Prayer in the Night

Prayer in the Night: For Those Who Work or Watch or Weep by Tish Harrison Warren


“What I most love about this line—’and give hour angels charge over those who sleep’—is that it pulls together supernatural cosmic strangeness and the most quotidian of human activities: sleeping.” With that, and other carefully chosen words, Tish Harrison Warren proves once again in Prayer in the Night that she is a master of revealing glimpses of how our lives in the temporal sphere meet the eternal one.
In her opening note she tells us that wisdom is a “slow work”, and it is. Painfully so at various times and in various relationships in our lives. To guide us through this slow work, she walks us through the Prayer at Compline in The Book of Common Prayer:

Keep watch, dear Lord, with those who work, or watch,
or weep this night, and give your angels charge over
those who sleep. Tend the sick, Lord Christ; give rest to
the weary, bless the dying, soothe the suffering, pity the
afflicted, shield the joyous; and all for your love's sake.
Amen.

She helps us to see how prayer and faith are related; “Faith, I’ve come to believe, is more craft than feeling. And prayer is our chief practice in the craft.” With each phrase or word of the prayer, she reminds us to whom we pray, of his goodness toward those for whom we pray, including ourselves, and our work that proceeds from this prayer. Works of belief, rest, struggle, as well as justice and mercy.

I could have, and practically did, underline the entire chapter, “Shield the Joyous”. I tend to see the dark and twisty side of life too easily. I practice pessimism as naturally as a child is afraid of the dark. To petition my Creator to “shield the joyous”, feels foreign to me. The other shoe always seems to drop and who am I to get out of its way. But I miss the mark when I practice my faith this way. I miss “intentionally and habitually open[ing] [my]self to God’s unconditional love…and practice living in the reality that his love is deeper and more substantial than any need we could present to God.” The practice of joy and asking for it to be shielded “is a vulnerable and courageous choice.” It is the slow work of wisdom. Warren reminds me not only who I am, His Beloved, and that I can pray this petition, but the loving Father of whom I am asking.

As with Liturgy of the Ordinary, Prayer in the Night is a book to be read both in one gulp and then re-read slowly, thoughtfully and practiced. This is the first book I’ve read in 2021. I look forward to re-reading this throughout the year with pen and notebook in hand.

I received an ARC from the publisher.


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Prepare

Come, ye thankful people, come,

Raise the song of harvest-home:

All is safely gathered in,

Ere the winter storms begin;

God, our Maker, doth provide

For our wants to be supplied:

Come to God's own temple, come,

Raise the song of harvest-home.

Cooler days and nights, day's clear blue noon sky, evening sun with its rays angled, turning all to gold...the coming of  Fall. Not sure why but for some reason it always brings out the homemaker in me. I cook ahead, bring out the old fall decor and attempt a few new to add to the collection, and for some reason in the far corners of my mind,  "all is safely gathered in, 'ere the winter storm begins", plays quietly.The collage shows my attempts over the past few days to do just that... just knowing that a few things are done to bring 'glory and beauty' (thanks for the reminder, Chris) to our home encourages me to be grateful for so much in my life. Being prepared, both actively and passively, seem to foster that gratitude. Sometimes you prepare and know why you are preparing , sometimes you are prepared unknowingly and for a task that hasn't entered your thoughts; God prepares us in ways we don't recognize. And while preparation is important, our women's Bible study reminded me of something far more important. Our study of Joseph serving in Egypt emphasized the point that God was with him, and Joseph, having plenty of time, recognized this. So it is with His people.  The reminder came just in time...a dear friend was diagnosed with breast cancer. Yep, the 'C' word. But, caught early.  She, I, our families and friends are prepared, but more importantly we know God is with us. And in the days to come we hope to attentively recognize how He is with us, as well as, taking the time to remember,  it is not because of ourselves, or what we have or haven't done, but because He say so.   And that in and of itself is our preparation and enables us to sing.

Joy in the Journey and Jesus Let Us Come To Know You

There was no Joy in [my] Journey. There was anything but. These songs came during what was in my life, a period of time that was soul-crushingly difficult. Over the course of a year I lost a lifelong young friend to ovarian cancer, dealt with my husband's brain surgery and partial hearing loss, wrestled with marital difficulties, and then after a head-on collision faced almost four months of bed-rest in order to keep my younger daughter alive, well, and in the womb. After the collision I remember bewilderingly, hopelessly asking God, "What are You doing?". That's when I began to learn that what I longed for and still do is to see His face.

Jesus let us come to know you
Let us see you face to face
Touch us, hold us, use us, mold us
Only let us live in you Jesus draw us every nearer
Hold us in your loving arms
Wrap us in your gentle presence
And when the end comes bring us home

Answers may come but what I wanted and still do is to simply see His face.  And knowing that I will  is what teaches me that there is Joy in the Journey.

There is a joy in the journey
There's a light we can love on the way
There is a wonder and wildness to life
And freedom for those who obey

And all those who seek it shall find it
A pardon for all who believe
Hope for the hopeless and sight for the blind

To all who've been born in the Spirit
And who share incarnation with Him
Who belong to eternity stranded in time
And weary of struggling with sin

Forget not the hope that's before you
And never stop counting the cost
Remember the hopelessness when you were lost

There is a joy in the journey
There's a light we can love on the way
There is a wonder and wildness to life
And freedom for those who obey

And freedom for those who obey...