ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGS
September 16, 2022
Rev. Bruce Barkhauer heads up the Center for Faith and Giving for our denomination. He puts together some wonderful material for rethinking what it means to bring all of our gifts to God’s service. Recently, a line in one of his prayers struck me. The line was:
Still our squirrelly minds, help us settle into this time, focused and eager.
I love the request for God to still our squirrelly minds. I don’t know about you, but I find it to be a fairly accurate description. Other times, a hamster-like mind might be more appropriate, as it feels as if I’m on the squeaky wheel that goes nowhere.
This is where I find Breath Prayers to be extraordinarily helpful. The practice is never perfect, but the combination of focusing on my breath and offering repetitive lines of a prayer can help me “rise above” the craziness of life and its many distractions. I put the words “rise above” in quotes because I’m not too sure if I’m rising above or going deeper or being transported somewhere else or something completely different. All I know is that I find moments of clarity and focus on the things of God, without my brain looking like the squirrel that was darting back and forth at the edge of the street, totally indecisive in regard to whether it would cross.
As you breathe in: Center me, O Holy One
As you breathe out: In your loving presence
