Prayer by Kyle Oliver for prayr.cc (CC BY 2.0)
Photo: “Rafael Araujo – Calculation 24” by Forgemind ArchiMedia via Flickr (CC BY 2.0)
O Lord, you have brought us home safely,
refreshed and recharged,
remembering anew the rhythms and purposes
of life beyond the crucible of modern working.
As we seek to gently re-enter our ordinary lives,
help us carry inside ourselves
the rediscovered knowledge
of what it means to live humanely.
In the name of your Son, Jesus Christ,
who in his earthly life knew the power of quietude
and who longs to share with us
his presence and his peace.
Amen.
Hey friends, thanks for your patience while Kristin and I were away. Today I’m going back to work after being away 25 of the last 30 weekdays for jury duty and then vacation. I am grateful for the short week, and for your prayers that I can get my semester back on track with God’s help.
A couple of announcements:
(1) I realized while on vacation that I must, for the time being, take my foot off the gas on daily content for this site.
My plan is to publish Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, and to try to have some content for you on social media (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest) on Tuesdays and Thursdays. I may sometimes post more often, including next week when I feature guest contributions.
In addition to just getting caught up on the commitments that I now have the headspace to reengage with, I’m hoping this decision will help free up some time to work on some teaching content to go along with the daily prayers. That stuff takes time to create, and I realized I just wasn’t going to make any progress at my current baseline content levels.
(2) I love making podcast episodes, but my sense is that I haven’t found a format and content that’s really connecting with people. So for now I’m going to suspend the Monday episodes, or at least make them less often.
I’ll keep recording my way through the Psalter, because I really think that could be a valuable resource for people, and I have gotten some good feedback on that project.
I welcome your input about what kind of audio could help support your prayer life.
(3) I’m planning on participating in #AdventWord, a daily social media prayer practice that this year will be run by my friend and colleague Sarah Stonesifer. So you may sense a slight shift in emphasis in the weeks leading up to Christmas, which feels appropriate and which I hope will also make going back to work more manageable.
In short: It’s a busy time, and I’m grateful for your interest in this project. Don’t be shy about letting me know how I can make it better, even as I make a little less of it.