A Journeyman on the Road of Faith

silence

Matt Tibbles — Fri, 23 Dec 2011 15:41:29 +0000

Thursday Compline

Matt Tibbles — Fri, 04 Nov 2011 02:11:32 +0000

Find rest, O my soul, in God alone:
my hope comes from Him.

Come I this night to the Father,
come I this night to the Son,
come I to the Holy Spirit powerful:
come I this night to God.
Come I this night with Christ,
come I with the Spirit of kindness.
Come I to Thee, Jesus.
Jesus, shelter me.

I will lie down and sleep.
I wake again,
because the Lord sustains me.

By day the Lord directs His love;
at night His song is with me -
a prayer to the God of my life.

Be strong and take heart,
all you who hope in the Lord.

This dwelling, O God, by Thee be blest;
and each one who here this night does rest.

May God be in my sleep;
may Christ be in my dreams.
May the Spirit be in my repose,
in my thoughts, in my heart.
In my soul always
may the Sacred Three dwell.

May the Father of heaven
have care of my soul,
His loving arm about my body,
through each slumber
and sleep of my life.

The Son of God be shielding me from harm,
the Son of God be shielding me from ill,
the Son of God be shielding me with power.
The Son of God be shielding me this night.

Sleep, O sleep in the calm of each calm.
Sleep, O sleep in the guidance of all guidance.
Sleep, O sleep in the love of all loves.
Sleep, O beloved, in the Lord of life.
Sleep, O beloved, in the God of life.

The peace of all peace
be mine this night
in the name of the Father,
and of the Son,
and of the Holy Spirit.
Amen.

Monday Compline

Matt Tibbles — Tue, 04 Oct 2011 03:40:08 +0000

O Christ, Son of the living God,
may Your holy angels guard our sleep,
may they watch over us as we rest
and hover around our beds.

* Let them reveal to us in our dreams
visions of Your glorious truth,
O High Prince of the universe,
O High Priest of the mysteries.

* May no dreams disturb our rest
and no nightmares darken our dreams.
May no fears or worries delay
our willing, prompt repose.

* May the virtue of our daily work
hallow our nightly prayers.
May our sleep be deep and soft
so our work be fresh and hard.

I will lie down and sleep in peace
for You alone, Lord, make me dwell in safety.

My dear ones, O God, bless Thou and keep,
in every place where they are.

* Into Your hands I commit my spirit;
I give it to You with all the love of my heart.

* How precious to me are Your thoughts, O God!
How vast is the sum of them!
Were I to count them,
they would outnumber the grains of sand.
When I awake, I am still with You.

I make the cross of Christ upon my breast,
+ over the tablet of my hard heart,
and I beseech the Living God of the universe -
may the Light of Lights come
to my dark heart from Thy place;
may the Spirit’s wisdom come to my heart’s tablet
from my Saviour.

* Christ without sin, Christ of wounds,
I am placing my soul and my body
under Thy guarding this night,
Christ of the poor, Christ of tears.
Thy cross be my shielding this night,
O Thou Son of tears, of the wounds, of the piercing.

I am going now into the sleep:
O be it in Thy dear arm’s keep,
O God of grace, that I shall awake.

* My Christ! my Christ!
my shield, my encircler,
each day, each night,
each light, each dark.

* My Christ! my Christ!
my shield, my encircler,
each day, each night,
each light, each dark.
Be near me, uphold me,
my treasure, my triumph.

Circle me, Lord,
keep protection near
and danger afar.

* Circle me, Lord,
keep light near
and darkness afar.

* Circle me, Lord,
keep peace within;
keep evil out.

The peace of all peace
be mine this night
+ in the name of the Father,
and of the Son,
and of the Holy Spirit.
Amen.

Faith Walk

Matt Tibbles — Wed, 11 May 2011 17:23:52 +0000

“We move on pilgrimage, which is both moving with God and toward God, trusting God on a path that is mysterious and unknown in advance. The mystery of the path means that we need to stay alert, for the Holy One may appear at any time, and at any place. There is not any “no-God’s land” along the way. It is all God’s land, every step of the way.” (Living In His Presence)

How is your faith walk today?

Lyricist of Life

Matt Tibbles — Tue, 10 May 2011 04:38:29 +0000

Music is timeless. It’s voice never stops and always pierces to the soul of those who listen. Music brings joy to your heart like an embrace of an old friend. But music can also touch the sorrow and pain in our soul much like the unwelcome news of a lost loved one. It has the ability to bring revolution…to bring change.

Some of the greatest lyricists and songwriters have transformed how we communicate and relate to each other and our world. Listen to the words and envision the timelessness of the following lyrics:

words by john lennon

Imagine there’s no Heaven
It’s easy if you try
No hell below us
Above us only sky
Imagine all the people
Living for today

Imagine there’s no countries
It isn’t hard to do
Nothing to kill or die for
And no religion too
Imagine all the people
Living life in peace

You may say that I’m a dreamer
But I’m not the only one
I hope someday you’ll join us
And the world will be as one

Imagine no possessions
I wonder if you can
No need for greed or hunger
A brotherhood of man
Imagine all the people
Sharing all the world

You may say that I’m a dreamer
But I’m not the only one
I hope someday you’ll join us
And the world will live as one

Did your hear the gentle piano playing in the background as the teacher helps us cope with the violence of world all the while composing a new reality? Pictures of extreme poverty, slavery and war flash through the mind and invoke strong feelings. Faces of the people whose lives violence has touched play across my mind

The victims in Cairo (both Muslim and Christian)…
The struggle for life by mothers, daughters and sons in war-torn neighborhoods…
The hate and anger that fuel people to acts of unimaginable violence…
The desecration of humanity (maybe our own) as others are enslaved by poverty, sex trades and greed…
And one that has burned an image into my soul, the joyous dancing at the death of another…

But also pictures of hope. Pictures of humanity living together in peace embracing the life in the other.

Another lyricist would compose…

Do I take any pleasure in the death of the wicked? declares the LORD. Rather, am I not pleased when they turn from their ways and live?

Another lyricist would gently sing…

lyrics by foy vance

If there’s one thing that I know
It is that two shades of hope
One the enlightening soul
And the other is more like a hangman’s rope

Well it’s true, you may reap what you sow
But not that despair is the all-time low
Baby, hope deals the hardest blows

There’s once someone I loved
Whose heart overflowed his cup
And his shoes got covered in blood
Oh but he never knew
Cause he only looked up
Well he was a troubled soul
Who’d known pain more than most I know
Yet it was hope that dealt the hardest blows

And the girl that holds the hand of
Of a somewhat distant man
Though she did everything she can
Still his heart set sail for a distant land
And she wonders sometimes if he knows
How she feels like a trampled rose
Baby, hope deals the hardest blows

Aaah oooh baby
Oooh, oh oh

Well some people think their sin
Caused the cancer that’s eating into them
And the only way they can win
Is by the healing of somebody’s hands on their skin
But when the cancer does not go
Baby hope dealt the hardest blows

And now all these truths are sold
With foundations below them
That were dug out in winter’s cold
When the world stole our young and prayed on the old

Well hope deals in the hardest blows
Yet I cannot help myself but hope

I guess that’s why love hurts
And heartache stings
And despair’s never worse
Than the despair that earth brings

But hope deals the hardest blows, dear
The hardest…
Hope deals the hardest blows

Pain and hope always seem to be composed together. Hope is the longing for the harmonious chord while the dissonance of pain and violence is being sung. Sometimes that hopeful chord comes and at other times the listener is left waiting.

One of my favorite lamenting songs is written by Thomas Moore.

words by thomas moore

Oh, Thou who dries the mourner’s tear,

How dark this would would be,

If pierced by sins and sorrows here

We could not fly to Thee!

The Friends who in our sunshine live

When winter comes are flown;

And he who has but tears to give

Must weep those tears alone.

Oh who could bear life’s stormy doom

Did not Thy wing of love come

Brightly wafting through the gloom

Our Peace Branch from above.

Then sorrow touch’d by Thee

Grows bright as more than rapture’s ray

Reveals the glorious shades of light

We never saw by day!

May these lyrics bless you and provide that hopeful chord amidst the pain and violence in your life.

Morning Prayer for April 28

Matt Tibbles — Thu, 28 Apr 2011 15:12:56 +0000

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen

Opening sentences
One thing I have asked of the Lord,
this is what I seek:
that I may dwell in the house of the Lord
all the days of my life;
to behold the beauty of the Lord
and to seek Him in His temple.

Call: Who is it that you seek?
Response: We seek the Lord our God.
Call: Do you seek Him with all your heart?
Response: Amen. Lord, have mercy.
Call: Do you seek Him with all your soul?
Response: Amen. Lord, have mercy.
Call: Do you seek Him with all your mind?
Response: Amen. Lord, have mercy.
Call: Do you seek Him with all your strength?
Response: Amen. Christ, have mercy.

Declaration of faith
To whom shall we go?
You have the words of eternal life,
and we have believed and have come to know
that You are the Holy One of God.

Praise to You, Lord Jesus Christ,
King of endless glory.

Scripture

Psalm 22:1-8 My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me, so far from the words of my groaning? ² O my God, I cry out by day, but you do not answer, by night, and am not silent. ³ Yet you are enthroned as the Holy One; you are the praise of Israel. ⁴ In you our fathers put their trust; they trusted and you delivered them. ⁵ They cried to you and were saved; in you they trusted and were not disappointed. ⁶ But I am a worm and not a man, scorned by men and despised by the people. ⁷ All who see me mock me; they hurl insults, shaking their heads: ⁸ ”He trusts in the LORD; let the LORD rescue him. Let him deliver him, since he delights in him.”

Isaiah 53:6-7 We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all. ⁷ He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth; he was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth.

Matthew 5:11-12 “Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. ¹² Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

Meditation for the day

PSALM 84
How lovely is Thy dwelling-place,
O Lord of hosts, to me.
My soul is longing and fainting
the courts of the Lord to see.
My heart and flesh, they are singing
for joy to the living God.
How lovely is Thy dwelling-place,
O Lord of hosts, to me.

Even the sparrow finds a home
where he can settle down,
and the swallow, she can build a nest
where she may lay her young,
within the courts of the Lord of hosts,
my King, my Lord, and my God;
and happy are those who are dwelling where
the song of praise is sung.

And I’d rather be a door-keeper
and only stay a day,
than live the life of a sinner
and have to stay away.
For the Lord is shining as the sun,
and the Lord, He’s like a shield;
and no good thing does He withhold
from those who walk His way.

How lovely is Thy dwelling-place,
O Lord of hosts, to me.
My soul is longing and fainting
the courts of the Lord to see.
My heart and flesh, they are singing
for joy to the living God.
How lovely is Thy dwelling-place,
O Lord of hosts, to me.

Prayers for others

Canticle

Christ, as a light
illumine and guide me.
Christ, as a shield
overshadow me.
Christ under me;
Christ over me;
Christ beside me
on my left and my right.
This day be within and without me,
lowly and meek, yet all-powerful.
Be in the heart of each to whom I speak;
in the mouth of each who speaks unto me.
This day be within and without me,
lowly and meek, yet all-powerful.
Christ as a light;
Christ as a shield;
Christ beside me
on my left and my right.

Blessing
May the peace of the Lord Christ go with you,
wherever He may send you.
May He guide you through the wilderness,
protect you through the storm.
May He bring you home rejoicing
at the wonders He has shown you.
May He bring you home rejoicing
once again into our doors.

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen

Thank you Northumbria Community for providing online daily offices.

Image Reflection: Calm

Matt Tibbles — Sun, 06 Mar 2011 17:50:39 +0000

Compline for Tuesday night

Matt Tibbles — Wed, 02 Mar 2011 04:31:40 +0000

Pray with me…

I will lie down and sleep in peace
for You alone, Lord,
make me dwell in safety.

O God, and Spirit, and Jesu, the Three,
from the crown of my head, O Trinity,
to the soles of my feet mine offering be.
Come I unto Thee, O Jesu, my King -
O Jesu, do Thou be my sheltering.

My dear ones, O God, bless Thou and keep,
in every place where they are.

Whoever has chosen to make
the shelter of the Most High their dwelling place
will stay in His over-shadowing.

He alone is my refuge, my place of safety;
He is my God, and I am trusting Him.

He will rescue you from the traps laid for your feet,
and save you from the destroying curse.

His faithful promises are your armour.
You need no longer be afraid of any terror by night,
or the death-arrow that flies by day.

The Lord Himself is your refuge;
you have made the Most High your stronghold.

Be my strong rock, a castle to keep me safe,
for You are my crag and my stronghold.

How precious to me are Your thoughts, O God!
How vast is the sum of them!
Were I to count them,
they would outnumber the grains of sand.
When I awake, I am still with You.

I will not lie down tonight with sin,
nor shall sin
nor sin’s shadow
lie down with me.

O God of life, this night,
O darken not to me Thy light.
O God of life, this night,
close not Thy gladness to my sight.
O God of life, this night,
Thy door to me, O shut not tight,
O God of life, this night.

Be it on Thine own beloved arm,
O God of grace,
that I in peace shall waken.

Jesu, Son of Mary!
my helper, my encircler.
Jesu, Son of David!
my strength everlasting.
Jesu, Son of Mary!
my helper, my encircler.

The peace of all peace
be mine this night
in the name of the Father,
and of the Son,
and of the Holy Spirit.
Amen.

If you desire to pray through all the offices. I use this website: Northumbria Community Offices

Midday Prayer

Matt Tibbles — Tue, 01 Mar 2011 20:37:30 +0000

In the name of the Father,
and of the Son,
and of the Holy Spirit. Amen

Opening Sentences
Let the beauty of the Lord our God be upon us.
Establish Thou the work of our hands;
establish Thou the work of our hands.

The Lord’s Prayer
Our Father, who art in heaven,
hallowed be Thy name;
Thy kingdom come;
Thy will be done;
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread
and forgive us our trespasses
as we forgive those who trespass against us.
And lead us not into temptation;
but deliver us from evil. Amen

Declaration of faith
We believe and trust in God the Father Almighty.
We believe and trust in Jesus Christ His Son.
We believe and trust in the Holy Spirit.
We believe and trust in the Three in One.

Canticle
Teach us, dear Lord, to number our days;
that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom.
Oh, satisfy us early with Thy mercy,
that we may rejoice and be glad all of our days.
And let the beauty of the Lord our God be upon us;
and establish Thou the work of our hands.
And let the beauty of the Lord our God be upon us;
and establish Thou the work of our hands, dear Lord.

Blessing
Let nothing disturb thee,
nothing affright thee;
all things are passing,
God never changeth!
Patient endurance attaineth to all things;
who God possesseth
in nothing is wanting;
alone God sufficeth.

In the name of the Father,
and of the Son,
and of the Holy Spirit. Amen

Compline for Wednesday Evening

Matt Tibbles — Thu, 24 Feb 2011 05:08:37 +0000

Calm me, O Lord, as You stilled the storm.
Still me, O Lord, keep me from harm.
Let all the tumult within me cease.
Enfold me, Lord, in Your peace.

Father, bless the work that is done,
and the work that is to be.

Father, bless the servant that I am,
and the servant that I will be.

Thou Lord and God of power,
shield and sustain me this night.

I will lie down this night with God,
and God will lie down with me;
I will lie down this night with Christ,
and Christ will lie down with me;
I will lie down this night with the Spirit,
and the Spirit will lie down with me;
God and Christ and the Spirit,
be lying down with me.

The peace of God
be over me to shelter me,

under me to uphold me,

about me to protect me,

behind me to direct me,

ever with me to save me.

The peace of all peace
be mine this night
in the name of the Father,
and of the Son,
and of the Holy Spirit.
Amen.