Daily Office

During the last month I have gotten out of the habit of using the daily church offices as a prayer guide.  Previously I had come to really enjoy using it as a tool to help provide a prayerful rhythm to my day.  I finally picked up my book The Divine Hours, by Phyllis Tickle yesterday, a full month out from Oliver's death.  As I prayed through the verses it felt as though my God was welcoming me back with acknowledgement and acceptance of my silence for a month.  The Request, Refrain, Reading, Psalm, and Concluding Prayer especially spoke to me.  So really, the whole office spoke to my soul.  This is an abbreviation of the midday office assigned for yesterday (Wednesday nearest to April 27) that I read:

The Call to Prayer
Hallelujah!  Praise the Lord, O my soul! I will praise the Lord as long as I live; I will sing praises to my God while I have my being.  Psalm 146:1

The Request for Presence

Remember me, O Lord, with the favor you have for your people. Come near to me with your saving help, that I may share the happiness of your chosen ones, let me share the joy of your people, the pride of your inheritance.  Psalm 106:4-5 Refrain for the Midday Lessons Your statutes have been like songs to me wherever I have lived like a stranger.  Psalm 119:54 A Reading We want you to be quite certain, brothers, about those who have fallen asleep, to make sure that you do not grieve for them, as others do who have no hope. We believe that Jesus died and rose again, and that in the same way God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep in Jesus.  1 Thessalonians 4:13-14 Refrain The Midday Psalm O Lord, you have searched me and known me. You know when I sit down and when I rise up; you discern my thoughts from far away. You search out my path and my lying down, and are acquainted with all my ways. Even before a word is on my tongue, O Lord, you know it completely. You hem me in, behind and before, and lay your hand upon me. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is so high that I cannot attain it. Where can I go from your spirit? Or where can I flee from your presence? If I ascend to heaven, you are there; if I make my bed in Sheol, you are there. If I take the wings of the morning and settle at the farthest limits of the sea, even there your hand shall lead me, and your right hand shall hold me fast. Psalm 139:1-9 Refrain The Cry of the Church Christ has died.  Christ is risen.  Christ will come again. Prayer Appointed for the Week I thank you heavenly Father, that you have delivered me from the dominion of sin and death and brought me into the kingdom of your Son; and I pray that as by his death he has recalled me to life, so by his love he may raise me to eternal joys; who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever.  Amen. Concluding Prayer of the Church May God himself order my days and make them acceptable in his sight.  Blessed be the Lord always, my strength and my redeemer. The Refrain gave me new descriptive words - life during grief, when the one who is loved is gone, feels like living as a stranger. The world feels very different and strange even though the "things" have not changed so much.  Songs soothe my mind and spirit and emotions simultaneously, just as God's statutes do. I pray the Conclusion again and again, finding peace and assurance in His promises; there is HOPE when God is the orderer of days and is the named strength and redeemer.  May God himself order my days and make them acceptable in his sight. Blessed be the Lord always, my strength and my redeemer.