I’m doubling down in my recommendation to all of us in this time of change and transition, to let the Psalms be our guide in how to pray.
Last week we explored Psalm 23 as offering wisdom in how to reflect on our shared life in ministry these past six years as we prepare for my departure. This week, let me offer a selection and a version of Psalm 106. This is a poetic version by Nan Merrill that’s not literal, but expresses in a fresh way how the themes of the psalm can serve as a guide for how to pray in our own way out of our own heart and life circumstances.
There is an ancient practice of praying with scriptures called lectio divina, or divine reading. This is a way of letting a passage of scripture guide us in praying as we need to pray. This is not approaching scripture as a static text that we are only supposed to interpret in a literal way. Rather this is allowing these inspired words to inspire our own creative and dynamic relationship with the Great Mystery we evoke through the names of God.
There are different forms of lectio divina, but basically the practice involves four stages.
First to put ourselves in a prayerful, open posture of being.
Then to hear the scripture passage read – to listen and to hear the words in a receptive and open way, allowing the emotions and colors and sounds of it to make an impression on us. Then we settle into some silence where we replay the scripture, allowing our imaginations to feely evoke the colors and textures and sounds and smells and tastes, as we place ourselves inside of the world the way the evokes and make it our own, allowing our hearts to freely feel what we feel. You don’t have to try to remember the words exactly, just relive what made an impression on you, and explore that in making it your own.
Then the last stage in this prayer practice is to allow those re-imaginings of the scripture to subside and find a central message from the experience that we can receive. Take a moment to receive that and give thanks to God.
To recap, the 4 phases of this way of praying with the scriptures, lectio divina:
- Prepare
- Hear
- Re-imagine
- Receive & Give thanks
So, how about we experiment with the Psalm version we just heard? That way we can make it our own in this time. I invite you to especially be holding in prayer your lives within this community of faith in the recent past, and where you are on the threshold of a change.
The scripture passage for today is longer, we divided it up into four for Annie and Sam’s lovely reading of it. So I think what I can do is read each section one by one, giving time between each for us all to silently re-imagine and receive, before listening to the next section. Prepare; Hear; Re-imagine; Receive & Give thanks
I’ll read a section then give some silence where you can make it your own, then I’ll invite you to take some moments to identify what you are discovering that you are receiving. Then I’ll move onto to next section.
Okay.
May we be as we need to be to be in prayer: Settled. Rooted. Open. Connected to the Spirit within and the Creator beyond.
Giver of Life, we praise You!
Bestower of all gifts, we give
You thanks, for
Your steadfast love endures
Forever!
Who can tell of your generosity in
All generations,
The very rich variety of the living
Cosmos?
Blessed are they who recognize the
Gift, and
Who follow the precepts of your
Word at all times.
….
Remember us, O Beloved, as we make
The Journey;
Help us live the Mystery,
That we may fulfill our divine destiny,
That we may co-create with You,
That we may glory in your rich
Heritage.
…
Stand by us that we may become poor
In spirit,
Acknowledging our own weaknesses
That lead us astray.
Teach us to be patient with ourselves,
That we might offer the gift
Of patience to others;
O, that we might learn to be calm,
To persevere with utter trust
As we face the fears that
Bind us.
…
We yearn for all that will bring us
New life,
We long for your very Presence among us.
Comfort us, O Beloved, with the
Tranquility of your Spirit;
Lead us into calm waters.
Yes, the Comforter will nourish
Our souls, and
Gentle us, that we may be pliant
In Love’s hands.
The heart itself will reap the
Blessings of those
Who become beneficent and live
With integrity.
We listen for your Word, O Giver of
The Journey, and
We praise You with grateful hearts!
…
(From “Psalms for Praying” by Nan C. Merrill)
I’d love to hear from you about how that was for you, or anything that you discovered that you would like to share about what you received.
I’ll just say that I picked this Psalm, and this version of this Psalm, because I felt that it really beautifully expresses some qualities of heart that are always good for us to keep returning too, but are especially important during times of transition in our lives when we are preparing for a change, preparing to say goodbye to somethings and some people, and to welcome the new horizons of possibility that God offers us.
The psalm begins with not just gratitude, but exuberant thanksgiving for the gifts God has given. And a reflection on the astonishing scope of all that God has given to all those who have come before us, whose legacy we inherit and pass on, and the abundant generosity of all life.
Then there is an evocation of the Journey we are on; and the Mystery in which we move; and the higher, deeper purpose by which the Divine leads us on through the Journey of our co-creation of our lives together with each other and with God.
There are words of humility, words of honest assessment of our shortcomings. There are words of mercy, of patience, of perseverance, of trust.
The Psalm reminds us of our deepest yearnings. The Psalm reminds us of our highest moral aspirations, and our strongest commitments to living with integrity in our values.
And then finally this passage from the Psalm ends with surrender to the leadings of God’s wisdom, and circles back to gratitude and praise for the blessings we enjoy by the Grace of God.
It is for those blessings and for that grace that I give thanks. Thanks be to God.
(You can view recording of the service in which I deliver this message, here. It includes a great conversation where folks share their experience praying this psalm with lectio divina method.)
(Image: “Praying Hands” by philwarren is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)
The Dandelion Way 