Painting by Phaedra Taylor, from her new collaboration with W. David O. Taylor, Prayers for the Pilgrimage
For the Blessing of Small Labors
O Lord, you who welcomed the humble gift of loaves and fishes, I offer to you the humble things of this day– my cleaning, my driving, my tidying, my weeding, my mending, my ordering, my emailing, my erranding– and ask that you would bless me in these labors, so that I might be a blessing to others in all these things. I pray this in the name of the Good Husbandman. Amen.
Prayer from David Taylor’s new book, Prayers for the Pilgrimage
Dear Restoration,
We are people of the calendar.
A liturgical calendar to be precise. Our year begins not on January 1, but on the first Sunday of Advent. We welcome the incarnation of God. He who did not forget us, but came for us, to redeem us. We rejoice that the light has come and gone out into the world. Epiphany! We remember that we are dust. We say no in fast, we say yes in almsgiving and prayer. The repentance of Lent. We shout Hosanna! Save us! Waving branches of palm! We shout crucify! A reminder of our fickle nature, our tendency to declare our disappointment with our King. We wash each other’s feet and aspire to walk in love. We remember the words from the cross and the astoundingly empty tomb. We touch him like Thomas. We eat with him like Peter. We wonder at him like Mary. We hold our doubt and ask for more belief. We try to grab his toes as he ascends to His Father. We huddle in the room, waiting for what’s next. Wind. Fire. Language. We are tickled that we are not left as orphans, that we have a helper. This is our God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Trinity.
We are people of the calendar.
This week we enter into the time called Ordinary. Sometimes counted as ‘Days after Pentecost’ or ‘Days after Trinity’. Our Daily Prayer Guide reminds us, “Most of life is lived in the in-between spaces of ordinary life.” Faithfulness is lived in the consistency of trust and service; being present; doing each day in the joyful presence of our Savior.
Ordinary. With no special distinctives or features. Normal.
On Sundays, you will notice a few changes in our worship service:
The clergy take off their albs until Advent. Cooler in temperature. Ordinary.
We sideline the procession and recession. There is more fluidity between our coming in and going out, for all of life is worship.
We change to the Nicene Creed and the Eucharistic Prayer from Kenya, for variation in the words that help us proclaim what we believe helps our minds and hearts to stay limber. They remind us that we are a Global Communion.
We have 3 more Sundays of our 3 Service Pilot. (June 2, 9, and 16). Next week I will send you a brief survey so that you can provide feedback on your experience at these services. Your comments and suggestions are so helpful to us. On June 23rd, we will go to our summer Sunday worship schedule- 9:00 and 11:00. Normal.
Our friend, David Taylor and his wife, Phaedra, have crafted a BEAUTIFUL book of prayers and paintings for ordinary life: Prayers for the Pilgrimage. Hundreds of prayers for the journey. I have loved it and commend it to you for your own days of ordinary.
See you on Sunday, David
For Letting Go of All the Woulda, Could, Shouldas
O Lord, you who promise that your grace will be sufficient, grant me the grace, I pray, to let go of all the woulda, coulda, and shouldas that I might accomplish this day and to do instead the one thing that is most needful, so that I might do my work under the light of your abundant care. I pray this in the name of the One who generously clothes the lilies of the field. Amen.
Prayer from David Taylor’s new book, Prayers for the Pilgrimage
