Jun. 21, 2010

I have recently begun an ancient practice of prayer called “The Divine Hours”.  It is also called the “Daily Office”, “fixed-hour prayer”, the “Liturgy of the hours”, and the “canonical hours”.  Given the plethora of titles already mentioned, it’s probably known by other names as well.  This is way of praying goes back at least 6, 000 years.  The idea began from Psalm 119 when the psalmist wrote “Seven times a day will I rise to praise your name”.  So, people started praying seven times a day and at very specific hours.  Today, all seven times are still observed in monastic settings.  But, life outside the monastery is a little different.  Or, a lot different (if you have small children, for example).  So, “the hours” have been condensed by some to include 4 times a day:
morning
noon
evening
compline or “the dear office” (right before bed)

What the “Divine Hours” consists of is a lot of scripture (particularly Psalms), A canticle or hymn, and formal prayers.  I have been interested in this for some time but didn’t really know where to start.  I bought a book of common prayer a few years ago and didn’t quite know how to manoeuvre around it.  I even had an “app” for it on my iPod touch (Yes, there’s an app for that), but that didn’t seems to help either.  I suppose that I didn’t really try that hard, but I eventually gave up.  I decided to try again and have found two books helpful.  The first book I read is called “In Constant Prayer” by Robert Benson.  I found the first three chapters very helpful but the book could have ended there for me.  The second book that has been an immense blessing to me is “The Divine Hours: Prayers for Summertime” by Phyllis Tickle.  I have enjoyed hearing her speak previously was really intrigued when I read her book “The Great Emergence”.  What she has done in this book is compiled all of the elements of the 4 hours (the noon hour also includes elements from some of the other 3 hours not observed by those young children) in an easy to use, day by day guide.  She has, in other words, taken the guess work out of ‘how to do this’.  She has also includes a brief introduction which gives one a great understanding as to the history of fixed hour prayer.

So, why am I doing this?  What I am finding?  First, there seems to me to be something humbling and grounding about setting aside a specific time to join with the saints all over the world both now and throughout history, in prayer.  This is not just about “me and Jesus”.  I am joining “a great cloud of witnesses”.  I sense that as I pray these prayers.  Interestingly enough, I spoke with two friends (one of whom write about her experience in her blog) in the past week or so who are also praying these prayers.  It is wonderful to know that we are offering these same words to God throughout our days.  Further, these prayers have helped me to re-focus throughout the day.  They probably only take about ten minutes, but those ten minutes really do “baptize my imagination” (thank’s to Eugene Peterson for that phrase).  They remind me that my life is lived in the presence of God.  They remind me that God is still in control.

I have been very upset about the oil spill.  Spill does’t really seem like the right word.  My kids spill their cups at the table.  Okay, I spill my cup at the table too.  What is happening in the gulf has truly grieved me.  In the midst of my grief and anger I pray Psalm 95 which is laid out for me to pray and these words strike me:

“For the LORD is a great God, and a great king above all gods.
In his hands are the caverns of the earth, and the heights of the hills are his also
The sea is his, for he made it, and his hands have moulded the dry land”.

While I realize the terrible thing that has been done to God’s good creation, I also realize that it is still HIS creation.  This is not the final word.  God will restore this earth one day.  He is coming again.

In the very short time that I have been doing this, I have found that the scriptures again and again remind me that I am not in control.  It doesn’t all rest on me.  Despair is not the answer.  “The earth is the LORD’s and the fullness thereof”.  And, I realize that the prayers of the saints may have a greater impact in this world than we could image.  I also find that as I ground my day in these prayers, prayer comes a little more naturally throughout the day.  I think this is the goal.  Eugene Peterson writes in his latest book “Practice Resurrection”,

“Prayer is not just “saying prayers,” although it is also that.  As we grow into maturity, prayer is the language that increasingly underlies and suffuses all of our language.”

Let it be.

The prayers only take about 10 minutes to pray.  But those 10 minutes, four times a day, remind of the truth that is great and beautiful, but often hidden by the cares of this world.