Lists II
We’re zooming on through our Pascha-to-Pentecost Road Trip.
We’re making this trip because we are looking to train up a whole lot of Liturgical Long Haulers—those are folks who can join us in the work of persistent prayer. And that work is essential because it’s how our new temple is going to get built and how this entire world is going to be transformed.
In our last post, we talked about how important it is for each and every LLH to keep a list. Exactly where you keep that list and what form it takes is going to vary depending on the circumstances of your life, and the location and configuration of the list will change as those circumstances change.
But there are certain, basic things that you’ll need to have on that list. For example, last time, we talked about how we need to be interceding every day for “those who love us and those who hate us”. That’s a quotation from Small Compline and the Midnight Office, but those Divine Services also indicate another section that we all need to have on our prayer list. Because at the end of those services, we find this exchange:
Priest: Let us say also for ourselves.
People: Lord have mercy, Lord have mercy, Lord have mercy.
It probably seems beyond obvious that we ought to be praying for ourselves, but notice: the response to that call includes three Lord have mercies. In other words, there should be a special intensity, a particular depth to this section of our prayers.
Which is not a vibe that we normally associate with a list, but it depends on what is on that list, and all of the Liturgical Long Haulers that I know include, in this personal section of their prayers, all of their former sexual partners and all of their biggest fears.
That reference to former sexual partners probably already has your attention, so let’s just start there.
Of course, the Church calls on us to enter into a faithful marriage or embrace a celibate singleness. However, North American culture being what it is, most adults have at least several sexual partners before they accept what the Church proclaims.
But here’s the thing: St Paul clearly teaches that when we engage in sexual activity with another person, we are united to them—we become “one flesh” (Ephesians 5.31; 1 Corinthians 6.16). That means, however ill-advised or alcohol-impaired or hasty or regrettable our encounter with that other person was, we have become one flesh with them; in fact, we are, together, an icon of the Union of Christ Jesus and The Church.
And that icon may be badly drawn and poorly painted, but it still should be honored, and one important way we can do that is by reading through the names of those folks every day in the presence of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
Now this does not require any emotional investment. There is no reason to linger over memories or to wonder about how things turned out for that other person. We are simply acknowledging the fact that we have a profound connection with that man or woman, a connection that we will also need to acknowledge at the End of All Things in the presence of our Lord and Master and the Holy Angels.
So, yeah, we’re dealing with some pretty cosmic stuff here.
But, with a list, it is something that can be dealt with in a way that is direct and drained of all drama. And when we use that list on a daily basis, we can work through that cosmic stuff at a deliberate and manageable pace.
To be sure, we’ve all got lots more cosmic stuff that shapes who we are and how we live, and that’s why we need a section on our prayer list that spells out our biggest fears.
A typical list will include family breakdown, failure as a parent, what kind of future our children will have, unemployment, addiction, terminal illness, violent crime, serious accident. And while there’s no need to construct specific scenarios, the list should be long enough to include all those things that wake us up at night and that intrude upon our quiet moments.
And it’s important to point out that the goal is not that our prayers will somehow shield us from every single one of those experiences. There’s nothing wrong with that hope, but, ultimately, the reason we stand in the presence of the Most Holy Trinity and own these nightmares is so that, if any of these fears do end up becoming reality we will know that it is a reality that has been foreseen by the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit and that it is, therefore, also a reality that will contribute to our redemption.
At this point, though, you’re most likely thinking something like this: “Y’know, we’ve been talking about a list that includes my biggest fears and all my former sexual partners…so if I read that list every day, how is my prayer time not going to turn into an ongoing emotional roller-coaster?”
Excellent question.
We’ll devote our next post to answering it.
In the meantime, if you haven’t already, figure out how you’re going to put together your list. Our new temple—and the transfiguration of this entire planet—are depending on it.
Of course, there are lots of other ways you can help with our temple project.
Join us in offering the Akathist for a New Temple (PDF/video)
Commission an image in the Calming Room of our Temple
Upgrade your subscription to paid
And to help you just boogie through that list, we’ll spin some Tom Cochrane.