Beauty In The Familiar

It’s Sunday – a day for rest and worship.  Nothing sets the stage for that for me more than some familiar prayers.  Let’s open our heart and allow these familiar words to touch our souls and reawaken the beauty of God’s presence as we come close to Him.

Jesus give us the model and so we begin there;

The Lord’s Prayer – Matthew 6:9-13

Our Father, who art in heaven,

hallowed be thy name,

thy kingdom come,

thy will be done,

on earth as it is in heaven.

Give us this day our daily bread

and forgive us our debts and we forgive

our debtors,

and lead us not into temptation,

but deliver us from evil,

for thine is the kingdom and the power

and the glory, forever. Amen.

And then a prayer that has brought solace and focus for a suppose, millions of people and continues to do so  I never tire of the settling of my soul God does for me when I offer these words to Him.

The Serenity Prayer – Reinhold Niebuhr

God, grant me the serenity

to accept the things I cannot change,

the courage to change the things I can,

and the wisdom to know the difference.

Living one day at a time,

enjoying one moment at a time;

accepting hardship as a pathway to peace;

taking, as Jesus did,

this sinful world as it is,

not as I would have it;

trusting that You will make all things right

if I surrender to Your will;

so that I may be reasonably happy in this life

and supremely happy with You forever in the next.

Amen.

And now a prayer that I find difficult to pray, in some ways, because it requires that I be willing to stand up and be counted when the going gets tough.  But, God is the God of the impossible and He can do this in us.

Instrument of Your Peace – St. Francis of Assisi

Lord, make me an instrument of your peace.

Where there is hatred, let me sow love,

Where there is injury, pardon

Where there is doubt, faith,

Where there is despair, hope,

Where there is darkness, light,

Where there is sadness, joy.

O Divine Master, grant that I may not so much

seek to be consoled as to console,

not so much to be understood as to understand,

not so much to be loved, as to love;

for it is in giving that we receive,

it is in pardoning that we are pardoned,

it is in dying that we awake to eternal life.

We can wrap these words around us like a blanket. There’s no more safe and secure place to live this day than in the presence of Christ.

Christ Be With Me – St. Patrick

Christ with me, Christ before me, Christ behind me,

Christ in me, Christ beneath me, Christ above me,

Christ on my right, Christ on my left,

Christ where I lie, Christ where I sit, Christ where I arise,

Christ in the heart of everyone who thinks of me,

Christ in the mouth of every one who speaks to me,

Christ in every eye that sees me,

Christ in every ear that hears me.

Salvation is of the Lord.

Salvation is of the Christ.

May your salvation, Lord, be ever with us.