A     PRAYER SANCTUARY

FOR   NEW   YEAR’S   DAY   2002

Noon until 3 o’clock

Sponsored by

          The                                              
Alethia Foundation

at the  Center City
 Lutheran Church of the Holy Communion

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Blessings to you on this New Year’s Day!

Thank you for keeping a reverent silence while you are here.

From time to time, musicians will make their offering to God, as an act of worship and a channel of our prayers.

Please do not applaud, but feel free to speak aloud an "Amen" or word of praise to God, if you are so inclined.

This Prayer Guide is provided for your optional use. It offers some images and ideas from Christian sources in case you’d find them helpful in your prayer time today. If you choose to use it, please do so in whatever way suits your purposes and spiritual tradition. 

The Prayer Guide provides what is called a "guided meditation." That means it leads the reader through imagined scenes designed to focus attention, and create an atmosphere of receptivity to God. If this guided meditation prompts ideas of your own to use to cultivate your prayer life, give them a try.

The pew racks contain Bibles and worship books. In them you’ll find scripture, prayers, and hymns which may also assist your meditation.

May the love of God so fill your heart while you are here
that you are borne in confidence, peace and joy 
throughout the year ahead.

The LORD spoke to Moses, saying: Speak to Aaron and his sons, saying, Thus you shall bless the Israelites: You shall say to them, The LORD bless you and keep you; the LORD make his face to shine upon you, and be gracious to you; the LORD lift up his countenance upon you, and give you peace. So they shall put my name on the Israelites, and I will bless them.

O LORD, our Sovereign, how majestic is your name in all the earth! You have set your glory above the heavens.

Out of the mouths of babes and infants you have founded a bulwark because of your foes, to silence the enemy and the avenger.

When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars that you have established; what are human beings that you are mindful of them, mortals that you care for them?

Yet you have made them a little lower than God, and crowned them with glory and honor.

You have given them dominion over the works of your hands; you have put all things under their feet, all sheep and oxen, and also the beasts of the field, the birds of the air, and the fish of the sea, whatever passes along the paths of the seas.

O LORD, our Sovereign, how majestic is your name in all the earth!

But when the fullness of time had come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, in order to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as children.

And because you are children, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, ‘‘Abba! Father!’’ So you are no longer a slave but a child, and if a child then also an heir, through God.

When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, ‘‘Let us go now to Bethlehem and see this thing that has taken place, which the Lord has made known to us.’’

So they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the child lying in the manger. When they saw this, they made known what had been told them about this child; and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds told them.

But Mary treasured all these words and pondered them in her heart. The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them.

After eight days had passed, it was time to circumcise the child; and he was called Jesus, the name given by the angel before he was conceived in the womb.

 a

Picture a beautiful park. At its center will be a heavenly Mansion. You see that the park is vast and stretches out in all directions in forests, meadows, deserts, valleys and mountain peaks, rivers, lakes and waterfalls. 

A wide, comfortable path unwinds in front of you. It is deep in soft, fragrant pine needles that cushion your step. 

     How do I seek God ?

Try turning the question around.

How is God seeking you? 
What is God trying to show you? 
How is God seeking to help you? 
What is God trying to open to you?

God seeks you in each moment. 
God is with you. 
God is there, loving you and waiting for you, even when you least feel it.

What we need are some ways to let God get through to us.  
We need techniques to attune to whatever it is God is already trying to show us and to give us.

 

You take a long deep breath. The scent of the pine trees, the warmth of the sun flow into you. As you exhale, stress evaporates. Frustrations loosen their grip on you. As you stroll along the path, your worries and distress fall away behind you. Pain eases. Peace flows into you.

The path is welcoming. You know at once that you can wander anywhere in perfect safety. Take your time, take some deep, slow breaths, let the path lead you along into deeper and deeper calm. 

The path will take you to the Mansion.

            Making Room

Disengage. Break away. Clear your mind. Let go. 
The peace you seek is already within you. Give it a chance to come to the surface.

God is very much with us in daily life. 
But to renew our awareness of the Holy Spirit, we need to turn off the distractions. 
We need the art of "listening prayer."

The "Prayer Park" described here can be a place of instant retreat for you whenever you need it. Imagine this path in the Park anytime and let it be a brief refuge, a buffer zone in the midst of the stress of active lives.

 

As you near the Mansion, its doors open to welcome you. It’s yours to know. 

You enter, finding its interiors bathed in beautiful light. Rooms open up to you at every turn, rooms leading to rooms, each with doors opening out to the Park. You come and go as you like.

            Abiding Places

Do not let your hearts be troubled. Believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father’s house there are many dwelling places. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you?
                                              John 14: 1-2

Tabernacles, desert rocks, temples, cathedrals, hermits’ caves, monks’ cells, rustic chapels, olive groves, spiritual castles, rural retreats and vesper gardens —special places of prayer, places of encounter with God, are everywhere in the scriptures, in religious art, poetry, in the writings of the great mystics.

We can "visit" these places anytime. Such places are there for us whenever we need them.

The rooms in this guided meditation are centered on symbols rich in meaning and history for Christian spirituality. Roam about in them as you please, or create your own meditation rooms in the Mansion.

J. M. W. Turner  ruins of the chapter house at Kirkshall Abbey  1797  http://www.stanford.edu/~dplatt/Ruins/romanticismpics.html

In the first room you find a beautiful pool of water around a bubbling spring. These are healing waters. You feel the cool mist restoring you. These are waters of baptism. They are the waters from the River Jordan, the entrance to the Promised Land, the waters that cured a Syrian captain who came to the prophet Elisha with leprosy. The rippling waters of the pool call to mind the water that flowed from rock at the strike of Moses’ staff, and at the crucifixion, the water that flowed from Jesus’ side at the stab of the soldier’s spear.

The water is crystal clear. You can take a cup and drink from the fountain, remembering Jesus’ words about living water to the woman at the well. You can wade into the pool, recalling the paralyzed man whom Jesus healed at the pool of Bethsaida. Linger, and in the water’s reflection see some new thing God is doing for you. In whatever way you partake of them, from these waters healing and new strength pour into you from the Source of all healing and strength.

Exodus 17:1-7     Numbers 20: 1-13     Joshua 3:1 - 5:12      2 Kings 5:1-14

Matthew 3:13-17     John 4:1-43      John 5: 1-9      John 7:37-39    John 19: 33-34

Walking about the Mansion, you come to another inviting room. Here, a flame burns brightly, hovering freely in mid-air. Its ethereal white light and warmth draw you toward it, as the burning bush drew Moses. You remember, too, the pillar of fire that guided the Israelites through the wilderness by night. As you stand before the flame, God’s love radiates from the flame, encircling you.

You walk through the flame without hurt, as did Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego in the fiery furnace. As you pass through the flame, you see, as they did, another Person at your side. You are safe and protected as the Holy Spirit burns away everything that is harmful to you. Bitterness, resentment, fear, negative thinking, hostility, are consumed by the fire.

Their place is filled with the luminous, pure love of God for you, burning steadily, unwavering, unchanging. Remembering the tongues of flame that appeared above the disciples praying in the upper room, you too feel new power given by the Holy Spirit in this flame.

Exodus 3-4      Exodus 13: 21-22      Daniel 3:1-30       Acts 2:1-4

Another door opens. In the center of this room, floating in midair is a magnificent sword, bare and unadorned. From the long, bright blade shines pure white light. The hilt forms a perfect cross. Its honed edges gleam. 

It is the "sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God," part of the "whole armor of God" described in Ephesians. It symbolizes the necessity, and difficulty, of spiritual discernment, the complex struggle for righteousness. 

Sharpened through prayer, study, and contemplation, the sword’s razor edge can divide truth from falsehood, even where deception, and self-deception, have so coiled the untrue with the true as to make good appear evil, and evil, good. 

The sword represents the judgment of God, and the arduous progress of learning to see as God sees, not as we wish to see. "Indeed, the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing until it divides soul from spirit, joints from marrow; it is able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart."

Standing in the light of the sword, you ask to see clearly and truthfully. You ask for the courage to examine your own motives and feelings. 

Remembering the difficult and puzzling sayings of Jesus about bringing a sword, you look to the sword to give you mindfulness and resolve for difficult decisions. What needs to be understood more exactly in your life? Where does honesty need to cut through pretense? What within you needs to be faced? What needs to be defended in your life? What needs to be carved away?
 

Ephesians 6: 10-20     Hebrews 4:12-13    Luke 2: 27-35     Matthew 10:32-39

Eyes and Ears of the Soul

St. Teresa of Avila wrote about the "Interior Castle." Ignatius of Loyola designed meditations in which we imagine ourselves on the scene in events from the life of Christ. Jan Van Ruusbroek writes at length about visualizing the four steps in running to meet Christ. Thomas Merton describes his own spiritual progress as a seven-storey mountain.

They knew something about the art of prayer. They understood how difficult it is to concentrate when our attention is perpetually snatched away by everyday turmoil. They knew very well that the journey from illusion to truth demands effort and practice in prayer.

They knew that communion with God takes time, patience and focus, just as any real friendship does. How can we give God the courtesy of our attention? How can we listen to God, to hear what God may be saying to us? How can we be watchful? How can we open ourselves to God’s Word to us? We need methods for prayer.

This is why so many of the great saints and teachers of prayer life, in ancient and in modern times, recommend using our imagination to create a "place" apart, to keep interior "rooms" of the soul where we can be open to scripture and sacred symbols, where we can make the soul ready and alert to God’s real presence.

Now you turn into another room of the Mansion. It opens out into a great desert, where the air is clear and dry. Millions of stars sparkle in the deep, night sky. Soothing heat still rises from the rocky ground, but the night air is cool and quickening.

A stack of stones marks an ancient place of worship and reverence. Scenes of desert flight come to mind: Jacob from the angry brother whom he deceived, the Israelites from the Egyptian army, Elijah from a ruler’s vengeance, the holy family from Herod’s wrath. 

You go to the altar, nothing more than a pile of rocks. In dreams in this desert, Jacob wrestled with God, and saw angels coming and going on a ladder to heaven.

John the Baptist preached in this wilderness, where he also baptized Jesus. You recall also how Jesus, immediately following his baptism, retreated into the wilderness to pray. 

You ask to learn from Jesus as he sequesters himself in the desert for 40 days to fast and pray, where he is tempted, and where he then, like Elijah, is attended by ministering angels in this desolate place.

You let the desert purify, clarify. You let its barren expanse expose excess and indulgence. You let its serene austerity reorder your priorities.

Matthew Lewis    Color washes and texture files "Desert Night, Desert Day, Arctic, Sunset"
http://www.accad.ohio_state.edu/~mlewis/Light/Hw/2000/areggy/Hw5/hw5.html

Genesis 27:42 - 29:12      Exodus 13-15        1 Kings 19:1-8

Matthew 2: 13-15         Luke 3:1-21          Matthew 4:1-11

The next room is heavy with suffering.

Very tall, rough, heavy and empty stands a wooden cross in shadows. Death, suffering, injustice, violence, desertion echo here. The nearer you move to the cross, the more of its isolation and abandonment you feel. It seems less familiar and tame, and much more alien and unaccountable.

You slowly circle the cross, letting it lead your thoughts.

One of the names of Jesus is Emmanuel, "God With Us."  The cross and the name Emmanuel merge as you look. You consider what comfort is in that, what revelation.

Matthew 27:27-54    Mark 15:16-39     Luke 23:26-48     John 19:16-36

The GARDEN

A wide, curving hallway leads into a secluded courtyard, private and enclosed but open to the sky. Sunlight filters through trees. Graceful vines stir in a warm breeze. Flowers bloom everywhere, scenting the air. A brook flows from a fountain that you can hear, but not yet see, in the center of the courtyard.

It feels like Paradise. Breathing deeply, you can believe it is like the first Garden where the first human beings walked and talked with God in the cool of the day.

Looking at the sturdy, gnarled tree trunks, you realize that these are olive trees. You remember a Garden where Jesus prayed, "Not my will, but thine, be done."

You move toward the sound of the fountain and there seated beside it, waiting for you, is Jesus. You go to him, and sit down beside him. You remember another Garden with an empty tomb, where Jesus was mistaken for the gardener.

You can meet him anywhere, but you will always find him here in this Garden, waiting for you, and always glad of the time you are willing to spend with him.

Luke 22:39-45       John 20: 11-18        Revelation 22: 1-7

Dominic Koval   "A Little Dance in his Garden" 
http://www.wellofstars.com   

Setting a Course

Often a little quiet time well spent in these ways will let muddy waters clear. Issues move toward resolution.

As you bring your meditations to a close, look for decisions that are made, or ready to be made.

Name them to yourself, and offer them to God.

Pause a moment with some symbolic gesture, such as opened hands, to receive whatever parting blessing will be bestowed.

Let your last prayer be thanks and praise, and smile back at God who smiles on you.

 

 

Do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you. I will hold you with my saving right hand.

                                                                                                                                                Isaiah 41:10

All scripture quotations are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission.  All rights reserved.
© New Year’s Day Prayer Sanctuary Prayer Guide by S. Ellis-Killian     Copyright 2002 The Alethia Foundation.

About

The Center City
Lutheran Church of the Holy Communion

2110 Chestnut Street Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19103
215-567-3668      Fax 215-569-1840
www.lutheranchurchphiladelphia.org 

The Center City Lutheran Church of the Holy Communion been "In the City for Good" for the past 125 years. We are a diverse, gospel centered congregation and a hospitable place of worship and learning. 

You are invited to join us for worship each Sunday at 11:00 a.m. We treasure our tradition of excellent music and the choir provides special music during festival times of the year. 

Our Community is open to all people. We are a Reconciled in Christ Congregation and welcome all people regardless of sexual orientation. 

Take advantage of the many opportunities for learning and community life during the week through bible study and discussion groups, small group ministry, music camp, Sunday school, adult forum, visits to interesting and historical places, or line dancing for all ages. 

"We will praise God as we declare that Christ is our savior, proclaim the gospel, serve our neighbors in the community and the world, and love one another." 

The Alethia Foundation thanks the Lutheran Church of the Holy Communion and its Pastor, the Rev Dr. David Farley for its hospitality for this event. 

If you live in Philadelphia and seek a community of faith,  The Alethia Foundation urges you to make Lutheran Church of the Holy Communion your church home.