PRAYER TAKES PLACE IN THE MIDDLE VOICE

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Prayer and spirituality feature participation, the complex participation of God and the human, his will and our wills. We do not abandon ourselves to the stream of grace and drown in the ocean of love, losing identity. We do not pull the strings that activate God’s operations in our lives, subjecting God to our assertive identity. We neither manipulate God (active voice) nor are manipulated by God (passive voice). We are involved in the action and participate in its results but do not control or define it (middle voice). Prayer takes place in the middle voice.

Eugene Peterson
The Contemplative Pastor

THERE IS SOMETHING

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Holy One,
there is something I wanted to tell you
but there have been errands to run,
bills to pay,
arrangements to make,
meetings to attend,
friends to entertain,
washing to do…
and I forget what it is I wanted to say to you,
and mostly I forget what I’m about,
or why.
O God,
don’t forget me, please,
for the sake of Jesus Christ….

O Father in Heaven,
perhaps you’ve already heard what I wanted to tell you.
What I wanted to ask is
forgive me,
heal me,
increase my courage, please.
Renew in me a little of love and faith,
and a sense of confidence,
and a vision of what it might mean
to live as though you were real,
and I mattered,
and everyone was sister and brother.

What I wanted to ask in my blundering way is
don’t give up on me,
don’t become too sad about me,
but laugh with me,
and try again with me,
and I will with you, too.

What I wanted to ask is
for peace enough to want and work for more,
for joy enough to share,
and for awareness that is keen enough to sense your presence
here,
now,
there,
then,
always.

Ted Loder 
Guerrilas of Grace
Adapted and reprinted in Sacred Rhythms by Ruth Haley Barton

IDENTITY AS DEEPLY LOVED BY GOD

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God’s love for you has nothing to do with your behavior. Neither our faithfulness nor your unfaithfulness alters Divine love in the slightest degree.

Whether we realize it or not, our being is grounded in God’s love, the generative love of God is our origin.

Love is our identity and calling, for we are children of Love. Created from love, of love and for love, our existence makes no sense apart from Divine love.

Our identity is who we experience ourselves to be - the I each of us carries within. An identity grounded in God would mean that when we thank of who we are, the first thing that would come to mind is our status as someone who is deeply loved by God.

David Benner
The Gift of Being Yourself