end of year reflections...

Our final evensong of the academic year was on Sunday. Next weekend I take the Choir on tour to Slovakia and Moravia, and on our return we have a service for Graduation, which - if last year was anything to go by - will be the largest attendance of the year.  Then Summer Vacation - which for me includes working hard to complete a manuscript for pbn, helping out on Sundays at a couple of Churches without a Vicar, a trip to Greenbelt, a retreat and a couple of weeks of holiday with my son.

Things that have inspired me this year:
a couple of really adventurous services, like the Choir's rendition of Stravinsky's Symphony of Psalms, and the combination of Craig Armstrong and Gesualdo at the Tenebrae service.

readers who read the Bible as if it's a real book, not a holy text that needs a special voice (We have quite a few readers who are really good at this).

Various members of Chapel community who have seriously pitched in with creative ideas and effort to get things off the ground.

this prayer:

Disturb us, Lord,
when we are too well pleased with ourselves;
when our dreams have come true because we dreamed too little;
when we arrive safely because we sailed too close to the shore.

Disturb us, Lord, when with the abundance of things we possess
we have lost our thirst for the Waters of Life;
having fallen in love with life, we have ceased to dream of eternity;
and in our efforts to build a new earth,
we have allowed our vision of the new heaven to dim.

Disturb us, Lord, to dare more boldly -
to venture on wider seas where storms will show your mastery;
where losing sight of land, we shall find the stars.
We ask you push back the horizons of our hopes,
and to push us in the future with strength, courage, hope and love.

Comments

[Adele]

I believe this is a prayer by Ted Loder, a minister who writes wonderful prayers. His one book, Guerrillas of Grace is excellent.

[ConradGempf]

Shorter but similar is the line from Bruce Cockburn:
"Lord, spit in our eyes that we might see..."

[esworp]

Greenbelt! Woohoo!

Sorry, I'll get my coat...

[Paul Fromont]

Great prayer. Summer sounds like something for you to look forward too...

[Wes Roberts]

...blessings be your in abundance for the summer. You are often in our thoughts! Wes, for Judy, too

[Lorna]

Disturb us, Lord, when with the abundance of things we possess
we have lost our thirst for the Waters of Life;
having fallen in love with life, we have ceased to dream of eternity;
and in our efforts to build a new earth,
we have allowed our vision of the new heaven to dim.

This second part really hits home doesn't it? And I love it because God does disturb us when we pray like this!

[Kim Hardy]

Could someone comfirm who this poem is by..."Disturb us..." Whether it is actually Ted Loder?
Thank you.

[maggi]

Dear Kim, I have heard this attributed to Ted Loder, but the main body of the poem (in a slightly shorter version) is actually attributed to Francis Drake. It's not possible to be certain whether Drake actually wrote it, or whether he knew it and prayed it, but that's the usual story anyway. (Maybe Loder added the bit in the middle? I can't find any definite lead on that; it may be a mis-attribution. If anyone knows different I'd be glad to know!)