotic songs. American flags may be processed. Some churches may even include saying the pledge of allegiance.
I love my country. When I return from traveling abroad, my heart does a flip when I see the American flag as I enter customs. I prepare carefully for every election, and putting the “I voted” sticker on my clothes as I leave my local polling place is one of the best feelings ever.
Friday, the Fourth of July, I will celebrate Independence Day on ancestral land with my family. We will have hamburgers and home made ice cream. Since we are out in the country, we may have fireworks and even a bonfire.
As is our custom, we’ll read the Declaration of Independence and thank God for our many blessings. If history repeats itself, it will be a day of good food, good conversation, and good company.
This coming Sunday, the Fourth Sunday after Pentecost, the church where I’m serving will be decked in green for the season of Ordinary Time. The hymns will be about loving and worshiping Jesus. As we do every Sunday, praying for our country will be part of the Prayers of the People.
Worship this coming Sunday will be a day of good food in the form of Holy Communion. As we listen to Scripture, pray, sing, and ask God’s forgiveness, it will be good conversation with God. As we share God’s peace with the neighbor God gives us in church that day, we will be in good company.
After spending a day in worship of God, I expect to be a better citizen of God’s Kingdom.
With God’s help, I hope to be a better citizen of the country I call home, too.
During Hurricane Harvey, when many of us were cut off from one another by floods, the parish I served began doing prayers on Facebook Live. Over time, this became a daily practice of joining together at “the eights” on Facebook for prayers in the morning and prayers at the close of day.
A few of us still offer these prayers on Facebook in a group called “Episcopal Worship to Anchor your Day.”
I’ve been part of this praying group since the beginning, and Tuesday morning is my prayer slot. I’ve led prayers from my dining room table, my grandson’s room, my room at Our Lady of Grace Monastery, airport lounges, coffee shops, and many states and countries.
I have mixed feelings about Facebook these days. I try to stay away from it as much as possible and have considered leaving it all together. However, in the mix of this uncertain world, I have decided, for now, to continue to pray on that site. Jesus went to wherever people were, to meet them in their most ordinary lives. For me, praying on Facebook feels a bit like that. So I stay.
Over these eight years of praying on social media, I’ve developed a kind of litany in my time of morning prayers.
Will you join me now?
Let us have a moment of silence as we gather from one part of our day to another.
Good morning, God. This is your day. We are your children. Please show us your way.
Thank you for the night’s rest and another day to walk with you and to serve you.
We offer to you, one by one by one, every name, every situation, on every prayer list throughout the world, knowing that you are doing more than we can desire or pray for through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Silence
We pray for all of us with privilege and power. In all things may we seek to rise to the other’s best and serve the common good.
Show all of us with enough how to share with those who do not have enough.
Forgive us when we put our own selfish desires and wants before those without enough.
We pray for all of those who use violence of any kind, especially the violence of words, to communicate. Protect others from harm and heal their brokenness.
Silence
We pray for peace. For peace in our homes, in our country, and in the world.
Silence
We thank you for the many blessings of this life, especially for our family and friends.
We pray especially for those who are hard for us to love.
Silence
For whom else shall we pray?
Silence
AMEN
As I try to navigate these tumultuous and chaotic days, I am searching for any way that I can be the presence of Christ. For me, praying is one way that I know, even when I don’t feel like it is, that Christ’s presence is made known.
How are you finding ways to be the presence of Christ?
House of Grace 