Returning and Resting in God

The Book of Common Prayer is full of truly beautiful phrases. It’s full of biblical quotes and allusions, of course, but it also contains phrases penned by the prayer book’s original (1559) compiler Thomas Cranmer. Today, his phrases like “ashes to ashes, dust to dust” and “til death do us part” are threaded into our cultural imagination.

One of my favorite prayers is on page 832 in our 1979 American prayer book. It’s called “For Quiet Confidence.” Take a moment now to pray it, aloud or silently, as you read it.

O God of peace, who hast taught us that in returning and rest we shall be saved, in quietness and confidence shall be our strength: By the might of thy Spirit lift us, we pray thee, to thy presence, where we may be still and know that thou art God; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Photo by Maria Orlova

Here, we see how much of the prayer book comes from the Bible. I’ve marked Bible excerpts in blue (that is, the ones I recognize; I could be missing others).

The “ask” of this prayer is so simple. It’s not “please fix our lives, God” or even “God, help us to understand.” Instead, it’s “hold us close to you, God, and remind us that you are God, and we are not.” That’s actually a pretty good summary of all my prayers.

It also reminds me of a chant I learned a few years ago in a workshop on centering prayer. It was taught by Cynthia Bourgeault, a mystic and Episcopal priest who wrote Centering Prayer and Inner Awakening, which has been transformative for my spiritual life.

We chanted words from Psalm 46:10 on one tone, dropping off one word or phrase with each subsequent line:

Be still and know that I am God…

Be still and know that I am…

Be still and know…

Be still…

Be…

“Being spiritual” doesn’t have to be any big, complicated thing. This prayer is a reminder that, to be close to God, all we have to do… is be.

Happy Trinity Sunday!

"The significance of the festival, as the end of the cycle of days by which our Blessed Lord and His work are commemorated, is very great. The beginning of His acts was associated with a revelation of the Three Persons of the Trinity, and His last command to His Apostles was a commission to make disciples of all nations by baptizing them in the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. The perfect revelation of the Holy Three in One may also be considered to have been made on the day of Pentecost, when to the work expressed by our Lord in the words, “My Father worketh hitherto, and I work,” was added that further operation of the Holy Ghost which was previously unknown even to holy men, but has ever since been familiar to the whole world. On Whitsunday, therefore, we see the crowning point of the work of redemption; and the feast of Trinity, on the Octave of Pentecost, commemorates the consummation of God’s saving work, and the perfect revelation to the Church of the Three Persons in One God, as the sole objects of adoration. The love of each Person had been commemorated in the separate Festivals which memorialize before God and man the Incarnation, Death, Resurrection, and Ascension of our Lord, and the sending forth by the Father and the Son of the Blessed Spirit on Whitsunday. In the festival of Trinity all these solemn subjects of belief are gathered into one act of worship, as the Church Militant looks upward through the door that is opened in Heaven, and bows down in adoration with the Church Triumphant, saying, “Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God Almighty, Which was, and is, and is to come … Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory, and honour, and power; for Thou hast created all things, and for Thy pleasure they are and were created.”"

Blunt, J. H. (Ed.). (1889). The Annotated Book of Common Prayer (Revised and Enlarged Edition, p. 303). New York: E. P. Dutton & Co.

Proud to Support Pride

When the flag hit the top of the flagpole, my eyes filled with tears. Underneath our American flag, there was now another one: the LGBTQIA+ pride flag. I looked out over the small gathered crowd of about 35 people. Some of the faces were familiar but others were new to me, and all were tilted up to look at the new flag flying in front of our church. It was a simple but beautiful moment.

Philadelphia LGBTQIA+ Pride Flag outside St. Paul's

For too long, churches have been sites of rejection for people whose gender or sexuality put them on the wrong side of society’s norms. But now churches are increasingly understanding the diversity of genders and sexualities to be gifts from God.

As Christians, we promise in our baptismal vows to “strive for justice and peace among all people, and respect the dignity of every human being.” Jesus teaches us to seek out the most vulnerable people and show them God’s love (see, for example, Mark 1:40-45, Luke 6:20, Luke 14:13-14, John 5:1-15). In our society, LGBTQIA+ people are some of the most vulnerable.

2021 Pride in Southington

A pride celebration in Southington is a joyful way to connect LGBTQIA+ residents with one another, and to show them that they are loved and appreciated. This is especially important for LGBTQIA+ youth, who are at increased risk of suicide and mental illness. Those risks are worsened by contexts where they don't feel supported for who they are.

We believe that God loves us all—no exceptions. For more on the story of LGBTQIA+ people in the Episcopal Church, check out LGBTQ in the Church.

Did you know?

You may expect the Pride flag to have six colors of the rainbow, but ours is a little different.

In 2017, the Philadelphia Office of LGBTQ affairs released this new version of the flag. The black and brown stripes were added to highlight the activism of Black, Latine, and indigenous people. Within the LGBTQIA+ movement, those groups have often led the way. But they’ve also faced discrimination in the very spaces they worked to build. Including these two colors on the flag is a way to acknowledge the work of people of color, and to commit to true inclusivity for all.