tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7565601.post1012017997289312803..comments2024-02-05T20:50:25.209-05:00Comments on Quantum Theology: Guidelines, prayer and terrorism: For what else shall we pray?Michellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12617476463347663364noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7565601.post-61959779528160212352016-08-05T11:18:07.816-04:002016-08-05T11:18:07.816-04:00I don't think people realize how much of a cha...I don't think people realize how much of a challenge these can be to write.<br /><br />Short and bluntly heartfelt is also good advice! I like sharp and compact language with a bit of torque on it, but have to be careful about it in this context. What works well in writing, often doesn't when proclaimed once by a random lector. Wracked was a risk, in this one. <br /><br />My pet peeves are the passive/aggressive let-me-tell-you-what-you-should-be-thinking prayers, which tend toward the long and discursive. We've been also trying not to be terribly prescriptive about solutions. To avoid: Dear God, here is how we would like the problem solved. <br /><br />A friend shared this quote from Madeleine L’Engle with me and I find it apt to consider when I'm drafting:<br /><br />"We must bless without wanting to manipulate. Without insisting that everything be straightened out right now. Without insisting that our truth be known. This means simply turning whoever it is we need to bless over to God, knowing that God's powerful love will do what our own feeble love or lack of it won't. I have suggested that it is a good practice to believe in six impossible things every morning before breakfast, like the White Queen in Through the Looking Glass. It is also salutary to bless six people I don't much like every morning before breakfast.” from A Stone for a PillowMichellehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12617476463347663364noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7565601.post-65304374932414598772016-08-05T11:04:59.717-04:002016-08-05T11:04:59.717-04:00First, I Love the quote from C. S. Lewis. Absolute...First, I Love the quote from C. S. Lewis. Absolutely accurate.<br /><br />Second, allow me a little bit of a soapbox for others who read this blog and may be authors of general intercessions. It is a pet peeve of mine which stems from a time maybe ten years ago when I regularly composed these prayers for my parish and learned from the priest who was our pastor. I know there is a tendency to want to be eloquent, which is fine, but too often people believe eloquent is equivalent to flowery, lengthy and obtuse language. Not so.<br /><br />The goal should be Simple. Universal. Heartfelt. In no particular order. And please, if "Lord hear our prayer" has become tiresome, please limit the response to 4 or 5 words so that everyone respond as a group. Consider the varieties of cultures in your church. For the traddies out there, this isn't about just making everything shorter, either. Consider the many people for whom English is at best a second language. The Pope, for example. Try to allow them to be part of the prayer in a meaningful way.<br /><br />I am not saying your prayers are not simple, universal and heartfelt. Just a general comment on what I think is a better practice in case someone is reading this.<br /><br />Ollllddudehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00893625383056639105noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7565601.post-59860455507352350232016-08-05T11:00:12.363-04:002016-08-05T11:00:12.363-04:00Yes, and I agree with you that our prayers need to...Yes, and I agree with you that our prayers need to be specific, at the same time that they are all encompassing.Dorishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02759697722599686470noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7565601.post-53231019875379296642016-08-04T21:38:31.353-04:002016-08-04T21:38:31.353-04:00And we can never encompass all the needs...but we ...And we can never encompass all the needs...but we have to try.Michellehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12617476463347663364noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7565601.post-47094493129456117012016-08-04T21:36:26.310-04:002016-08-04T21:36:26.310-04:00Each week I watch the news and pray, I watch and I...Each week I watch the news and pray, I watch and I try to compose a prayer that will do what it needs to. It grows more challenging.<br />Franhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07181529277715646835noreply@blogger.com