In the next couple weeks, a fair share of chaos will ensue, and not just for the clergy. There will be some immense expectations placed on children of God, which are more so from our own doing as opposed to anything desired from the Divine. For some, it might even feel as if the fate of the cross and the tomb rests on their not-Jesus shoulders. But rest assured, it has been more than taken care of for all eternity, including our relatively small portion of it.
Nevertheless, parish administrators will be expected to juggle seemingly countless amounts of digital slides and bulletins on top of trying to remain calm and patient with anything else random that might come up on the church administrative front. Choir directors and singers and ringers will be expected to have numerous pieces ready to drive the Holy Week message home in case the verbal proclamations alone don’t always do the trick. Altar guild members will be expected to change out and lay out what appears to be their full arsenal of colored paraments in a seven day period alone. Not to mention greeters and ushers and sound technicians and acolytes and acolytes’ parents and numerous other behind-the-scene’rs will be slotted to be present more than enough to almost make them feel as if they spend just as much time in the church building as work/school and their actual home base. No pressure or anything…just the usual fair share of chaos attempting to re-tell the story that saved the world with a love for all the above and then some, including for all the times when not everything goes according to plan, to say the least.
With all that being said, as we enter a time when busy-ness seems to take even more over, and not just with the church-front, a little offering to perhaps provide a time and space to…take a deep breath…and pause…and remember…it’s all taken care of for all eternity…including your part of it, too. So, if you so choose, below is an excerpt from a prayer, including a guided breathing prayer, written by The Rev. Diane Fairies (St. Paul’s Christian Church, Raleigh, NC).
God of all creation, you formed us from the dust and breathed life into us. Our breath is [because of] your breath. Your spirit moves within us and gives us life…
Too often we feel [restricted] by the tasks crying out for our attention.
Remind us, Creator, that we are yours, that every breath [flows] from you, that you sustain us and nourish us from the same earth which you used to form us, and to which we will one day return. Remind us, Eternal Spirit…to breathe. [Continue to] fill us deeply with your [soothing] presence…
Remind us, O Redeemer, that you have set us free from everything [we believe] separates us from you. As we pause now to pray with each breath, help us to let go.
Breathe in the breath of life.
Breathe out, releasing your sins to God’s grace.
Breathe in the breath of life.
Breathe out, releasing the assumptions that blind us to God’s [mercy].
Breathe in the breath of life.
Breathe out, releasing the desire to consume things that cannot fill you.
Breathe in the breath of life.
Breathe out, releasing yourself from the power of false idols.
Breathe in the breath of life.
Breathe out, releasing the fears that lead you to doubt yourself and God.
Breathe in the breath of life.
Breathe out, releasing your need for control.
Breathe in the breath of life.
Breathe out, and let go of all that [you think might] separate you from God. Amen.
Live in peace, and without feeling as if the fate of eternity rests on your non-Jesus shoulders, serve the Lord. Amen (so let it be)!
In Christ,
Pastor Brad