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For The Peoples of the World

St. Michael-Arild Rosenkrantz

For The Peoples of the World

O Christ, Thou knowest
The souls and spirits
Whose deeds have woven
Each country’s destiny.

May we who today
Share the world’s life
Find the strength and the light
Of thy servant Michael.

And our hearts be warmed
By Thy blessing, O Christ,
That our deeds may serve
The healing of peoples.

Adam Bittleston
in Meditative Prayers for Today

 

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Midsummer Verse

Painting by Silvia Gorr

St. John the Baptist
(Midsummer)

Thou herald spirit, by the Father’s grace
Abiding witness to the Light of Lights,
Look on our seeking.

All we have done on earth has left its trace,
And all we say sounds on for spirit ears.
Help at our judging.

Baptizer of the waking soul, lead out
Our lives from barren conflict in the dark
Into Christ’s presence.

Let sound the music of thy faithful heart,
Prophet of days to come, for brother men,
Unto Christ’s glory.

–Adam Bittleston

 

 

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A Prayer for One’s Country

Mother Earth – NASA

Prayer for One’s Country (adapted)

–Adam Bittleston

O Christ, Thou knowest
The souls and spirits
Whose deeds have woven
This land’s destiny.

May we who today
Are bearers of this destiny
Find the strength and the light
Of thy servant Michael.

And our hearts be warmed
By Thy blessing, O Christ,
That our deeds may serve
Thy work of world healing.

This appears as a “Prayer for Britain” in the 1966 edition of Meditative Prayers for Today by Adam Bittleston. It does not appear in the current edition, available at http://shop.steinerbooks.org/Title/9781782504672 . This much-loved collection can be used as a kind of breviary. From the description:

Growing into the daily use of these meditative prayers makes us conscious of how we stand in great world rhythms. We learn to follow the alternation of waking and sleeping, the ordering of the seven days of the week, and the course of the seasons, as gifts of heavenly powers gradually become known to us.

This is a small, elegant guide to aid meditation.

C O N T E N T S:

Introduction

PRAYERS:
Evening and morning
The week
The year
Earth
Against fear
For one who has died
Intercessory prayers
For children
The guardian angel
Blessing on a house
For a journey
For the peoples of the world
Grace before meals
Thanksgiving

A note about the Lord’s Prayer

This appears as a “Prayer for Britain” in the 1966 edition of Meditative Prayers for Today by Adam Bittleston. It does not appear in the current edition, available at http://shop.steinerbooks.org/Title/9781782504672 . This much-loved collection can be used as a kind of breviary. From the description:

Growing into the daily use of these meditative prayers makes us conscious of how we stand in great world rhythms. We learn to follow the alternation of waking and sleeping, the ordering of the seven days of the week, and the course of the seasons, as gifts of heavenly powers gradually become known to us.

This is a small, elegant guide to aid meditation.

C O N T E N T S:

Introduction

PRAYERS:
Evening and morning
The week
The year
Earth
Against fear
For one who has died
Intercessory prayers
For children
The guardian angel
Blessing on a house
For a journey
For the peoples of the world
Grace before meals
Thanksgiving

A note about the Lord’s Prayer

–Rev. Cindy Hindes

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How Painful?

Incarnazione–Ninette Sombart

“In the same way, I will not cause pain without allowing something new to be born,” says the Lord.
–Isaiah 66:9

“We are not necessarily doubting that God will do the best for us; we are wondering how painful the best will turn out to be.”

–C. S. Lewis

 

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Creator Said…

The universe only pretends to be made of matter. Secretly it is made of love.

Creator said, “I want to hide something from the humans until they are ready for it. It is the realization that they create their own reality.”

The eagle said, “Give it to me. I will take it to the moon.” Creator said, “No. One day they will go there and find it.”

The salmon said, “I will bury it on the bottom of the ocean.” Creator said, No, they will go there, too.”

The buffalo said, “I will bury it on the Great Plains.” Creator said, “They will cut into the skin of the earth and find it even there.”

Grandmother who lives in the breast of Mother Earth and who has no physical eyes but sees with spiritual eyes, said, “Put it inside of them.” And Creator said, “It is done.”

 

– Creation story from the Hopi Nation, Arizona

Easter Prayer

Grunewald

Easter   II
Adam Bittleston

By His strong thought forgetfulness of God,
By His strong love the hatred of good,
By His pure life the bitterness of death,
Are overcome in depths of earth.
Time is no longer empty, through His deed;
In our heart’s beat His living grace awakes;
Into our house the Easter air is breathed
With joy that heals our blood.
Thou makest new our being that from God
Has made the long descent into the dark;
And as immortal brother Thou hast joined
The sojourners of earth.

Adam Bittleston’s Meditative Prayers for Today is available at Steinerbooks.org
http://shop.steinerbooks.org/Title/9781782504672

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Easter

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Saturday

Fra Angelico

Saturday:

            0 you fire, O you light,

            Help me, that in the dark house

            The light of Your light shine,

            lightening all darkness;

            Your warmth glow through it,

            O you fire, O you light!

                             -Sophie Michaelis

Saturday

-Adam Bittleston

O Christ, I remember with love and thankfulness

Those I have known

Who have passed through the gate of death.

I know that some of these have looked on my soul

From the realm in which their souls dwell.

I thank Thee for all I have received from them;

For Thou hast brought our lives to meet.

May my thoughts and feelings reach unto them through Thee;

May they add warmth and purpose

To my earthly life.

And may my meeting again with them

Be blessed by Thee.

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Friday

Collot d’Herbois

Friday:

You live in secret

and fill all your creatures

you work and reign

everything upon everything

and reveal yourself

In tenderness and beauty.

–Sophie Michaelis

Friday

–Adam Bittleston

Let me remember the servants of Christ

Who kept in their hearts

His will for the world.

Beneath the Cross, the beloved disciple

Winning from pain eternal patience,

Beholding in darkness the new beginning.

Paul, who endured all persecution,

Rejoicing in the freedom of the Christian soul.

Columba, through the dark and the cold

Journeying to build a faithful brotherhood.

Francis, overcoming the fear of leprosy,

And raising our vision to the beauty of earth.

Elizabeth, bringing red roses

Into the depths of need.

The work of the servants of Christ

Holds in it sure promise

For the future of earth.

May we protect

What they have planted.

Their power live

In words and deeds of ours.

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Washing His Disciples Feet – Leszek Forczek

 

Thursday:

You who open your clouds

and let your raindrops fall,

Work within us

the miracle of change,

that your earth

receive the waters of life

and its form be renewed.

–Sophie Michaelis

 

Thursday

–Adam Bittleston

O Christ, Thou readest

The living book of  human destiny.

In all who come to Thee

Thou knowest the inmost soul,

The body’s need, the spirit’s seeking.

In my thought of human beings

May I receive Thy light.

In my experience of human deeds

May I feel Thy will.

May we all, as Thy Community,

Find the right ways

For human souls

Who will to serve Thy Spirit.

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