mootuk

Reflective prayer seeking the presence of God around a painful childhood experience

This Prayer is aimed at facing and making peace with painful childhood experiences.  You will need to draw together some images from the internet of God holding you as a child.  I give an example of the ones I am using for me below which you can use if helpful.  The prayer moves through phases of facing things and encouragement drawing on the images as a form of Icon, see link below.downloadable images

The Kin-dom of God by Ian Mobsby

In this podcast recorded at the Moot Eucharist at the Guild Church of St Mary Aldermary.  Ian Mobsby explores the theme of the Kingdom of God drawing on Colossians Chapter 1 and Luke Chapter 10.  This podcast was recorded on Sunday 21st July 2013.

Prayer Practice: Using the Lectio Divina and Centering Prayer to reflect on the Lord's Prayer

For this podcast Ian Mobsby leads a creative approach combining a Lectio Divina reflecting on the Lord's Prayer as cited in the Gospel of Matthew.  The fourth section of the Lectio, the Contemplatio or Contemplation section will use the Centering Prayer Method. There are a number of said prayers in the Lectio - see below for the details: For this centering prayer practice we are going to use the four stages of the Lectio Divina – of Lectio, Meditatio, Oritartio, and Contemplatio – where we are going to use Centering prayer for the last section – the Contemplatio. Remember your sacred word … if you haven’;t one then do listen to the introduction to centering prayer also in the recordings.
You will also need to have access to the various prayers at the beginning or end of each section which are in the spirituality section of the Moot Website. So first find a comfortable and supported sitting posture and focus inwards using your breath.  Let us pray to and with the presence of God.
1. Lectio: Listening to the Word of God as revealed to the words of scripture. Matthew 6 v9-16, 25, 31-34, NRSV
‘Pray then in this way:
Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come. Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread.* And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And do not bring us to the time of trial,* but rescue us from the evil one.* For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you; but if you do not forgive others, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses. ‘And whenever you fast, do not look dismal, like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces so as to show others that they are fasting. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward. ‘Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink,* or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Therefore do not worry, saying, “What will we eat?” or “What will we drink?” or “What will we wear?” For it is the Gentiles who strive for all these things; and indeed your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But strive first for the kingdom of God* and his* righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.  ‘So do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring worries of its own. Today’s trouble is enough for today.
2. Meditatio: Reflecting on what this Word is telling us personally today.
To know Fully that God is our Father means recognising the common origin of all created matter - both great and humble. Just like a worldly parent, our Father has made us in Gods image - we are not God - but we find out fulfilment by an ever deeper and mysterious relationship to God as Trinity.  The I AM God began as the universal which, through the act of calling all things into being, Gave birth to the particular in all it's multitude; whereas we human beings begin with our individual, seemingly separate existence and seek to rejoin the whole.
Prayer
God let my soul absorb and encounter your divine reality, may you Creator Spirit and Redeemer be hallowed in me, may the Spirit quietan the inner whirlwind of my lusts, hates and thoughts, help me to recognise God as the greatest good who leads me into stillness. Amen
3. Oratorio: Responding to God through active or discursive prayer.
open verbal prayer
Ending Prayer:
O Lord give me the courage to follow you Not only into the deserts of this world But also Into the wild and lonely places of my parched soul, Which yearns for your living water More than the dunes of the Sinai long for rain. O Lord, forgive me as I lose my way amid The ever-changing, whirlswind cravings of my body, The quaking of a heart torn between love and terror, And that false self whose flame distracts me from your light; You are in none of these, I know. Thank you, O Lord for calling me back to yourself when I fail, With the same still small voice. That guided Elijah out of the cave of his fears and despair To return to your direction Amen
4. Contemplatio: Resting in the peace of Christ left us, opening ourselves to him in silence, and letting the Spirit pray through us and for us with sighs that words cannot express.
Opening prayer
Serene Spirit of God Shining in the ground of my being Draw me to yourself Draw me past the snares of the senses, Out of the mazes of the mind Free me from symbols, from words, That I may discover The signified, the word unspoken, In the darkness That veils the ground of my being. Amen There will now be 15 minutes to allow for centering prayer using your sacred word.
Amen

The Broad Kingdom by Richard Trouncer

In this podcast, Richard Trouncer, participant in the Moot community draws on the lectionery texts of Luke chapter 7 and Galatians Chapter 2 to explore the theme of the broad Kingdom. This podcast was recorded at a Sunday Evening Eucharist of the Moot Community in the Guild Church of St Mary Aldermary on the 16th June 2013 on the 3rd Sunday of the season of Trinity

Using the Welcoming Prayer

Following on from last month, we are publishing some audio resources to help mooters develop a deeper prayer life.  This time we are promoting the Welcoming Prayer.  This form of prayer is to be used for when you feel emotional, stressed, in pain or simply overwhelmed.  It is a simple form of prayer aimed at facing the emotion or feeling, making peace with it, and then letting it go and in the process engaging with God.
For more details on this and other audio contemplative resources see here.

Home is where the heart is by Ian Mobsby

At the Moot Eucharist on Sunday 21st April 2013, Ian Mobsby explored the theme of Home is where the heart is drawing on Ephesians 1:1 to 14 and The Gospel of Luke 24:36-49. In these biblical texts Ian explores the theme of the resurrection as an event of grace, that opens up the call for our lives as Christians as an event.
Ian then explores how this idea of 'event' informs a New Monastic understanding of a Rhythm of Life as an orientation of the heart. In this Service the Moot Community began a period of reflection leading to a planned Recommitment Service on Pentecost Sunday.
To see a copy of the Rhythm of Life reflection document, please click here.

The Shock and Hope of the Resurrection by Ian Mobsby

At the Moot Eucharist on Easter Sunday, Ian Mobsby explores the importance of the two resurrection stoties in the Gospel of Luke.  These are important stories, one beginning with the womens experience of the empty tomb and the mystery of Christ's appearing on the road to Emmaus.  Both stories are vital as we explore and seek to be Christians inspired by the resurrection on the 21st century.

Being the People of Peace a Lenten reflection by Aaron Kennedy

At the Moot Eucharist on the first Sunday of Lent 2013, Aaron Kennedy explores the lectionary texts of Luke Chapter 4, Romans Chapter 10 and Deuteronomy Chapter 26 to explore the theme of being the people of peace a Lenten reflection.

The Morning Wellbeing Prayer

Following popular request, this month we will putting up in the podcast section some of the spoken contemplative prayers that we are now commonly using in Moot as part of our prayer life.  The first two are aimed at the beginning and end of the day.  Many of us in these uncertain times are struggling with stress and a sense of being overwhelmed by life and the uncertainty of the times.  These Wellbeing prayers are aimed at helping you face who you are before God at the beginning and end of the day.
For more information on our prayer resources, please visit the spirituality section of our website at http://www.moot.uk.net/enterprises/ or click here

Following Jesus as an apprenticeship in the way of love by Vanessa Elston

On the Third Sunday of Epiphany on a particularly snowy day in the City of London, Vanessa Elston explores the Lectionary texts of Isaiah 62.1-5, Psalm 36.5-10, 1 Corinthians 12.1-11 and John 2.1-11 and their implication in the Judeo-Christian tradition of the way of love. This homily was given at a Moot Eucharist Service at the Guild Church of St Mary Aldermary on Sunday 20th January 2013.