Which Lights All Things & Gives Rest

May 30, 2016May 30, 2016 by nance In Quotable Leave a comment

This week I’m going to meditate on this Wendell Berry poem and use the last line as a breath prayer. I’ve felt a bit aimless of late when attempting to pray or even just sit quietly. Having something to focus on usually helps.

If you’re unfamiliar with breath prayer, it’s pretty simple. It’s an ancient Christian practice, dating back to at least the 6th century in the Greek and Russian orthodox churches. Early practitioners would repeat to the rhythm of their breath the phrase, “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me a sinner.”

Basically you pay attention to your breathing and focus on a word or phrase as you breathe in and another (or the same) as you breathe out.

Teach me work that honors Thy work,
the true economies of goods and words,
to make my arts compatible
with the songs of the local birds.

Teach me patience beyond work
and, beyond patience, the blest
Sabbath of Thy unresting love
which lights all things and gives rest.

Yesterday I set a timer for ten minutes and this is what it looked like for me:

First, I just breathed in as I said the phrase to myself “You light all things” and as I breathed out, I thought “and give rest.” I did that for a couple minutes. When ~~my kids kept interrupting me~~ I felt distracted or other thoughts crept in, I pictured the intrusive thoughts coming in like the ocean’s tide with my breath and then receding back out to sea as I breathed out.

Next I thought about specific things as I breathed in & out. Things I wanted to hold before God. Like this:

My Dad’s health