I won! I took a survey for a vendor and they awarded me a $25 gift certificate. How great is that? They got their money's worth from it for sure. I spent an hour on their website perusing the options. I found several things our library ought to own and didn't and sent a request for purchase. What fun spending that gift certificate! Not to mention finding out about some resources I was unfamiliar with.
I selected Phyllis Tickle's Divine Hours pocket edition. It arrived yesterday, and today I delved in with both feet. I have always wanted to experience praying the hours of the day, but the resources I have looked at have been complicated and hard to follow. She puts things in today's language, with a format that is easy to navigate. Short little five minute capsules. Add instructions on how to sing or chant the selected passages from Psalms and the hymns and voila! Something I can do.
How unprepared I was for the impact of this simple discipline. Reading these familiar words packaged in this way reached deep into the fabric of my being, fulfilling such a vacuum that I did not know existed. How like being served a wholesome gourmet meal after a diet of McDonald's!
There was no temptation to rush through the words or mindlessly blather them without thinking about what I was saying. No. I wanted to savor every drop, to wring significance from every syllable, to roll about in my understanding the whole enchilada until I was satisfied that I had extracted every ounce of meaning.
Yet when the same words surfaced again and again, it was as if I knew them intimately and at the same time did not know them at all. Always there is more to nourish my heart, more to touch my being, chords to vibrate in spaces where no sound has been heard.
I like this. I find it difficult sometimes to be alone so I can sing the exercises five times a day (I forgo the midnight and 3 am readings). I am jealous of my privacy. I will not share this dessert with anyone else. I carry the pocket edition with me so I can steal the time I need. And I order the full edition. I want more. I am hungry with an appetite that will not soon be satisfied. I have many years of famine to make up for.
I encourage you to try it. I would not be surprised if you found it every bit as wonderful as I do.
2 comments:
Dear Esther, you are a gift to me. Every time I read your blog (i.e., every time you write), I am drawn closer to God. Today I am reminded of the promise: "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled." I hope you are enjoying the sunshine today both within and without.
Our pastor suggested wearing a watch that makes one little sound on the hour and when it goes off to offer a prayer to God...privately if one is alone, or if one is at home, with the family. Everyone who tried it agreed it was powerful.
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