Through Stained Glass: Prayer of Protection

Protection.

That’s what Christ prayed to God for in his prayer for the disciples.

Jesus knew the difficulties facing the disciples, Jesus saw the crucifixion and resurrection in the distance and prayed that the disciples would be united and for their God’s protective presence for the disciples.

After all, God is like a mother hen who protects her chicks on her wings.

A few weeks ago in my preparation for a sermon, I stumbled across a Celtic prayer that I’ve incorporated into my own prayer life. It is called the ‘Caim Prayer,’ or the Circle Prayer. This prayer is a way to surround oneself with the protection and blessing of the Triune God. To perform the Caim Prayer, you stand up, point your right index finger at the ground and turn in a clockwise circle.  At certain positions, you will say prayers.

The purpose of this prayer is to imagine as you draw the circle on your hand, on a piece of paper, or as you spin around offering up prayer, that you are encircled in the protective love of the Triune God. Praying the circle prayer is a way to start your day with the reminder that you are in God’s love and God’s love is in you. And when you find yourself amidst a stormy season of life, the circle prayer can help you remember that the Holy One has removed all evil influence from your circle; and that you can be at peace within it.  You can even imagine this as a traveling circle, it is always around you when you walk it comes with you.

Christ prayed for the protection of the disciples, and Christ continues to pray for our protection. Remember this as you go about your day. When you see a circle, or a stop light, or a ring from your coffee mug on the newspaper, know you are not alone. The Triune God goes with you, protecting you from the toils and snares of the evil one.

Rest in the center of God. That's where we find our home. And there's no place like home!

There are many 'Circle Prayers' once can pray. Perhaps the most
famous is the St. Patrick Breastplate Prayer. It is quite long, but these
lines are both powerful and beautiful. May they become for you a source
of comfort, peace, and a guide to the protective peace of Christ.

Christ with me,
Christ before me,
Christ behind me,
Christ in me,
Christ beneath me,
Christ above me,
Christ on my right,
Christ on my left,
Christ when I lie down,
Christ when I sit down,
Christ when I arise,
Christ in the heart of everyone who thinks of me,
Christ in the mouth of everyone who speaks of me,
Christ in every eye that sees me,
Christ in every ear that hears me.

*Photo was taken by Kelli Woodford. Used with permission.

Through Stained Glass: Walk the Talk

This is part 1 of a 2 post series about the promised protection of Jesus as we walk the wisdom way.

In just a few verses we see Jesus go from teacher to servant, to friend, and then to a pray-er. 

Jesus says three times in a couple of chapters that what the disciples are to do when he dies, is resurrected, and then ascends, is to love—one another as Christ loved them. 

This love will challenge the world. It will cause an uproar, and they will probably lose their life because of it. Then in John 17, Jesus prays for the disciples, the infant church. He prays that they may be one. He prays to God reminding God that God gave the disciples to Jesus. Furthermore, Jesus says, “They were yours, and you gave them to me, and they have kept your word. Now they know that everything you have given me is from you…they have received [the words you gave me] and know in truth that I came from you; they believed you sent me.” 

Jesus gives them back to God, the Father/Mother. Jesus asks on their behalf that God will protect them, “so that they may be one, as we are one.” 

Woah. 

We share in the same union with God as God does with Jesus. Did you catch that? Do you get the beauty in this petition of Christ’s? Jesus wants us as God’s people to know joy. This joy, of course, comes when we are one, embracing the larger narrative of Scripture that God wants unity, not uniformity. Thus, we as God’s people are not gatekeepers to the heart of God but we are ones who fan the flame of Christ’s love so that it may spread, and by God’s breath all of us are consumed with the breath of God, the Holy Spirit. 

Jesus could have removed us from the world and this life then and there, but Jesus doesn’t. Instead, Jesus asks for our protection as we strive to be one. No, as we BECOME one. You see, Christ sends us the way Christ was sent by God to proclaim release to the captive, hope to the hopeless, and offer good news to everyone. This world is in the process of being made new by us, God’s people!

Here's the take away in this post. It is through our witness, as we do the work Jesus gives us, that Jesus will be made known to the world. 

OMG, right?

“Righteous Father, the world does not know you, but I know you; and these know that you have sent me. I made your name known to them, and I will make it known, so that the love with which you have loved me may be in them, and I in them.” 

Jesus has shown us the way, and it involves walking. At the end of his ministry with the disciples, Jesus holds up how we share the wisdom of God. He doesn’t give a theological discourse or offer some apologetics lecture. Instead, Jesus says, “as I am, you, too can and must become. I will be here to help you. But you must do the work.”* 

Don’t get me wrong. Beliefs about Jesus are essential. However, what we hear in Jesus’ prayer for the disciples, and for us, is that what matters is not so much to believe the theological premises of Jesus but to share in Christ’s unity with God. We are to put on Christ as we live in this world. 
In four chapters we see Jesus the teacher; Jesus the servant; Jesus the Son; Jesus the pray-er; and Jesus, the lover. 

Now, what the world sees is up to us. 

Thanks be to God that Christ has sent us the Spirit to guide us, protect us, and gift us with love. 
So, what will you do? How will we be God’s presence in a hurting world? 

May you know God’s love for you runs deep within you. May you trust in Christ’s promise to be with us always, even until the end of time. And may you welcome the Spirit to move you beyond your fears so that we may make the love of God known throughout the world…

Not only with our words…

But with our lives as well!

*Bourgeault, Cynthia. The Wisdom Jesus: Transforming Heart and Mind: A New Perspective on Christ and His Message. Boston: Shambhala, 2008. 20-21.

Through Stained Glass--Birds: Buntings and Grosbeaks

The rain is calming.

It is steady but falling gently.

If you silence the chirping birds, you can almost hear the grass and the flowers and the weeds growing. Drenched in rain, they are singing the song God the Creator has put in them.

Recently, I sat with a friend and watched the falling rain; my friend (he or she) pointed out, “Isn’t the best feeling the splash from the rain hitting the ground?”

I suppose so.

After the long fall from far above, a raindrop hitting the ground isn’t violent. It’s calming.

As I write this, Silas is snoozing at my feet. I watch his golden coat turn a dark copper red the longer he lies in the rain. His nose to the air, he sniffs a mystery my nose can’t solve—some faint spring perfume drifting in the wind. I wonder what he dreams. I wonder what he feels.

Two days ago, an oriole fed at my hummingbird nectar. Twice the size of the feeder, itself, I watched him drink deep before he departed for the next leg of his journey. “Where have you come from, friend? To where are you flying?,” I thought as I looked at him. I hope he gets to wherever he is going safely.

Today, two of my favorite birds found their way to my makeshift aviary: indigo buntings. In addition to their striking blue feathers, I am fond of this little bird because of their song, which is full of wonder and awe for life. “What! What! Where? Where? See it! See it!” That’s what they sing. Like Silas, they don’t mind the rain. Neither do they seem bothered by their neighbors: the cardinal, the yellow finch, and—a new favorite—the rose-breasted grosbeak. What community do you have? What are you teaching me?

At this moment, I am astonished by the colors in my backyard: copper, crimson, amber, saffron, indigo, cream, ivory, and jade. All these fancy words, but there’s no need for them; the colors are pure… they are gentle: red, yellow, blue, white, and green. Who knew heaven was right outside my back door?

Chances are good that by the end of the day, I’ll lament at least once that the rain means I’ll have to start my cantankerous lawnmower. But that’s for then when the chirps and songs of my feathered friends will be interrupted by the ballads of small engines that mow the dandelions into oblivion, and life will be back to its usual, hectic self. But that’s for then when the gentleness will turn to jaggedness.

All these simple, often unnoticed glimpses of grace will be gone…until the next time, I take the time to set aside the ‘work’ and watch the world go by.

With all of this, I can’t help but turn to Psalm 8:

 “O Adonai, our Sovereign,

    how majestic is your name in all the earth!”

 “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?”

That’s the good news, friends. God has gifted us with creation. It isn’t meant to be used or exploited but cherished and loved in a way that all of creation is celebrated, honored, and adored.

How will you celebrate creation? How will you name God’s presence? Or maybe you need to ‘let go’ of something to delight in God’s goodness.

Perhaps we could be like the bunting; perhaps we might sing our own song and tune... but—just maybe—we might sing with them in one, common lyric, “See it! See it!”

the quality is poor, but here are the birds mentioned in the post