Have a wonderful summer!

 

The following reflection is by Presiding Bishop Edmund Lee Browning. Born in Texas on March 11, 1929, Bishop Browning died in Oregon on July 11, 2016 at the age of 87. He was the Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church from 1985-1997. He wrote a book entitled A Year of Days with the Book of Common Prayer, published in 1997. Twenty two years later, I am still using it on a regular basis.

Tomorrow, June 5, will be the last day of in-service for faculty. It will start with a celebration of the Holy Eucharist in the Chapel of Epiphany and then we will eat lunch together in the Dining Commons and say our goodbyes to those not returning next year. The following reflection is for June 5.

 

Bring them to the fullness of your peace and glory. - HOLY BAPTISM, page 306, BCP

The soul speaks quietly. Her voice can easily be drowned out by all the other noise of our days. Let her speak.  For just as you hear with your ears and see with your eyes, so you pray with your soul. 

Those of us who have time to think about it at all want to pray in a way that nourishes us. But we race guiltily through familiar prayers and hope that this will suffice, promising ourselves that we'll come back to them and do it right when we have more time. Many times, we never do.

It's not that God doesn't hear us when we are praying in a way that does not touch our own hearts, only that we long to pray in a way that does. We want to be nourished in our souls. So we enter our dry, rushed little prayers. And make ourselves some promises:

I will give myself some quiet time in the morning or evening. No radio. No TV. No phone.

I will read something nourishing each day. Maybe only a page, but something.

I will reflect, each night before I sleep, upon the blessings I have had during the day. I will also reflect on those actions of mine that were less than they should have been.

This simple discipline works. It brings back the warmth in prayer. And God intends prayer for our joy, to bring us closer to him.