Prayers

Shaken and Shaking

/ Rev. Eric Anderson / Leave a comment

“He opposes and exalts himself above every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, declaring himself to be God. Do you not remember that I told you these things when I was still with you?” – 2 Thessalonians 2:4-5

I remember lots of things.
I remember grandiosity and pride.
I recall my own, of course,
and sometimes mourn its passing, though
more often I regret its resurrection.

I remember lots of things,
including those who, yes,
exalt themselves. They openly
accept the praise that’s due to God,
declaring that they stand for God.

What law except their own
will they obey? What limits place
upon their power and their pride?
What wisdom will they own except
the rules of ownership and privilege?

In times like these, I fear I may
be like your troubled friends
in Thessalonica, dear Paul.
With evil rampant, justice tossed aside,
I say: “Come Jesus, now, and bring us your relief.”

Though twenty centuries have passed
since Thessalonians cried out for the
same thing, dear Paul advises us the same:
Stand firm. Hold fast. Be filled with Spirit’s love.
And may God strengthen you in doing good.

A poem/prayer based on 2 Thessalonians 2:1-5, 13-17, the Revised Common Lectionary Second Reading for Year C, Proper 27 (32).

The image is The Apostle Saint Paul by El Greco (between 1610 and 1614; painting displayed at the El Greco Museum, Toledo, Spain – 1QEs4novinaf3A at Google Cultural Institute, zoom level maximum, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=29844105.

Up a Tree

/ Rev. Eric Anderson / 4 Comments

“So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore tree to see him, because he was going to pass that way.” – Luke 19:4

I didn’t think my hands could grip so tight.
I also didn’t think I’d ever be this high.
So let’s be clear that I regret this choice.
I wish I hadn’t scaled these heights.

Were I to fall, the people down below
would step aside. I grant you that not one
of them could cushion me. We’d both
be left in broken bones and tears upon the road.

I really wish I hadn’t climbed this high
into this tree or into my career.
I used to see my neighbors’ faces as
they doled out coins. Now I just see the coins.

Their faces turn away before I can
pronounce their names, but not before
I recognize their scorn, their bitter fear,
and their disgust at just how high I’ve gone.

Too high. Too high. When branches creak
at heights like this, the climber’s soul
sways unassuaged by creature comforts,
linen, gold, attentive slaves.

I got myself into this tree. I don’t know how
to get myself down to the ground.
My hands are knotted to this limb.
My breath is hoarse as I cling on.

Ignore me, Jesus, Just pass by.
Don’t look up. Don’t notice me.
Don’t speak. Don’t call. Don’t ask me anything.
Above all else, don’t ask me to come down.

A poem/prayer based on Luke 19:1-10, the Revised Common Lectionary Gospel Reading for Year C, Proper 26 (31).

The image is Zachée sur le sycomore attendant le passage de Jésus (Zacchaeus in the Sycamore Awaiting the Passage of Jesus) by James Tissot – Online Collection of Brooklyn Museum; Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 2008, 00.159.189_PS2.jpg, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=10904526.

What’s New, Beatitudes?

/ Rev. Eric Anderson / 8 Comments
A stone statue face of a woman with two tears dripping from her left eye.

“[Jesus said,] ‘But woe to you who are rich, for you have received your consolation.'” – Luke 6:24

What’s new, Beatitudes?
Woe, woe, woe!

OK, Jesus. I’ll get serious with you,
since you’ve got serious with me.
I’m hardly rich, you know
(except by global standards).
I’m hardly full, except when I’ve
scraped bare my dinner plate.
Nor do I laugh, except, of course
at my own jokes (a punster’s lot).
And people don’t speak well of me,
or, well, I guess they do. From time to time.

What’s new, Beatitudes?
Woe, woe, woe!

I’d claim I do not need
this list of warnings if
I could maintain the case
that I would honor them without them.
And… as I’m relatively rich,
and definitely full, and able to
make merry, granted honor that
is probably beyond my worth,
it looks as if I haven’t taken heed
of warnings you have made.

What’s new, Beatitudes?
Woe, woe, woe!

Well, bring them on, these challenges
to what I’ve done and do.
Charge me once again to love
my enemies and pray for them,
to do them good and not bring harm.
I’ll note they do not do the same for me.
I’d rather not be struck upon the cheek,
but if it comes, I’ll not strike back.
I’ll turn the other way, and wait,
and hope my tears dissuade a second blow.

A poem/prayer based on Luke 6:20-31, the Revised Common Lectionary Gospel Reading for Year C, All Saints Day.

The image is a detail of the figure of Mary Magdalene in the sculpture The Entombment of Christ in the Church of St. Martin, Arc-en-Barrois, France. Photo by User:Vassil – File:Sépulcre_Arc-en-Barrois_111008_12.jpg, CC BY 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=16942922.

Overcome

/ Rev. Eric Anderson / 4 Comments

“When the man saw that he did not prevail against Jacob, he struck him on the hip socket, and Jacob’s hip was put out of joint as he wrestled with him. Then he said, ‘Let me go, for the day is breaking.’ But Jacob said, ‘I will not let you go, unless you bless me.'” – Genesis 32:25-26

Breath in gasps,
Slipping grip,
growling throat,
flailing arms,
feet scraping the ground.

And suddenly

Hip on fire
Leg will not lever.

Hold on.

Hold on to win?
Hold on to survive.
Hold on to endure.
Victory passes in the night
in the unsocketed hip.

I will hold on, I say,
though daybreak come
and break me,
though night should fall again
and claim my fading sight.

I will hold on.
I will insist on blessing.
I will be overcome

And overcome.

A poem/prayer based on Genesis 32:22-31, the Revised Common Lectionary Alternative First Reading for Year C, Proper 24 (29).

The illustration is “Jacob Wrestling with the Angel” by Anonymous “Meister 1”, found in the World Chronicle by Rudolf van Ems (between 1350 and 1375) – Hochschul- und Landesbibliothek Fulda, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=23797771.

Take Your Watchpost

/ Rev. Eric Anderson / 2 Comments

“[Jesus said,] ‘Would you not rather say to him, “Prepare supper for me; put on your apron and serve me while I eat and drink; later you may eat and drink”?'” – Luke 17:8

Stand at your watchpost, Holy One, and see,
if I have brought your sustenance to table
where the hungry you have called are blessed
by word, and heart, and bread.

Stand at your watchpost, by the door,
to see if any leave with bellies pinched,
with faces sad, with spirits quenched.
See if your banquet has been served.

Stand at your watchpost, Jesus, to observe
if I have nurtured that so precious seed of faith
into a shelter for the birds and beasts and people.
O Jesus, have I grown my faith in you?

A poem/prayer based on Luke 17:5-10, the Revised Common Lectionary Gospel Reading for Year C, Proper 22 (27), with an additional nod to Habakkuk 1:1-4, 2:1-4.

The image is a photo of the shrine at the Tomb of Habakkuk in Tuyserkan, Iran. Photo by hamid3 – Own work, CC BY 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=99699676. The tower may date to the 11th or 12th centuries, an architect’s attempt to render Habakkuk’s vision of the watchtower.

Send Me

/ Rev. Eric Anderson / 5 Comments


“[Jesus said,] [The rich man] said, ‘Then I beg you, father, to send him [Lazarus] to my father’s house–for I have five brothers–that he may warn them, so that they will not also come into this place of torment.'” – Luke 16:27-28

O Holy One,

When I should find myself (again)
in torment I have made myself,
may my compassion and
my wisdom be enough to call
a warning to the ones I love,
and to the ones I don’t,
with my own voice, and not rely
upon the voice of those I have oppressed.

A poem/prayer based on Luke 16:19-31, the Revised Common Lectionary Gospel Reading for Year C, Proper 21 (26).

The image is “The Parable of the Rich Man and the Beggar Lazarus,” an illustration in the Codex Aureus Epternacensis (Golden Gospels), by the Master of Codex Aureus Epternacensis – The Yorck Project (2002) 10.000 Meisterwerke der Malerei (DVD-ROM), distributed by DIRECTMEDIA Publishing GmbH. ISBN: 3936122202., Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=155243.

Where is this Quiet and Peaceable Life?

/ Rev. Eric Anderson / 4 Comments
A mosaic image of the beheading of Saint Paul.


First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for everyone, for kings and all who are in high positions, so that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and dignity. – 1 Timothy 2:1-2

In a perfect world, prayer should have been enough
to win a quiet life in peace, in godliness and dignity.
In a perfect world, the Emperor would offer thanks for prayer,
would offer to his subjects tranquil peace.

But it is not a perfect world, now is it, Paul?
Instead of peace, the emperor presented you a sword,
and not to hold. It stilled your tongue, your pen,
your breath, and yes, your prayers.

We struggle still to pray for those who persecute
our neighbors and ourselves, whose hands
retain their firmest grip upon the sword, and strike
the pen, the lips, the breath, the prayers from us.

A poem/prayer based on 1 Timothy 2:1-7, the Revised Common Lectionary Second Reading for Year C, Proper 20 (25).

The image is of the mosaic including the beheading of Saint Paul in the Cathedral of Monreale, Sicily (ca. late 12th early 13th centuries). Photo by Holger Uwe Schmitt – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=128492483.

Value

/ Rev. Eric Anderson / 4 Comments

“[Jesus said,] ‘Or what woman having ten silver coins, if she loses one of them, does not light a lamp, sweep the house, and search carefully until she finds it?'”

What is the value of a single coin?
Not much today, when we make money
with printing upon paper, or with
electronic imagination.

What is the value of a single coin?
It might be little even in those ancient days,
unless, of course, it was a tenth
of everything she owned.

What is the value of a single coin?
It might be food to take me through the day,
or into a coming week,
or possibly next year.

What is the value of a single coin?
Enough to set me searching high and low,
to bear the cost of burning oil in the lamp,
to celebrate the sudden silver gleam amidst the dark.

What is the value of a single coin?
A better question might be this:
What is the value of a single human soul?
Enough, said Jesus, for the heavens to rejoice.

A poem/prayer based on Luke 15:1-10, the Revised Common Lectionary Gospel Reading for Year C, Proper 19 (24).

The image is Parable of the Lost Drachma by Domenico Fetti (1618) – Web Gallery of Art:   Image  Info about artwork, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=15453383.

Building

/ Rev. Eric Anderson / 1 Comment
A pen and ink drawing of a ruined wall and arch.


“[Jesus said,] ‘For which of you, intending to build a tower, does not first sit down and estimate the cost, to see whether he has enough to complete it? Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who see it will begin to ridicule him, saying, “This fellow began to build and was not able to finish.”‘” – Luke 14:28-30

What are we, Jesus, except people
(men, women, beyond the binary)
who have begun to build
and have not finished?

The Church may be your body, Jesus
(an image which you did not create),
but if it is, it’s a growing body.
Growing, perhaps, and barely born.

It’s a tower rising slowly.
Is there a course of stones
or even less above the ring
of the foundation?

How many Christ disciples
over the millennia
have hesitated, dropped their stones
before they’ve placed them on the wall?

It is no wonder that
so many ask derisively,
“Do you still hope to finish
this construction, grow this Church?

“The walls are fragile, trembling
in a gentle breeze. They waver
from their courses so that any stone
which rests upon them will inevitably fall.”

Well, Jesus, here’s my stone.
I’m not sure it’s well shaped.
I’m not sure it’s well placed.
But here it is. Long may it stand.

A poem/prayer based on Luke 14:25-33, the Revised Common Lectionary Gospel Reading for Year C, Proper 18 (23).

The image is captioned “Ruined Foundation at Jericho – the Jordan” in Through Bible Lands : notes of travel in Egypt, the desert, and Palestine (1878) by Schaff, Philip, 1819-1893 – https://www.flickr.com/photos/internetarchivebookimages/14578232189/ Source book page: https://archive.org/stream/throughbibleland00scha/throughbibleland00scha#page/n350/mode/1up, No restrictions, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=44116530.

I’m Waiting

/ Rev. Eric Anderson / 4 Comments

“[Jesus said,] ‘But when you are invited, go and sit down at the lowest place, so that when your host comes, he may say to you, “Friend, move up higher”; then you will be honored in the presence of all who sit at the table with you.'” – Luke 14:10

Is it fair to tell you I’m waiting, Jesus?
Yes, waiting for you to return in power.
Yes, waiting for resurrection’s dawn.
Yes, waiting for the Day of the Lord.

But I’m also waiting for your advice to work.

For truly, and sadly, I’m just as proud
as ever I was. When others are honored,
a part of me waits to hear my name called
though I know that it’s not about me.

But Jesus, you know, it’s still about me.

I’ve no cause to complain. I’m aware
that the praise I’ve received is more
than I’m due. I know it, and know I should head
for the end of the room, and take my place there,

But Jesus, you know I don’t like to be there.

I like the limelight, the spotlight, the office.
I like the small pond where my frog looks big.
I like it, and sure I’ve received it quite often.
I’ve heeded the summons of, “Friend, move up higher.”

But Jesus, I don’t always think I should be.

I can’t say I’ve bidden the poor to my table.
I can’t say I’ve done all the work I could do.
I can’t say I’ve lifted the spirits beside me.
I can’t say I’ve always been guided by you.

So Jesus, I’ll wait, and I’ll pray that you call.

A poem/prayer based on Luke 14:1, 7-14, the Revised Common Lectionary Gospel Reading for Year C, Proper 17 (22).

The illustration is The Parable of the Humble Wedding Guest (1782) by Bartsch, Adam Von (1757-1821), based on an unfinished drawing by Rembrandt van Rijn – http://hdl.handle.net/1887.1/item:1629982, CC BY 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=99478604.

Of all the temptations to which I’m subject, pride is the greatest.