{"id":3222,"date":"2020-04-03T13:43:55","date_gmt":"2020-04-03T02:43:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.leighmoorunitingchurch.org.au\/?p=3222"},"modified":"2020-04-03T13:45:02","modified_gmt":"2020-04-03T02:45:02","slug":"from-barbaras-desk-03-04-2020","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.leighmoorunitingchurch.org.au\/?p=3222","title":{"rendered":"From Barbara’s Desk 03-04-2020"},"content":{"rendered":"

Dear Faith Pals,<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

I hope you are all keeping well, doing the right thing and staying at home as much as possible.\u00a0 Please continue to pray for the world. We may feel we are doing nothing-but prayer is vital!<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

I never wanted to be Prime Minister-let’s continue to pray for our world’s leaders.\u00a0 What a heavy responsibility they carry. Our key politicians look so tired and worn.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

A prayer from St Benedict of Nursia (480-547 AD\/CE):<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Grace-giver, holy Friend,<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

give us the sense to want you,<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

the eagerness to seek you,<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

the patience to wait for you,<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

the insight to recognize you,<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

the passion to meditate on you,<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

and a lifestyle that praises you.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Through the strength of the Spirit of Jesus,<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Amen.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

I love the work of Catholic theologian Edward Hays.\u00a0 He is a bit of a free spirit.\u00a0 In one of his books, he talks about using other words to replace ‘Alleluia,’ our Easter greeting.\u00a0 We know it as\u00a0 a joyous word, proclaimed after Jesus’s victory over death.\u00a0 It means ‘Praise Yahweh.’ Edward Hays suggests finding other words to use when we need to exclaim over magical and wondrous moments in life.\u00a0 He suggests the word ‘Immanuel’ (or Emmanuel). We may remember this as a name mentioned during the readings for Advent\/Christmas, ‘God with us.’\u00a0 Isaiah’s prediction, Isaiah 7:14, and Matthew 1: 23.\u00a0 So, using this name, whispering it to ourselves is a reminder that God IS with us. Although I said it was a word to say during joyous moments, Edward Hays goes on to write that it is a word that can also be used during the not so wonderful times, it can be uttered during times of suffering, accidents, disasters, because the word also means ‘May God be with us.’ So this one-word prayer seems more than appropriate for this time of COVID 19.\u00a0 This word becomes a prayer, for God to help us through the difficulties.\u00a0 Jesus promised to be with us always.\u00a0 Saying this one word prayer may remind us that God is with us now, and always will be, come what may. If you find it hard to pray, or can’t find the words, then just say ‘Immanuel.’<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Blessings<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Barbara<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Next week is Holy Week.\u00a0 I will send out an email on Monday, with thoughts\/resources for Holy Week, and on Wednesday evening or Thursday morning, I will send out two sermons: one for Good Friday and one for Easter Sunday.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Continue to support one another.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/a><\/strong><\/span><\/td>\nVirus-free. www.avg.com<\/a><\/strong><\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Dear Faith Pals, I hope you are all keeping well, doing the right thing and staying at home as much as possible.\u00a0 Please continue to pray for the world. We may feel we are doing nothing-but prayer is vital! I never wanted to be Prime Minister-let’s continue to pray for our world’s leaders.\u00a0 What a heavy responsibility they carry. Our key politicians look so tired and worn. A prayer from St Benedict of Nursia (480-547 AD\/CE): Grace-giver, holy Friend, give us the sense to want you, the eagerness to seek you, the patience to wait for you, the insight to recognize you, the passion to meditate on you, and a lifestyle that praises you. Through the strength of the Spirit of Jesus, Amen. I love the work of Catholic theologian Edward Hays.\u00a0 He is a bit of a free spirit.\u00a0 In one of his books, he talks about using other words to replace ‘Alleluia,’ our Easter greeting.\u00a0 We know it as\u00a0 a joyous word, proclaimed after Jesus’s victory over death.\u00a0 It means ‘Praise Yahweh.’ Edward Hays suggests finding other words to use when we need to exclaim over magical and wondrous moments in life.\u00a0 He suggests the word ‘Immanuel’ (or Emmanuel). We may remember this as a name mentioned during the readings for Advent\/Christmas, ‘God with us.’\u00a0 Isaiah’s prediction, Isaiah 7:14, and Matthew 1: 23.\u00a0 So, using this name, whispering it to ourselves is a reminder that God IS with us. Although I said it was a word to say during joyous moments, Edward Hays goes on to write that it is a word that can also be used during the not so wonderful times, it can be uttered during times of suffering, accidents, disasters, because the word also means ‘May God be with us.’ So this one-word prayer seems more than appropriate for this time of COVID 19.\u00a0 This word becomes a prayer, for God to help us through the difficulties.\u00a0 Jesus promised to be with us always.\u00a0 Saying this one word prayer may remind us that God is with us now, and always will be, come what may. If you find it hard to pray, or can’t find the words, then just say ‘Immanuel.’ Blessings Barbara Next week is Holy Week.\u00a0 I will send out an email on Monday, with thoughts\/resources for Holy Week, and on Wednesday evening or Thursday morning, I will send out two sermons: one for Good Friday and one for Easter Sunday. Continue to support one another. Virus-free. www.avg.com<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3222","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorised"],"rttpg_featured_image_url":null,"rttpg_author":{"display_name":"Leighmoor.Master","author_link":"https:\/\/www.leighmoorunitingchurch.org.au\/author\/leighmoor-master"},"rttpg_comment":0,"rttpg_category":"Other Posts<\/a>","rttpg_excerpt":"Dear Faith Pals, I hope you are all keeping well, doing the right thing and staying at home as much as possible.\u00a0 Please continue to pray for the world. We may feel we are doing nothing-but prayer is vital! I never wanted to be Prime Minister-let’s continue to pray for our world’s leaders.\u00a0 What a…","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.leighmoorunitingchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3222","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.leighmoorunitingchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.leighmoorunitingchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.leighmoorunitingchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.leighmoorunitingchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3222"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.leighmoorunitingchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3222\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3223,"href":"https:\/\/www.leighmoorunitingchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3222\/revisions\/3223"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.leighmoorunitingchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3222"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.leighmoorunitingchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3222"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.leighmoorunitingchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3222"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}