A night thought.

Well, I was certainly carried by the group tonight and perhaps in my own way helped to carry someone else. Dunno. There are times when you simply cannot gauge or be aware of the significance of the contribution you make. And I think I was carried by Compline too. The words are so familiar that they slip out without reference to the written text. Again, the truth was told to me many years ago, that if you stick to the Office, it will carry you when you cannot find words of your own with which to pray. So it was tonight.

Words matter to me for good and ill. They are the tools I have used to define, defend, cloak and comfort myself. And to castigate and condemn. But the words others have used matter deeply to me as well, especially when I cannot fully trust my own. As many have found before me, the Psalms say what we sometimes cannot. Tonight we prayed Psalm 27. 2 verses reached out to me:"You speak in my heart and say 'Seek my face'. Your face Lord will I seek" and "Wait for the Lord, be strong and brave and put your hope in the Lord" . Wait and seek. Action and stillness. Movement and calm. You need both.