Over the past two months my wife and I have set aside time morning and evening to pray the Daily Office of the church according to the Anglican tradition. At first I thought having two children under the age of five buzzing around would make this discipline nearly impossible. However this isn’t the case. Instead I ensure I rise by 6.30am to provide myself some childfree space for the morning office. This is an office I pray alone. A few times my son has heard me chanting the psalms and come out to listen to me. Having given him the choice of playing in his room or sitting quietly beside me, he ususally chooses the latter option. One morning a few days ago Ailan sat in absolute silence during ten minutes of centering prayer! Evenings are even simpler to negotiate; children are read to and put to bed by 7.15pm and Anna and I meet for Evening prayer at 7.30pm. This office has recently incorporated 20 minutes of centering prayer following the Magnificat and before our intercessions. So far the mechanics of this are achievable; it requires a reasonable but not unrealistic degree of intentionality.

“How do you find the time?” a friend asked me recently. Well I guess the rudiments of this kind of daily pattern are not new to me so it didn’t require too much manipulation to create space. I have found that if we make space for daily prayer then the fruit of prayer will make space for every other neccessary thing. It is best not to approach this endeavour with clenched teeth, regretting all the television or internet hours we will lose. Rather allowing the discipline of the Daily Office to reframe our existence provideds us with a doorway to liberation from all those “things” that daily separate us from the presence of God. This is not to say that praying the Office guarantees a realised presence of God in our lives. The only guarantee is that there will be times of spiritual dryness in our lives. This is where the Daily Office comes into its own; by providing us with a framework within which to faithfully present ourselves before God regardless of whether we feel good.

It has also been a jolting reminder for me of how difficult it is for parents to develop and maintain a rythym of Daily Prayer while parenting; especially when everything is in holiday time. So it’s an opportunity for me to reconcile my regular practice of psalmody around holidays and children and other irregular events.

As a way of celebrating my completion of CPE (Clinical Pastoral Education) I bought a copy of the Church of England’s Common Worship: Daily Prayer. This was a wonderful way to use to the gift of book vouchers given to me by the parish where I have been practicing for the past three months.

Well this is my second day of using the Daily Prayer. It is far easier to navigate around than the Catholic Morning and Evening Prayer Book and due to the singular focus on daily prayer it offers greater depth than A New Zealand Prayerbook. It is what I have been looking for for quite some time; it facilitates a daily cycle of psalmody complete with antiphons and flavoured by the nuances of the liturgical calendar.

Those in Auckland can buy a copy for $85 from Church Stores in Ellerslie. Yes, that’s a considerable price to pay but I think worthwhile if daily prayer is an important aspect to your spiritual practice.

Good Books NZ (an affiliate of Oxfam) are now selling Daily Prayer for the amazing price of $51.55 at this address: https://www.goodbooksnz.co.nz/book/UK-9780715120736

For those who might like to ease their way into daily prayer practice without buying a copy of daily prayer: visit the links I have included to morning and evening prayer on the Church of England’s Common Worship webpage.

My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?
Why are you so far from helping me, from the words
of my groaning?
O my God, I cry by day, but you do not answer;
and by night, but find no rest.

Do not be far from me,
for trouble is near
and there is no one to help.

they divide my clothes among themselves,
and for my clothing they cast lots.

There are several ironies in this theft. First, yesterday I accidentally left my keys in the bike all day and it was there when I left in the afternoon. Secondly today we we examining the subject of loss and grief. Yes, I am feeling some grief now. Third I was not charged for my coffee today when I bought lunch at a local cafe. Having realised this I paid for the while leaving the cafe. Perhaps the psalms will at least provide me with an understanding of a world in which things don’t always work out for those who do good. But how do I follow Christ into that kind of world? The reading this evening is from Isaiah 61:

The spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me,
because the LORD has anointed me;
he has sent me to bring good news to the oppressed,
to bind up the brokenhearted,
to proclaim liberty to the captives,
and release to the prisoners.

but also:

For I the LORD love justice,
I hate robbery and wrongdoing;
I will faithfully give them their recompense,
and I will make an everlasting covenant with them.

Well it doesn’t really apply to my situation but I am comforted that the LORD hates theft; especially when I’m feeling so bruised by it.

“I have paid for my ignorance with failure”

Perhaps it is time for something new. So I am redesigning this site and refocusing its purpose. With the formation of a “Monastic” group at Cityside and meeting a number of real world (as opposed to cyberspace) people who share my interest in practices monastic, I think it’s a good time to journal a few of my personal experiences of faith and practice here. Maybe we could even explore the possibility of a new intentional community somewhere in Aotearoa gathered around some kind of religious rule. Hmmm, that sounds like something that would prove wildly popular.