Lent is a time to re-turn to God. Celtic spirituality is characterized by the expectation of finding God within. Finding God within ourselves and within creation by listening for the heartbeat of God. Describe a time in your life where you have heard the heartbeat of God.
Beyond where my dad prayed over the fresh grave of my dog Spunky, beyond the septic tank, North east from our Texas Panhandle oilfield lease house was a pasture.
In this field my eight-year-old self discovered spent rockets from a Fourth of July and played with a rubber dagger I had stolen from the local five and dime.
But the field’s prize was a six-foot diameter patch of wild grass as low and smooth as a putting green. It was surrounded by regular prairie grass with trodden paths intersecting. I haven’t a clue as to the origin of this special place - there were rabbit pellets, and the paths suggested cattle or was it coyotes?
This patch gifted me one winter. I remember lying on my back in a dark green parka, absorbing the afternoon sun, with a breeze gentle above.
The God of my childhood’s Presbyterian Church paled with the connection I experienced in that silent, peaceful warmth, the prairie grass waving on either side.
I had yet to learn of God’s creative Breath/Ruah calling creation out of primordial chaos. Still there was wonderful knowledge in my experience.
“Breathe on me Breath of God, fill me with life anew,
that I may love what thou dost love, and do what thou wouldst do.”
The Hymnal 1982 #508 Nova Vita
COLLECT OF THE DAY
Grant, most merciful Lord, to your faithful people pardon and peace, that they may be cleansed from all their sins, and serve you with a quiet mind; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
LISTEN TO "BREATHE ON ME BREATH OF GOD"
Click link below to listen to an acoustic guitar version of this hymn - a version that evokes Reese's Texan roots.
FURTHER READING
Click on the link to read a collections of prayers by John Philip Newell.