Night Time Prayers

 Nighttime prayers, Compline

“Keep watch, dear Lord, with those who work, or watch, or

weep this night, and give your angels charge over those who

sleep. Tend the sick, Lord Christ; give rest to the weary, bless

the dying, soothe the suffering, pity the afflicted, shield the

joyous; and all for your love’s sake.” Amen.—St. Augustine of Hippo. Book of Common Prayer, p. 134. 

cousins

  This gift from St. Augustine is one of the nighttime prayers from Compline, an evening service read just before bedtime. Families or groups can say the short prayer service as a gathering before retiring. I particularly remember when our friends Barbara and Hap Hoffman came to our house and said compline with our family every night for six weeks while recovering from surgery.

In my medical practice, this prayer was meaningful, as I could visualize the people I knew working at night at our Children’s Hospital and the patients we were all helping care for. This prayer also strengthened me when I was on call at the hospital at night, knowing that people all over the globe were saying these prayers.

As Compline became a more regular part of our rule of life, we visualize people in other professions working at night in grocery stores, restaurants, airlines, and police stations. We remember those dying and those mourning the death of a loved one. Then, we begin praying for the joyous.

All of these prayers ever so briefly can help us get out of ourselves and all our problems as we begin praying and thinking about others. This service calms our souls and is better than any sleeping pill, drug, or drink.

Below is another nighttime prayer from the New Zealand Prayer Book. I especially relate to the part, “What has been done has been done; what has not been done, let it be.”

I remember the C.S. Lewis quote you often hear from me, “We do not pray to change God. Instead, we pray to change ourselves.”

Nighttime prayers can change us.

New Zealand Prayer Book

         “Lord,

         it is night.

         The night is for stillness. 

                  Let us be still in the presence of God.

         It is night after a long day.

                  What has been done has been done;

                  what has not been done;

                   let it be.

         The night is dark.

                  Let our fears of the darkness of the world and of our own lives rest in you.

         The night is quiet.

                  Let the quietness of your peace enfold us,

                           all dear to us,

                           and all who have no peace.

         The night heralds the dawn. 

                  Let us look expectantly to a new day,

                           new joys,

                           new possibilities.

In your name, we pray.”    Amen. p. 184.

Joanna          https://www.joannaseibert.com/

MLK Day Remembered

MLK Day Remembered: Racism, Inconvenient Time

“I have almost reached the regrettable conclusion that the Negro’s great   stumbling block in the stride toward freedom is not the White Citizen’s Council-er or the Ku Klux Klanner, but the white moderate who is more devoted to ‘order’ than to justice; who prefers a negative peace which is the absence of tension to a positive peace which is the presence of justice; who constantly says, ‘I agree with you in the goal you seek, but I can’t agree with your methods of direct action;’ who paternalistically feels he can set the timetable for another man’s freedom; who lives by the myth of time and who constantly advises the Negro to wait until a ‘more convenient season.’ Lukewarm acceptance is much more bewildering than outright rejection.”—Martin Luther King Jr, “Letter from Birmingham Jail,” April 16, 1963.

day after assassination of MLK in Memphis. Ministers march to the Mayor’s office

I receive letters, emails, and blogs from friends encouraging me to speak against racism. I also remember being at a dream retreat, where my spiritual director told the story of Jacob’s dream of a heavenly ladder several times. Jacob renames the place of his dream Bethel, the house of God or God is present. I remember Bethel AME Church in Little Rock, where I fell in love with that African American congregation. They taught us about racism and poverty when I was a deacon at Trinity Cathedral in Little Rock.

We plan with Bethel a celebration of the anniversary of the 1957 desegregation of Central High School. Later, our daughter and two grandchildren would attend that historical school. In the past, I participated in a prayer breakfast at our sister St. Mark Baptist Church to celebrate MLK’s birthday with my spiritual director. Being there was empowering for both of us.

Yesterday, people worldwide celebrated the birthday of Martin Luther King Jr. on the third Monday of January. His actual birthday was January 15th, 1929.
Our liturgical calendar also honors MLK on his death on April 4th, 1968. I feel ownership in his death since I was a senior medical student in Memphis when he was assassinated. At that time, my world focused solely on finishing medical school. His death made it more difficult for us to get to the hospital since Memphis was briefly under a curfew and martial law.

I do remember that the dean of St. Mary’s Cathedral carried the processional cross from the cathedral and marched with other ministers in Memphis to Mayor Loeb’s office, petitioning to end the injustices that brought King to Memphis. I also remember Dean Dimmick speaking out with his feet, which had significant consequences for him at the cathedral, losing nearly half its members.

So here we are over fifty years later. How do we carry that cross, as previously modeled for us, walking out into the streets, homes, schools, hospitals, and countryside, speaking and acting the truth with love against violence, hatred, and injustices still present?

The examples of MLK and Dean Dimmick would tell us that nonviolence and love are still the way. The events of recent years, recent weeks, remind us how overcoming violence with violence never is the answer. We are called to pray on our knees, to pray standing and walking as we listen to so many in our country who are hurting.  

 I am a storyteller. I share my story with you, especially with our children and grandchildren, surrounding them with love and prayers, hoping we can empower them to do a better job than we have done.

Joanna   https://www.joannaseibert.com/

Remembering Inaugurations of a New President

Remembering January 20th, Inauguration Day of a New President

“The Rock cries out to us today,

You may stand upon me,

But do not hide your face.”— Maya Angelou, “On the Pulse of Morning.”

Every four years, January 20th for some time has been the usual date for the inauguration of a president. I have been to two presidential inaugurations. Both were in the last century. Once, I was with my daughter, and once with my husband and friends.

I remember festivities the weekend before the inaugurations, with Peter, Paul, and Mary singing in a tent on the mall. We go to a Blue Jean Bash with Bob Dylan and eat catfish and hush puppies. There is an air of excitement on inauguration day as crowds fill the mall. The music is uplifting. There is always a sacred reading, the national anthem, as well as the hopes of the new president.

There is a feeling of newness, a new beginning with all its possibilities of making changes to give opportunities to people of our country whose lives seem hopeless because of suppression or disease, as Maya Angelou reads her poem written for the day. “On the Pulse of Morning.”

We offer thanks for the opportunities we know we have. We are empowered to make a difference in the lives of others. There is hope. We are there with every form of humanity: young babies crying, older adults who can barely stand looking for a place to sit. We are so close together in one melting pot that getting our gloved hands out of our heavy coat pockets is sometimes tricky.

Only once did we try to go from the inauguration to our ticketed seats for the parade. I can only remember telling my teenage daughter, “We will never make it,” trying to move against a tsunami wave of people. She kept telling me, “We can do it. We can make it,” and finally, we did.

Most recently, we fear danger may be uninvited to the inauguration. We still fear for the lives of the new president, vice president, members of Congress, and those who oppose them. We would never have believed this would be the scene for an inauguration in our country in our wildest dreams, but here we are.

 What can we do? 

We pray.

I know that prayers change the prayer-er, and prayers are heard. Prayers are like some mystical force that goes out into the universe, which can bring healing to places unknown and known. We pray to send love and protection to our country and its new leaders. We pray for those whose only response has now become violence and intimidation. We know something led them to that path. We pray to hear their story and tell them about love that casts out fear. 

Joanna. https://www.joannaseibert.com/