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A Prayer from Deitrich Bonhoeffer link
I Cannot Do This Alone
O God, early in the morning I cry to you.
Help me to pray and to concentrate my thoughts on you;
I cannot do this alone.
In me there is darkness, but with you there is light;
I am lonely, but you do not leave me; I am feeble in heart, but with you there is help;
I am restless, but with you there is peace. In me there is bitterness, but with you there is patience;
I do not understand your ways, but you know the way for me….
Restore me to liberty, and enable me to live now hat I may answer before you and before men.
Lord whatever this day may bring, Your name be praised.
Amen.
A Prayer of Confession for Lent link
God of mercy, you sent Jesus Christ to seek and save the lost.
We confess that we have strayed from you and turned aside from your way.
We are misled by pride, for we see ourselves pure when we are stained and great when we are small.
We have failed in live, neglected justice, and ignored your truth.
Have mercy, O God, and forgive our sin.
Return us to paths of righteousness through Jesus Christ, our Savior.
Amen.
Prayer from the Anglican Book of Common Prayer link
Almighty God, whose blessed Son was led by the Spirit to be tempted by Satan;
Come quickly to help us who are assaulted by many temptations;
and, as you know the weaknesses of each of us,
let each one find you mighty to save;
through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and forever.
Amen.
Benediction link
Whatever wilderness the Spirit has brought you to:
walk in boldness, as a beloved child of God
walk in peace, under the shelter of the Most High
walk in faith, knowing Christ walks with you.
Amen.
Thank you, Dee. It is always a pleasure to hear Prof. Wright.
It would be an interesting historical study to trace the shift in thinking about the individual believer’s future hope from “resurrection into embodied life in a New Creation” to “in heaven forever with God”, and the factors that contributed to this shift.
Prof. Wright sees this transition as taking place in the 20th Century. That was also a period, at least in US, that saw the rise of (Protestant) mass evangelism and “at scale” personal evangelism programs such as Evangelism Explosion. I wonder whether it might be that the Biblical vision was simplified to make it easier for potential “recruits” to understand and easier for laymen to express. “Heaven or Hell” immediately after bodily death is, perhaps, a more compelling “pitch” than a long duration intermediate state (which might leave room for purgation of sins), only at the end of which would one be raised bodily and judged.
I hope that Prof. Wright is granted many more years, and that he remains well enough to continue his thinking and writing. I get the impression that the health system in UK is not doing well in recent years.
And so we all went back to being Shades in Hades.
I still think Victorian romantic sentimentality was a major influence.
Probably too ROMISH.
“NO POPERY!”
(And besides, the threat of Eternal Hell is quite a motivator to stay in line.
Never mind that it stalls all moral development at the toddler level: Avoid Punishment At All Costs.)
Thanks, Dee. I always appreciate N.T. Wright. Currently reading one of his Lent devotionals.
FreshGrace,
I’m reading The Day the Revolution Began for Lent. 😉
dee,
Sounds good. Adding it to my reading list 😉