This was my submission for the St. Paul's newsletter for the month of May:
Dear St. Paul's family,
Hello again! You wouldn't believe what they call 'spring' in Texas! Most of the days in the past few weeks have reminded me of July and August in Bellingham, and Friday nights around the swimming pool are already a fixture in community life at the school. I'm dreading what they call 'summer'...
I've been thinking quite a bit about prayer lately. As a carpenter, I always felt like my prayer was a very physical expression: by moving a pile of lumber the size of a truck in a morning or building a roof with laser precision, I was expressing with my mind and body the very essence of who God created me to be, and I was doing it well. Spiritual issues had a way of working themselves out when I could get lost in healthy labor for a day and talk a few things out with my co-workers. I had trouble with the more conversational side of prayer, with asking a distant 'other' who knows all and is all to patch a few things up for me. Here in seminary, I've turned to look that distant 'other' square in the face - and I'm beginning to learn that the work of daily prayer has a lot in common with moving a huge pile of lumber or building a perfectly square corner - I have to show up, keep at it, and practice daily. As I've been buried in school and family work, my prayer has become the touchstone of my day where I can step back, take a deep breath, and remind myself about the larger concerns of my life.
Every Wednesday morning when I would come to the early Eucharist at St. Paul's, I would finish by lighting a candle or two in the little stand by the Mary altar. I knew that as I left, my candles would hold my prayers and continue them as I began my day. We don't have the candles here, but with the daily practice of Morning Prayer, I have learned to let my own intercessions fit within the larger context of our worship and of my days. When I remember my family and friends in prayer on a particular morning, it doesn't feel like much; but as I continue to show up and do it again and again, I get a real sense that the lumber is getting moved! I am finding that the candle stays on inside me, that I can carry the community within me even as I work on my school and live in my family. The work of prayer, then, like the work of carpentry, is bringing me up into a discipline whereby I am standing alongside a history of people who have learned to do the work well and share my concern that it continue. I am aligning myself with a very close, very involved God who is already carrying my prayers, even when I am unaware.
Keep us in your prayers as we spend the month traveling to see family and refresh ourselves in the mountains - I start my hospital chaplaincy in June and I'm a little intimidated by it. As always, I pray for you daily: if you have any concerns I can help you carry, feel free to call or e-mail. You can keep up with us on my blog at jesusstoolbelt.blogspot.com or e-mail me at mcarroccino@gmail.com.
Peace,
Michael
Hello again! You wouldn't believe what they call 'spring' in Texas! Most of the days in the past few weeks have reminded me of July and August in Bellingham, and Friday nights around the swimming pool are already a fixture in community life at the school. I'm dreading what they call 'summer'...
I've been thinking quite a bit about prayer lately. As a carpenter, I always felt like my prayer was a very physical expression: by moving a pile of lumber the size of a truck in a morning or building a roof with laser precision, I was expressing with my mind and body the very essence of who God created me to be, and I was doing it well. Spiritual issues had a way of working themselves out when I could get lost in healthy labor for a day and talk a few things out with my co-workers. I had trouble with the more conversational side of prayer, with asking a distant 'other' who knows all and is all to patch a few things up for me. Here in seminary, I've turned to look that distant 'other' square in the face - and I'm beginning to learn that the work of daily prayer has a lot in common with moving a huge pile of lumber or building a perfectly square corner - I have to show up, keep at it, and practice daily. As I've been buried in school and family work, my prayer has become the touchstone of my day where I can step back, take a deep breath, and remind myself about the larger concerns of my life.
Every Wednesday morning when I would come to the early Eucharist at St. Paul's, I would finish by lighting a candle or two in the little stand by the Mary altar. I knew that as I left, my candles would hold my prayers and continue them as I began my day. We don't have the candles here, but with the daily practice of Morning Prayer, I have learned to let my own intercessions fit within the larger context of our worship and of my days. When I remember my family and friends in prayer on a particular morning, it doesn't feel like much; but as I continue to show up and do it again and again, I get a real sense that the lumber is getting moved! I am finding that the candle stays on inside me, that I can carry the community within me even as I work on my school and live in my family. The work of prayer, then, like the work of carpentry, is bringing me up into a discipline whereby I am standing alongside a history of people who have learned to do the work well and share my concern that it continue. I am aligning myself with a very close, very involved God who is already carrying my prayers, even when I am unaware.
Keep us in your prayers as we spend the month traveling to see family and refresh ourselves in the mountains - I start my hospital chaplaincy in June and I'm a little intimidated by it. As always, I pray for you daily: if you have any concerns I can help you carry, feel free to call or e-mail. You can keep up with us on my blog at jesusstoolbelt.blogspot.com or e-mail me at mcarroccino@gmail.com.
Peace,
Michael
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