The Treasury of Daily Prayer........ finally came in the mail. Too late for Christmas. Oh, well.
I am still finding out exactly what it is and how it is used, though Martin and I prayed a Compline and used all the readings and songs. We even did a section out of the Book of Concord, as suggested from the Large Catechism. It is strange that something like this should be new to us. Pastor McCain's intro hints at why we are not familiar with this discipline.
Have you ever been frustrated trying to juggle multiple books as you attempt to have a daily, structured, time of prayer and meditation on the Word of God? Have you ever wondered why it is that Roman Catholics and Anglicans have such fine books for daily prayer, called breviaries, but that Lutherans kind of/sort of do, but don’t—almost, but not quite there? Have you wondered why most one-volume prayer resources that are now out there are so complicated, complex and vexing to use, requiring you to turn pages until you are dizzy? Are you looking for a resource that will allow you to dwell richly in the Word, and engage in the ancient practice of lectio divina (divine reading)? Have you been looking for a daily resource for a full, complete life of prayer and meditation on the Word that reflects the rich heritage of Lutheranism with its keen focus on Christ and His Gospel? Well, your wait is over.
It seems to me both a completely novel thing and yet ancient and natural thing to join in the old liturgies and assigned readings, prayers, hymns for the day.
One of my doctrine professors had said that the unity of the church may be built on the liturgy. That's food for thought. Surely, we can agree on singing and praying the ancient texts.
2 comments:
Greetings in Christ and a Happy Christmas and New Year to you and your family. I'm happy to hear you received your copy of the Treasury of Daily Prayer and are already using it.
It can be a bit intimidating, to be sure, at first....but...I think once you use it a few times, you'll find it quite easy.
The heart of the book are the daily readings, and one need only use those even without using one of the many orders of prayer suggested in the center.
It can be scaled up or down, so to speak, depending on one's devotional needs/desires.
And may I correct one thing in your post? It was my colleague, Rev. Scot Kinnaman, who wrote the introduction that is in the book. He is the general editor and he, and his team, did a superb job.
God bless!
Thank you for your greetings, and also to you.
On another note, I've been wanting to ask you something: have you ever looked at the Truth Project? Do you think we could produce some specifically Lutheran materials, lectures with that level of appeal and content and ease of distribution?
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