10 October 2005

Luke 1:46f

"My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, ... for the Mighty One has done great things for me, and holy is his name.

Now recall that this is about using these words in conjunction with praying the Lord's prayer on the Anglican prayer beads and reflections of my experience of doing that. So it isn't an in depth exegesis or anything, just a few notes on how it happens and feels.

I read and say these words quietly or in my head a few times and just for a while keep company with them. Sometimes a phrase will come forward in my awareness and I will keep that in mind as I say "Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name" on each of the small beads that follow. That phrase may then pick out other things as I say the words from the Lord's prayer; things from my life, my concerns, the news, whatever I may have been in touch with in some way that in some way resonates with the passage. It can be quite exhilerating sometimes to have the words and the images and the emotions all caught up into these moments of prayer and connection with God.

Sometimes I am reminded of some 'great thing' that I feel God has done for me, such as giving me the wife and children I have or the privilege of helping people to grow in relation to God, themselves or relationships. I bear that thing on my heart as I say the first part of the Lord's prayer on each of the following small beads. Sometimes I just have a sense of the emotional resonance of the words and hold that in my heart as I repeat the words offering it to God with those words.

I find the coming together of the passage, the words from the Lord's prayer and the things from my own life very often very fruitful and satisfying.
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