Monthly Archives: May 2018

Another bit of Evening prayer

Additional Evening Prayers for the Mobile Chapel of St Scholastica

Begin with a chant like
Be still And know that I am God,  or similar

Silent reflection on remembered Bible or an encounter from the day, or examen

A magnificat

The Spirit in me, makes God grow bigger and bigger:
I am happy that God is my life line and that God continues to remember me,
the least important of God’s servants.

From now on people will call me blessed
For the amazing things God has done in my presence, lifting up the poor, the marginalised, those considered outsiders,
And putting down the rich, the arrogant, those who show no remorse, who neglect justice: sending them away with nothing.
I remember my forbears and those faithful ones: God forever keeps faith forever.

I see the evening sun go down
I await the rising of the morning Son

Peace be on us and for all for whom we pray.

Janet Lees,  at Launde Abbey,  31.05.2018

Evening prayer

The proposed order of Evening Prayer for the Mobile Chapel of St Scholastica

Begin with a chant like
Kindle a flame, (and light one if you wish),
Or Jesus remember me, or similar.

Silent reflection on remembered Bible or an encounter from the day, or examen.

Nunc dimitiss
God let your servant go in peace,
According to your promise
For I have seen the life line you have provided for me in front of everyone,
To be a light to all outsiders,
And for your unending glory.

God grant us a quiet night

And a peaceful end

Janet Lees at Launde Abbey,  29.05.2018

A walking blessing

Alongside the conversations about the weather and dogs, the usual stuff of walking encounters, may you also be blessed:

As the wind ruffles each counted hair,
Each bird’s graceful wing
And each tree’s leafy branch:
May the Creator bless you.

As the wind pushes you along
Or tugs you at each crossroads
Echoing the Call
May the Son bless you

As the wind roars or whispers,
Rocks or caresses,
Carrying back the sound of wild geese,
May the Spirit bless you.

May the Holy Three,
Create, call and sustain you
Today and everyday.

In our life and our believing
The love of God

The lost cow

I found a lost child’s toy at a bus stop in the North of England. It was a plastic cow with only one leg. I wondered what story might be behind its loss. If you like the story of the Lost Sheep maybe you’d like this one too.

When I lost it
Mum was mad.
The bus pulled up
And I was sad.
Now one legged
And all alone
Who will bring
The lost cow home?

Inner Farne

St Cuthbert died on Inner Farne and there is a small chapel dedicated to him amongst the seasonal migrating seabirds:

Strong stomached were the saints
Who to Inner Farne for solitude came.
Annually their congregations would increase
With raucous crowds of visiting terns.
Today the pilgrims brave the seas,
Salute the seals, gasp at the maid’s brave route,
And gently tread their way to the chapel door.
Mindful of the egg strewn path,
Where Cuthbert still cradles Oswald’s head.
On the rim of the font in the yard,
An artic tern, an epic voyager,
catches my eye before soaring skywards.
Try it, you might like it, it seems to cry.

In our life and our believing
The love of God

Inner Farne 23.05.2018

At Bamburgh

Today’s prayers are from a visit to St Aidan’s church, Bamburgh, where Aidan is said to have died. There is a memorial there to him who came from Iona and founded the first monastic community at Lindisfarne. Bamburgh was also the place of birth and death of Grace Darling, hero.

Shrouded in mist and emerging from memory we remember the saints of the North, who in charity, fortitude and hope kept the faith in their own day that we may have it to pass on in ours.

For the example of Aidan, the faithful:
Lord have Mercy
For the example of Oswald, headless of his own safety:
Lord have Mercy
For the example of Grace, courageous and selfless:
Lord have Mercy

Whatever faith you have, use it like Aidan.
Whatever purpose you have pursue it like Oswald.
Whatever strength you have deploy it as courageously as Grace.
Whatever life you have live it fully to the Glory of God.

As the fog shrouds the coast in mist and gentle rain waters the land, remember, whether you can see them or not:
Deep peace of the running wave to you,
Deep peace of the quiet earth to you,
Deep peace of the shinning stars to you,
Deep peace of the Son of peace to you

(traditional blessing)

In our life and our believing 
The love of God 

Bamburgh 22.05.3018

God is our refuge

Today’s prayers begin with a bit of a remembered psalm:

God is our refuge and strength, a present help in trouble

At the first refuge box

As the tide rises
God is our refuge.
As the tide falls
God is our strength.
As the posts mark the way
God is present, our companion.

See the small pools and the mud:
God’s own for the world.
See the posts and the pilgrims:
God’s own for the world.
See the way and the footsteps :
It is God’s way and we will try to follow it.

In the boiler house chapel of St Cuthbert

It’s still OK to take stuff with me
From the tradition in which I grew,
It’s still OK to travel onwards,
Explore, be challenged, encounter new.
It’s still OK to leave stuff here now
In this warming tiny cell.
It’s still OK, someone may want it:
Hear the echo: All is well.

Back at the refuge box

Across the sands the seals sing
By the bridge the Heron stands
Keeping pace with the tide times
The pilgrims cross the sands.

Be still And know that I am God

Now in this small refuge,
God is close to me,
Encouraging my resting,
Still as the flat calm sea.

On Holy Island,  21.05.2018

Holy Island Retreat

This is my first retreat in Bambi. I’ve come back to Holy Island where I took retreats earlier in my time as Chaplain.

Some say it is a thin place
Where heaven and earth come close to meeting.
For me, that can be any place at all
If you tune into the sense of it.
Flat salt marshes, wavy dunes,
The detritus of the tide and
The light falling as the sun sinks westward.
Above the sound of the east coast main line rushing on
A linnet sings.
Then the Greylag geese fly in,
Calling to each other companionably.

In our life and our believing
The love of God