A Couple of Thoughts
Hello Everyone!
It seems to have been a while since I last blogged; partly because I have been quite busy, but also because I had been trying desperately hard to think of a connection between what I wanted to blog about and CEYC.
And today, I realised that I was looking too hard for the wrong type of link, as what I want to share is actually at the heart of CEYC. Prayer.
Through worship, prayer, speech and the building of friendships... The CEYC vision begins with a verse from the Bible (1 Timothy 4:12) followed by this sentence. At the twice yearly meetings we open and close with worship and prayer and study the Bible together. So prayer is very much connected to CEYC; it underpins all our conversations, discussions and debates.
And it is not just at the heart of CEYC, or of the Church, but should be the foundation of our lives as well. However, whilst I have really come to value prayer as what sustains me when all else fails, I also know how many times I have said to myself that I am too busy to stop and pray. Surely it is at these times - when I am most busy or feeling most stressed, that I most need to be still and to pray and I would like to share a couple of thoughts here, that have challenged me to do this.
The first thought I want to share is from a talk, given by Bishop Stephen Cottrell, that I stumbled upon at Greenbelt Festival last year.
Bishop Stephen read from ‘The House at Pooh Corner' by A. A. Milne, where Christopher Robin asks Pooh Bear what he likes doing best in the world.
"Well," said Pooh, "what I like best - " and then he had to stop and think. Because although Eating Honey was a very good thing to do, there was a moment just before you began to eat it which was better than when you were, but he didn't know what it was called.
Bishop Stephen then went on to explain how prayer was a little like that moment before eating honey and the importance of spending some time listening to God before we speak to God.
I know I sometimes have a tendency to dive into my prayers with lots of requests or to feel that praying requires lots of words and this reminded me of how praying is as much, if not more, about being still before God and listening to God, as it is about speaking to God.
I was also reminded of a very similar story I had been told. Michael Ramsey, a former Archbishop of Canterbury, was once asked how long he spent in prayer each day. His response was that he spent one minute praying. The reporter, who had asked him, was very shocked, so the Archbishop continued... "but I spend fifty-nine minutes preparing to pray."
Hope everyone has a great week,
Rebekah
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http://www.albandys.org.uk/go/377