Advent Examen ~ Jars of Clay, Worlds Apart

Hear the Jars of Clay “Worlds Apart” lyrics.
Hear the prayer questions to our Triune God.
Hear the prayer questions to ourselves.

Ask someone to read the lyrics to you

while your eyes are closed

while you’re aware of your heart beat

while you’re breathing is smooth and deep

Ask the person you invited to read this to you to sit next to you

be aware that

your shoulders are touching

your bended knees are touching

Invite God to sit on the other side of you

be aware that

your shoulders are touching

your bended knees are touching

Worlds Apart

I am the only one to blame for this.

Somehow it all adds up the same.

Soaring on the wings of selfish pride,

I flew too high

and like Icarus I collide with a world

I try so hard to leave behind.

To rid myself of all but love.


To give and die.


To turn away and not become


another nail to pierce the skin. 

To pierce the skin 

of one who loves
more deeply than the oceans.

To pierce the skin 

of one who loves
more abundant than the tear of a world.

To pierce the skin

of one who

embraces every heartache.

Can I be the one to sacrifice?

Or...Am I the one to grip the spear

and watch the blood and water flow?

To love you ~ take my world apart.

To need you ~ I am on my knees.

To love you ~ take my world apart.

To need you ~ broken on my knees.

All said and done

I stand alone
Among the remains of a life I should not own.

It takes all I am  to believe
In the mercy that covers me.

Did you really have to die for me?

All I am for all you are because

what I need and what I believe are worlds apart.

I look beyond the empty cross


forgetting what my life has cost


and wipe away the crimson stains


and dull the nails that still remain.

More and more I need you now.

I owe you more each passing hour.

The battle between grace and pride


I gave up not so long ago.

Steal my heart. 

Take the pain.


Wash the feet. 

Cleanse my pride.


Take the selfish. 

Take the weak.


Take all the things I cannot hide.


Take the beauty. 

Take my tears.


Take this sin-soaked heart and make it yours.

Take my world apart.

Take it now.

Take it now.

Serve the ones that I despise.

Speak the words I can't deny.

Watch the world

I used to love

turn to dust and fall away.

I pray, 

and I pray, 

and I pray


take my world apart.

Jars of Clay from the album Jars of Clay, 1995





Be still your soul with this a while…

The three of you read this together…

hear the others’ voices sing this prayer

hear your voice sing this prayer

"Oh Thou, 

from whom the breath of life comes,

who fills all realms of sound, 

light 

and vibration.

May Your light be experienced in my utmost holiest.

Your Heavenly Domain approaches.

Let Your will come true - 

In the universe

 (all that vibrates)
just as on earth 

(that is material and dense).

Give us wisdom 

(understanding, assistance) 

for our daily need,

detach the fetters of faults that bind us,
like we let go the guilt of others.

Let us not be lost in superficial things

(materialism, common temptations),

but let us be freed 

from that what keeps us off 

from our true purpose.

From You comes the all-working will, 

the lively strength to act,
the song that beautifies all 

and renews itself from age to age.

Sealed in trust, 

faith 

and truth.
(I confirm with my entire being)

~ The Prayer To Our Father
(in the original Aramaic)

Praying with the Lord's Prayer ~ The Genesis Story on the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception Part One

Ah man…

There is so much for me in this Genesis story.

We heard it on the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception.  Let’s read it again. 

When they heard the sound of the LORD God 
moving about in the garden at the breezy time of the day, 
the man and his wife 
hid themselves from the LORD God 
among the trees of the garden.


The LORD God then called to the man and asked him,

 “Where are you?”

He answered,

“I heard you in the garden;
but I was afraid, because I was naked,
so I hid myself.”

Then he asked, 

“Who told you that you were naked?

The man replied,

 “The woman whom you put here with me
she gave me fruit from the tree, and so I ate it.”

The LORD God then asked the woman,

“Why did you do such a thing?”

The woman answered, 

“The serpent tricked me into it, so I ate it.”

~ Genesis 3:  8-13

Now, I believe so whole heartedly 

our Triune God is all knowing.

I believe so whole heartedly

our Triune God is all forgiving.

I believe so whole heartedly

our Triune God is Love.

With that said,  ask someone to read this passage to you 

while your eyes are closed

while you’re aware of your heart beat

while you’re breathing is smooth and deep


Hear, again, Jesus asking, "How do you read it?"
~ Luke 10: 26
"What are you thinking in your heart?"
~ Luke 5:  22

Ask the person you invited to read this to you to sit next to you

Be aware that

your shoulders are touching

your bended knees are touching

Invite God to sit on the other side of you

Be aware that

your shoulders are touching

your bended knees are touching

 “Where are you?”

 

“I heard you in the garden;
but I was afraid, because I was naked,
so I hid myself.”

“Who told you that you were naked?

 “The woman whom you put here with me
she gave me fruit from the tree, and so I ate it.”

“Why did you do such a thing?”

“The serpent tricked me into it, so I ate it.”

~ Genesis 3:  9-13

Be still your soul with this a while…

The three of you read this together…

hear the others’ voices sing this prayer

hear your voice sing this prayer

"Oh Thou, 

from whom the breath of life comes,

who fills all realms of sound, 

light 

and vibration.

May Your light be experienced in my utmost holiest.

Your Heavenly Domain approaches.

Let Your will come true - 

In the universe

 (all that vibrates)
just as on earth 

(that is material and dense).

Give us wisdom 

(understanding, assistance) 

for our daily need,

detach the fetters of faults that bind us,
like we let go the guilt of others.

Let us not be lost in superficial things

(materialism, common temptations),

but let us be freed 

from that what keeps us off 

from our true purpose.

From You comes the all-working will, 

the lively strength to act,
the song that beautifies all 

and renews itself from age to age.

Sealed in trust, 

faith 

and truth.
(I confirm with my entire being)

~ The Prayer To Our Father
(in the original Aramaic)

Teach me to pray ~ Encouragement before we share Exodus and the Canaanite Woman

Beautiful prayers presented in the Gospels lately.  Listen to these passages as we prepare our Exodus and the Canaanite Woman prayer sharing:

Mark 10:35-45.  We'll hear this Gospel this Sunday at Mass ~ October 18th, 2009

THIS IS THE LINE THAT HITS ME HARD when I ask Jesus to teach me to pray.  Just look at how he answers a question?  Ah man...I cried...

Emmanuel

(Jesus) said to them, 'What is it you want me to do for you?'

Luke 10:25-37 from October 5th, 2009

Jesus said to him, "What is written in the law? How do you read it?"

Listen to that!  wow...see where I am going with this? Please, tell me what you think...what you're feeling...

I really didn't mean to take any more time from your day; BUT!  hehehe

WARNING ~ tangent

I received some feedback recently concerning this journal I am sharing with you.  I heard the person say something like this, "your stream of consciousness (drives me crazy!)."  Ah man...that is really who I am...it is really how I pray...

I tried very hard to make this post short, succinct,  to the point...well, there you have it brothers and sisters!

alright

alright alright

Look for Mark 8 right around verse 22.  I cry...

Jesus asked, "Do you see anything?"

We'll get into everything else about this most exquisite healing story later.  I LOVE IT!

Look at all the questions.  THAT is prayer for me.  

lectio divina

Talking with God.  

Asking Questions.  

Listening to God.  

Answering God's questions

We've already shared God asking the first two persons, "Where are you?"  We've already shared Jesus asking us, "Who do the crowds say I am?"  Moses asking God, "Who do I say sent me?"  Did we talk about Abraham asking God questions ~ "what if there are 50...?" ~ while sitting with God on the hill overlooking Sodom?  I should check our archives...THAT story is so important to me.

Ah man...one more thing...

Could all the questioning be like a child?  Didn't Jesus embrace the children in a story encouraging us to come to God as a child?  

God bless you.  Thank you for your patience.  Let's pray about the Exodus story and the Canaanite Woman remembering to ask questions...to listen...to hear God's questions...to answer God's questions...

Before closing for the night...go back to Jesus asking the Expert in the Law, "How do you read it?"  Let's feel encouraged to let our Holy Spirit rest in our hearts while reading the Exodus and the Canaanite Woman stories.  let me just ask this...Have you found the link I LOVE in the two stories?  You might not like me when I finally get there...

Time for me to sit back...rest...breathe and sigh

The Transfiguration

I am changing my mind. This blog is my daily journey through scripture. However I want to begin that format with a significant Church Calendar date. Until then, hear about significant scripture to me. Please engage me with your experiences. Otherwise this blog is for naught. Each passage I will share in the next few days brought me to "God is Love" and "teach me to pray."

I start with "teach me to pray." I find Contemplative Prayer, Meditation, and Prayer in Action, prayer in work ~ ora et labora ~ throughout God's Word. I start with The transfiguration.

I am struck by how often people in Jesus’ company asked him to teach them to pray. I imagine Jesus’ confusion ~ perhaps astonishment is the better term ~ when he realized that his companions perceived barriers when simply trying to pray. I hope that, today, I can simply pray.

Jesus invited a few of his closest friends to join him in prayer. “While (Jesus began) praying his face changed in appearance and his clothing became dazzling white. And behold, two men were conversing with him, Moses and Elijah…(Luke 9: 28-36)” One part important to me continues with Luke’s 33^rd line, “Peter said to Jesus, ‘Master, it is good that we are here; let us make three tents, one for you, one for Moses, and, one for Elijah.’ While he was still speaking, a cloud came and cast a shadow over them ~ all of them including Peter, John and James ~ and they became frightened as they entered the cloud.”

They were praying when “they entered the cloud” but, perhaps, too frightened to notice; too busy “making three tents” to Be Still in full contemplative prayer with Jesus.

I imagine that every time Jesus prayed, he transfigured. Jesus’ contemplative prayer experience was so different than his friends’ experience upon “entering the cloud” that he must’ve realized 1) his true uniqueness and 2) the depth of “teach us to pray.”

I feel this could be one of the loneliest times for the Man Jesus. I can only imagine how alone the Divine Jesus may still feel when those of us spending so much time walking with Him are intimidated by intimate prayer.

Jesus’ mission is even clearer to him at this time: teach all to pray without fear, to talk with God without fear, to love God and each other so completely without fear. Be prepared to pray “to death, even to death on a cross.”

my heart beats and i sigh