Magic vs. Prayer. Lessons and Carols.
In the youth confirmation class this past Sunday we talked about prayer. Even if people wouldn’t like to admit it, many people think about prayer kind of like a vending machine. We say the words, maybe even bargain a little bit, and we hope that God answers our petition. But in the end, that is not how Christians or our Hebrew forebears in the faith before us understood prayer to work.
That’s not to say this conception of prayer wasn’t out in the world. Indeed, the idea of a quid pro quo, I say and do certain things and a deity has to do other certain things is exactly how the Gentiles, the Nations, the non-Israelite peoples more or less understood the notion of prayer. This way of thinking is essentially the notion of magic. If we say the right words and do the proper things, then we can force something to happen.
But unlike the gods of the pagan nations, the God of the Bible isn’t bound to follow any quid pro quo, and that’s what we mean when we say that God is utterly “free.”
So if God is free to answer or not answer our prayers, why should we bother with praying at all? When it comes down to it, prayer really isn’t for God, so much as it is for us. God is always with us, but we need reminding of that. So when we pray, we are spending intentional time with God, and most importantly, we are allowing that time of prayer to shape, and mould, and form us into the people God would have us be.
And this is why the Church places so much emphasis on our shared corporate worship, at which we all hear, pray, and sing the same words together that form us all as the Body of Christ, even as we each are called to live out our lives in unique ways.
I hope that you’ll be formed by the prayers, scripture lessons, and music of this season through Sunday morning worship, our Advent Lessons and Carols, and joining in reading along with the church (see below). And of course after we make our way through this season of Advent, may we joyously celebrate the birth of our Lord at Christmas.
See you in Church!
Peace,
Fr Adler+
Read along with the Church
If there’s one book of the Bible that is intimately tied to this season of Advent, it’s the book of the Prophet Isaiah. In the Daily Office at Morning Prayer we will be making our way through much of Isaiah by the time we reach Christmas. If you’re looking for some Bible reading to do this Advent, I can’t think of a better book to read than Isaiah. Here is a link to the Bible Project’s study guide: https://bibleproject.com/guides/book-of-isaiah/
And here are the two videos that summarize Isaiah:
Part 1: https://youtu.be/d0A6Uchb1F8?si=On9FRnkM30bEcnAq
Part 2: https://youtu.be/_TzdEPuqgQg?si=1O-au__dYyaK3d5r
“Dominion” Extra Credit
Here is a timeline I made up that covers most of the past two weeks’ chapters:
625 632- Forcible Baptism of Jews in Carthage
650 668- Theodore of Tarsus made Archbishop of Canterbury
675 695- Saracens take Carthage
700 722- Boniface made Bishop and cuts down Oak
725 731- Bede writes his history of England
732- Battle of Tours, Charles Martel
750 751- Pepin, son of Charles Martel defeats last descendant of Clovis
to secure rule
754- Martyrdom of Boniface
772-Charles, son of Pepin, cuts down another sacred Oak
775 796- Alcuin made Abbot of Tours, modern typeface and printing
800 800- Charles crowned HRE by Pope in Rome on Xmas Day
825 846- Saracen pirates sack Rome
850
875
900
925
950 955- Augsburg battle, defeat pagan Hungarians
975 962- Otto, a Saxon, crowned HRE by Pope
1000 1000- Stephen of Hungary crowned king, crown sent by pope
1025 1033- Pilgrimage to Holy Land, traveled through Hungary