Daily Prayer

Our normal daily pattern at the Companionary is to pray together at 7 a.m., 12 noon, 5 p.m., and 8 p.m., plus Eucharist at 8:30 a.m.  For five years we've used the St. Helena Breviary at Matins and Vespers, and adapted resources from other places at Compline.  We sit in meditation at noonday.

Lately we've been restless with the Breviary.  There's a lot to love there, but there's still some theology that's hard to take even in gender-neutral language.  We wanted to experiment but weren't sure how to go.  So God stepped in, in the form of Ernesto Medina.  Ernesto is a priest in Nebraska, who is part of our covenant group this year.  He shared in creating a prayer book for "busy people" that follows the pattern of the offices in a brief format.  It's called Daily Prayer for All Seasons (Church Publishing, 2014).  It's inclusive, not neutral.  It's inclusive across cultures as well as as genders.  It's beautiful.  And it's brief!

We are experimenting this summer by using this lovely book.  It's challenging to not say psalms, to not follow the daily lectionary.  (I'm reading the lectionary readings on my own each morning instead.). I'm sure I will miss the standard canticles.  But I really want to sink into the potential that is offered here.  Plus, since they have the office of None, I now have a 3 p.m. pause built into my day!

It's so easy to get restless with the same old routine, and so hard to let go and do something new.  I'm grateful to Ernesto for sending us this just when we were ready to try something.  I'm grateful to the committee who gathered and shaped the material, and to the Holy Spirit who inspired the writers.

Let me recommend this to you busy people who want to pray.  Ten minutes at a time, sometimes two, is enough.  Start with one office at each end of the day.  Carry the book with you and dip in during a coffee break.  It's better than checking your email - or reading this post!

Blessings on your journey.  Let us know what you find.