Regeneration seems to evolve in a cyclical way, or so a group of us involved in regeneration in inner city Sheffield discovered as we shared our experiences. Searching for words and images to describe these has been an interesting and sustaining piece of work which we share with you here. A diagram of the cycle shows what I mean:
As with any cycle, who's to say where it begins. Moreover, unlike previous years, there are more than seven days in the cycle. For our daily prayers this year you might like to try this pattern, which also differs slightly from previous years in having no predetermined starting day. Short prayers are provided for stages in the cycle of regeneration. These can be used with readings, prayers and activities which complement the daily theme from the other pages of this book - or from material found elsewhere by the user of course. Maybe a daily cycle of prayer is difficult to sustain for a whole year. A pray-er might begin the cycle in one part of the year and carry it on for one cycle or more and then not return to it for several days, weeks or even months. The pray-er can then re-enter the regeneration cycle at the point which seems appropriate at that time. Or a pray-er may decide that the use of a daily prayer cycle is more appropriate for them at certain times of the year, perhaps in Advent or Lent as traditional times for regular prayer, or during a retreat or holiday.
What ever way you try to pray this year welcome a new opportunity to begin an adventure, rather than the tiresome business of putting on a worn out sock.
All Knowing Nothing, All Being No-one,
how can you really be there;
hold
the universe in your embrace?
I can't even shout or rage in this vacuum,
such
is my emptiness.
Take it: it's all I have.
Then everything will have
been given over.
I don't know anymore if I even remain?
Look at these elbows: scuffed.
Look at these cuffs: frayed.
Look at
these hands: empty.
Look at this life: powerless.
I am worn down and
worn out,
unable to believe that you might have been there too.
Show me
the elbows, the cuffs, the hands, the life.
Left out again.
Still on the edge.
Ignored, excluded, abandoned
as
if naked and totally vulnerable.
I fling my arms out in despair, (do
this now)
my chest heaving.
As I do, maybe I'll catch a glimpse
of
your mirror image.
At least I can be angry:
keep me company, furious Creator.
At least
I can dissent:
keep me company, protesting Christ.
At least I can rebel:
keep
me company, revolutionary Spirit.
Holy Three, in your outrageous company,
may
my resistance be tempered like steel.
Persistent God, thankfully
the signs of life are all around me,
contributing
to my growth and well-being.
Now I am being lifted up.
Whatever the
waste land, there's always something growing.
Like a scrawny shrub I cling
to God, the Rock,
and will not be shaken.
Beyond the scratched surface we seek restoration.
In the wasteland we
hope for the rebuilding of community.
Healing Spirit, we recognise that we
do not require the quick fix,
but the sustaining flow of vision and energy
that
comes from the Holy One and makes for wholeness.
Now the river flows and the reservoir brims over.
Now the order book is
full and the company thrives.
Now confidence grows and personality
flourishes.
Now, Creator, we experience your energy at full strength
and
we play happily as it showers on us.
Another yawn stifled:
Great God, are you bored too?
Another day
over:
Timeless One, do you not count them?
I seem to think I've made it;
fulfilled
all my potential,
with no more challenges to meet
this side of whenever.
If
you are today, yesterday and forever
help me to see there's more
to
life before death
than that with which I'm satisfied.
Going down, down, down:
whether sliding off or bottoming out,
it
seems to be all downhill from here.
You, who also went down beyond life and
back again,
be present in the absence,
be attentive in the apathy,
be
watchful in the indifference,
keep the death vigil with me
until we rise
again.
Janet Lees