Prayer for the Season of Pentecost

Faithful God, your deliverance is near at hand: keep us from fear and help us to find courage and joy in your word.

Tender God, gentle protector in time of trouble: pierce the gloom of despair and give us, with all your people, the song of freedom and the shout of praise. I will employ all of my soul and body to praise your most holy name.

Do not face us, O living God, with the choice of a world without justice or a future without mercy; in your mercy, establish justice and in your justice, remember your overflowing mercy.

Remove our hearts of stone. Replace them with hearts sprinkled clean and made of flesh. Put a new spirit within us; let us be your people. Kindle in us the fire of your love. Amen

Based on:
Celebrating Common Prayer (SSF) Psalm 56-58
John Wesley, Old Testament Commentary Psalm 56-58
Psalm 56-58 Peterson, Eugene. The Message
Psalm 56-58 NRSV, AMP

Garrison Keillor on Methodists:

It is always good to realize where you come from and it never hurts to laugh at yourself either!

We make fun of Methodists for their blandness, their excessive calm, their fear of giving offense, their lack of speed, and also for their secret fondness for macaroni and cheese. But nobody sings like them. If you were to ask an audience in New York City, a relatively Methodist-less place, to sing along on the chorus of "Michael Row the Boat Ashore," they will look daggers at you as if you had asked them to strip to their underwear. But if you do this among Methodists, they'd smile and row that boat ashore and up on the beach! And down the road! Many Methodists are bred from childhood to sing in four-part harmony, a talent that comes from sitting on the lap of someone singing alto or tenor or bass and hearing the harmonic intervals by putting your little head against that person's rib cage. It's natural for Methodists to sing in harmony. They are too modest to be soloists, too worldly to sing in unison. When you're singing in the key of C and you slide into the A7th and D7th chords, all two hundred of you, it's an emotionally fulfilling moment. By joining in harmony, they somehow promise that they will not forsake each other. I do believe this: People, these Methodists, who love to sing in four-part harmony are the sort of people you can call up when you're in deep distress. *If you're dying, they will comfort you. *If you are lonely, they'll talk to you. *And if you are hungry, they'll give you tuna salad. *Methodists believe in prayer, but would practically die if asked to pray out loud. *Methodists like to sing, except when confronted with a new hymn or a hymn with more than four stanzas. *Methodists believe their pastors will visit them in the hospital, even if they don't notify them that they are there. *Methodists usually follow the official liturgy and will feel it is their way of suffering for their sins. *Methodists believe in miracles and even expect miracles, especially during their stewardship visitation programs or when passing the plate. Methodists think that the Bible forbids them from crossing the aisle while passing the peace. *Methodists drink coffee as if it were the Third Sacrament. *Methodists feel guilty for not staying to clean up after their own wedding reception in the Fellowship Hall. *Methodists are willing to pay up to one dollar for a meal at the church. *Methodists still serve Jell-O in the proper liturgical color of the season and think that peas in a tuna casserole adds too much color. *Methodists believe that it is OK to poke fun at themselves and never take themselves too seriously. And finally, You know you are a Methodist when: It's 100 degrees, with 90% humidity, and you still have coffee after the service. You hear something funny during the sermon and smile as loudly as you can. Donuts are a line item in the church budget, just like coffee. When you watch a Star Wars movie and they say, "May the Force be with you," you respond, "and also with you." And lastly, it takes ten minutes to say good - bye !

Music of the Spheres

                                                                  CHORDS

Music of the Spheres

The Temple Bells

Youth Retreat, 1992

God, I thank you for chords sweet and fragrant

Whose music causes me to follow and to wonder.

God, I thank you for chords I cannot see or understand

Whose music will touch the hearts of those I cannot know.

God, I thank you for chords bitter to taste and hard to swallow

Whose music heals and nourishes and causes me to stretch and grow.

God, I thank you for chords I cannot hear

Whose music invades my soul and will not be silent.

God, I thank you for chords warm and gentle

Whose music wraps me in your love and causes me to return your song.

© 1992 JORJA DAVIS

Challenge

Challenge

As light pushes its way out of darkness,

My brain and body push their way out of sleep.

I always wonder in that place where the sun

Is just ready to jump into the sky

Just how much of me there will be today.

Then beyond the first twenty brutal steps

Where the pain is the distillate of darkness and

The sun is in my eyes, there I take account

Of the challenges I’ll face today,

I remember I dreamt of horses at the carwash.

                                             By Jorja Davis

                                             3/15/2012

Ten Quick Ways to Pray

Do you struggle to find time to pray during your hectic daily life? These 10 suggestions for quick ways to pray will help you catch a few moments to talk to God in the most unlikely of places, from the shower to the elevator. Get started on your new daily prayer routine now.

1. Give an Alarm Clock Alleluia

When your alarm goes off in the morning, open your eyes and repeat this line from the Psalms: "This is the day the Lord has made. Let us rejoice and be glad."

Commit to living in gratitude for the day, and you'll soon notice how much happier your days can become.

2. Practice Shower Power

Water is a powerful spiritual symbol. As you soap and rinse in the shower, pray to be cleansed of any feelings of anger, bitterness, resentment, or regret.

Recall the words of Isaiah (58:11): "The Lord will guide you continually… You shall be like a watered garden, like a spring of water, whose waters never fail."

3. Practice Driveway Meditation

This one is especially for those who commute to work. Turn your time behind the wheel into time for prayer. Before starting the car engine, place your hands lightly on the steering wheel and breathe deeply several times. Ask the Holy Spirit to steer you through your day. Back out of your driveway slowly, and remain aware of the slowness.

As you drive, think about your 'to-be' list. Let words like compassionate, serene and diligent percolate through your mind. Let grace-filled thoughts carry you in a loving manner through the day.

4. Climb Stairs
If you work on an upper floor in a multi-story building, skip the elevator and climb the stairs. Make your climb work for your body and your soul.

Climb thoughtfully, breathing slowly. Use the time alone to experience a connection with God. Pause at each landing. Catch your breath, and focus for a moment on the blessings in your life. Say thanks before continuing your climb.

5. Elevator Blessings

No stairs? Next time you share an elevator with someone, say a silent prayer. Ask God to meet the other person's unique needs. Add a smile of your own.

6. Try Prayerful Single-Tasking

We all feel too busy. It has become a workplace axiom that multi-tasking is a good thing, but a growing body of research shows that it actually erodes productivity.

Instead of dividing our concentration among many tasks, do one thing at a time-prayerfully. Offer your work as a prayerful gift to God. Ask for the grace to do it meaningfully, and without anxiety.

7. Fast for One Minute

In times of stress, we are often tempted to reach for foods that aren't healthy for us.

Before you reach for the fried foods, sugar or chips- try this. Wait one minute. Offer the minute to God and ask for the grace you need to control your appetite. Chances are you'll no longer be tempted until the minute is up. If you do give in-just remember, God forgives you. Forgive yourself.

8. Touch the Earth

Native Americans have this saying: "Never let a day go by without touching the earth with your foot." If only a couple of times each week, take a five or ten minute break to walk in a meditative way. Give up your usual energized stride to pay attention to the movement of lifting your leg, bending your knee, and placing your foot. Observe your breathing and your body. Look around. Notice the squirrels, the trees, and the sounds of nature. Nature tunes us into God's presence.

9 . Cook up a Memory
Next time you cook, pay attention to the memories that are sparked by the dishes you make. Perhaps you have old recipes lying around that you have forgotten about. Bless all those who sweeten your recollections, thanking God for the spiritual nourishment these people have brought to your life.

10. Pray a Peanut Butter Minute

This is a good one for moms of school kids. When making your child's lunch, whisper a prayer as though you are sending the prayer right into your child's meal. You might even tuck in a blessing on a post-it note.

Excerpted from "Grace on the Go: 101 Quick Ways to Pray"
by Barbara Bartocci with permission from Morehouse Publishing.

The Ministry of Tears

I am weary with my groaning; all night I soak my pillow with tears; I drench my couch with my weeping.

My tears have been my food day and night....

Hear my prayer, O Lord, and give ear to my cry; hold not Your peace at my tears!  For I am Your Passing guest, a temporary resident, as all my fathers were. O ... spare me, that I may recover cheerfulness and encouraging fitness and experience gladness before I go....

I beseech You, O Lord, [earnestly] remember how I have walked before You in faithfulness and truth, and with a full heart [entirely devoted to You], and have done what is acceptable in Your sight.

I remember that Hezekiah wept bitterly. Before Isaiah had gone out of the middle court the word of the Lord came to him,  Turn back and tell Hezekiah the leader of My people, Thus says the Lord the God of David, your [forefather], I have heard your prayers, I have seen your tears. May it be with me as it was with Hezekiah.

Like Paul, I seek to serve the Lord with all humility (with modesty, lowliness, and humble-mindedness), with many tears and in the midst of adversity and in the midst of the trials which follow me.

As even Jesus, in the days of His flesh, offered up specific, special petitions for that which He not only wanted but needed, and supplications, with strong crying and tears, so I come to You.

As the father responded to Jesus, so it is with me. I send an wholehearted, piercing, inarticulate cry with tears, and say, "Lord, I believe!  Constantly help my weakness of faith!"

You track and list my wanderings; put my tears into Your bottle. Are they not in Your book?

I believe your promises. Those who sow in tears shall reap in joy. He who continually goes forth weeping, bearing seed for sowing, shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him. The Sovereign Lord will wipe the tears from all the faces.

These are the words of the Lord. Cease your urgent weeping. Shed no more tears. There shall be a reward for your toil.

The Lord has saved me from death; he stopped my tears and kept me from ruin. And so, I walk in the presence of the Lord in the world of the living. I keep on believing--trusting in, relying on and clinging to my God--even when I say, "I am completely crushed," even when I am afraid.... What can I offer the Lord for His kindness to me?

The ministry of tears is defined by Charles H. Spurgeon as "liquid prayer."  Job says, "My intercessor is my friend as my eyes pour out tears to God."  Know that I am interceding for you today.

2 Kings 20:35a (AMP)

Job 16:20 (NIV)

Psalm 6:6 (AMP)

Psalm 39:12-13 (AMP)

Psalm 42:3a (NKJV)

Psalm 56:8 (AMP)

Psalm 116:8 (NEV, AMP)

Psalm 126:5-6 (NKJV)

Isaiah 25:8b (NIV)

Isaiah 38:3 (AMP)

Jeremiah 31:16a, b (NEB)

Mark 9:24 (AMP)

Acts 20:19 (AMP, NKJV)

Hebrews 5:7 (AMP)

Revelation 7:17(KJV)

Adapting Instructional Activities to Adult Learners Part 1

Nora Nixon Ponder (2006, p. 1) indicates that in 1920 Eduard C. Lindemen wrote that adult education is a “co-operative venture in non-authoritarian informal learning- the chief purpose of which is to discover the meaning of experience.” (as cited in Brookfield 1987, p. 122). Malcolm Knowles (1970, p.39) is often closely associated with androgogy and “organized the concepts into a comprehensive theory … based on four assumptions that differentiated adults from child learners… self-concept, experience, readiness to learn, and orientation to learning” (as cited in Schugurensky 2002, p. 1) Galbraith (2004, p. 3) indicates that the “purpose of teaching is to facilitate personal growth and development…of learners…. The teacher of adults is in a sense a guide to learners who are involved in an educational journey

“Pedagogy describes the traditional instructional approach based on teacher-directed learning theory. Androgogy describes the approach based on self-directed learning theory.”   While pedagogy assumes a dependent personality, the learner’s experience is intended to be built upon, a uniform curriculum based on age-level, a subject centered orientation to learning, motivated by extrinsic rewards and punishment; androgogy assumes the learner is increasingly self-directed, the learner’s experience is a rich resource for learning by self and others, readiness to learn develops from life tasks and problems, learning orientation is task- or problem-oriented, and the learner is motivated is intrinsic incentives or curiosity.  (Gibbons & Wentworth 2001 p.1) 

References

Galbraith, M. W. (2004) Adult Learning Methods: A Guide for Effective Instruction.  3^rd ed. Malabar, Florida: Krieger Publishing Company.

Gibbons, H. S. & Wentworth, G. P. (2001) Andrological and pedagogical training differences for online instructors. Journal of Learning Administration, 4 (3), 1.  from http://www.nald.ca/fulltext/report3/rep28/REP28-25.HTM downloaded on 4/3/2007

Nixon-Pender, N. (2006) Leaders in the field of adult education: Eduard C. Lindeman from http://archon.educ.kent.edu/Oasis/Pubs/0800-1.htm  last updated 10/31/2006 downloaded on 4/3/2007

Schugurensky, D. (2002) 1970: Malcolm Knowles publishes The Modern Practice of Adult Education: Andragogy vs. Pedagogy.  History of Education: Selected Moments of the 20^th Century. from: http//fcis.oise.utoronto.ca/d~daniel_schugurensky/assignment1/1970knowles.html last updated 7/2/2002 downloaded on 4/3/2007