Tag Archives: prayer

Evolutionary Prayer

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Hope = the other buds will bloom.

After much reading and reflection, I have come to the point where I can no longer pray to a tribal god, sometimes warlike, who is up there and out there, ready to rush in a rescue me from the powers and principalities, any evil which may befall me. William Cleary best describes the God I have found—an evolutionary God:

But Evolutionary Faith reminds us that “divine inspiring energy does not emanate from some external heavenly realm, but from within the depths of the creative process itself. The creative energy is an unambiguously inspirited and inspiring life-force.” In other words, we find the spirit of God everywhere and can speak to it and pray to it there-if we have situated ourselves firmly within the evolutionary story and realize the presence everywhere of a God alive and available. If evolution happened and is happening, then God-the spirit mother of life, the spirit father of creation, the Loving Mystery behind and within everything-is at work in it, around us, near us, within us. (William Cleary, Prayers to an Evolutionary God, location 267) Continue reading →

Prayer

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[Our church has a weekly soaking prayer service. I led the meditation at last night’s service. I wanted to share this reflection on prayer with you. The quotes from Richard Rohr come from daily messages he sends to subscribers.]

One of those days Jesus went out to a mountainside to pray, and spent the night praying to God. (Lk 6:12)

Jesus went to pray. Look at the events leading up to Lk 6:12.

  • He forgave the sins of the paralytic.
  • He chose Levi, a tax collector, and then went to a party at Levi’s house.
  • His disciples plucked grain as they walked through the field on the Sabbath
  • He healed the withered hand of the man in the synagogue on the Sabbath

No wonder Jesus went to be with Abba God. His enemies were on his case. They confronted him on each of these occasions. Continue reading →

Ash Wednesday

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Ash Wednesday

Joel (2:12-18) calls for a fast. He calls the people to repentance. Fasting is one of the three key Jewish practices. Prayer and almsgiving round out the set. Repentance is to be personal—rend your hearts. Change your attitudes. Change your ways of thinking. Change your ways of acting. Repent. Turn your lives around. Change your families, your communities and your institutions. Return to God. Joel does not call individuals to repentance. He calls the whole community even those who ordinarily would have been exempt. The community is called to confess its sins and repent in order to avoid further calamity. Continue reading →