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Prayer

daily prayer txt : sharing in my advent chronicles

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Takemylife
i am opening up my daily prayers to be shared with all who wish to be a part. what i've done, and am going to do, is send out a txt msg, once a day (usually in the mornings) with some part of my daily prayers through the rest of advent that spoke to me. could be a scripture, could be a quote, could be some names i am lifting up.. who knows. you don't have to respond back unless you want, but i share this as maybe this will be uplifting to you and a deeper meditation for me.

sign up to be a part of my daily prayers via text message

national youth worker convention : day one, set up day

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DSCN0197

today was set up day for much of the national youth workers convention. i was part of the labyrinth team, which is a first for me. i'm pretty excited to be a part of what folks experience within the lines of the labyrinth. this particular one is called the 'prayer path' which has guided audio. i don't particularly care for that part of it, i'm a classical labyrinth guy. this one is considered a contemporary labyrinth as well. i went though this labyrinth for the first time some 6 years ago & it was a powerful experience.

after finishing up with most of the labyrinth we got our lunch on, nothing major there. we did a major exploration of the various sauces available to you at chick-fil-a.

once we were back it was sanctuary set up time with lilly lewin. this proved more difficult than imagined. the room was sorta ordinary but with a bunch of doors and angles it was hard to make some focal points that didn't look out of place. some rigged up drapes & a few moves of our main altar we think we found a spot that evokes a little bit of the spirit for the many contemplative practices and hours of prayer.

ran into some great folks today, which is the highlight from getting to set up & prepare sacred spaces. eli roogles & i got reacquainted. we first met last year after being like the only two peeps who twittered the convention at that time (there are a lot more now). i got to meet jenn roogles too who mistakenly thought i was the drummer for the david crowder band last year (he must get mistaken for jack black too). finally, after i don't know how many years, i got to meet andy thompson when he & adam mclane stopped by the labyrinth to say hi. ran into old tennessee pal john stephens on the street, then in front of the ys store. on the way out i got a quick chat & hug with mike king as he was doing his traditional 'walk the crowd.' lastly, but who i didn't get to spend time with was chad crawford who is from the baptist church in my church's town. the neat story with chad, is that he & his family were displaced from hurricane katrina & he was the youth leader that was brought to nywc and given the royal treatment by the ys folks last time the convention was in nashville. he's a cool guy, but i needed to meet with some other folks to get my car out of a parking garage. there are other fine folks i ran into and met,

home now

check out my flickr set from the nywc '09 nashville for some more images of the convention

election prayer : prayer for the week

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i am praying this prayer, with some inspired improvisations that might come my way, up to tuesday. if you wish, join us. ken carter, who wrote this prayer is asking to spread it around.

Creator of us all:
you are the source of every blessing,
the judge of every nation
and the hope of earth and heaven.

We pray to you on the eve of this important and historic election.

We call to mind the best that is within us:

That we live under God,
that we are indivisible,
that liberty and justice extend to all.
We acknowledge the sin that runs through our history as a nation:

The displacement of native peoples, racial injustice,
desecration of your creation, economic inequity, regional separation.

And yet we profess a deep and abiding gratitude
for the goodness of ordinary people who have made sacrifices,
who have sought opportunities,
who have passionately loved and cared for the earth and its fruits,
who have journeyed to this land as immigrants
strengthening its promise in successive generations,
who have found freedom on these shores,
and defended this freedom at tremendous cost.

Be with us in the days that are near.
Remind us that your ways are not our ways,
that your power and might transcend the plans of every nation,
that you are not mocked.

Let those who follow your Son Jesus Christ
be a peaceable people in the midst of division.

Send your Spirit of peace, justice and freedom upon us,
break down the walls of political partisanship,
and make us one.

Give us wisdom to walk in your ways,
courage to speak in your name,
and humility to trust in your providence.

Amen.

donald miller : dnc benediction i missed

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if you happened to be following me on twitter you might have noticed that i missed donald miller giving the benediction for the dnc last night (i watched pbs coverage, should have gone with the cspan). thanks to youtube, i can catch a glimpse of that part of the evening. the only part i had any real anticipation for.

as you can read in comments on the youtube clip, and this site here (via phil) the response to donald is.. well, predictable. me, i liked the prayer. i haven’t picked it apart as some have, for sure, but its speaks to me on a number of kindgom levels. what would have been really nutty is if he started with "mother God." let’s start the fireworks show after that one!