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The Lord God says this:
Look, I am going to
send my messenger
to prepare a way before me.
Luke 1

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Preparing (making ready) or Preprayering ?

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These are days of preparation, end-of-work year, travel and preparation for Christmas, perhaps planning for vacation days away from home or preparing to host or spend time with friends and family over the next week or two.

We all have our own ways of preparing for an event or a visit.

But the recently coined word preprayering is wonderfully vague, new enough to be without baggage and therefore open to our own personal interpretations and definitions.

I can’t hear the term preprayering without being aware that my preparations, plans, priorities and decisions are usually mine, perhaps with an ear to the opinions of others and some (often guarded) openness to the nudgings of the Spirit of God.

But what if I allowed my pre-prayer-ations for each moment every event and encounter to be initiated, motivated and directed by God.

Such a way of living requires acceptance-as-fact that God is both present and active, excitedly seeking every opportunity to engage with me, to walk with me and to carry me whenever necessary.

If I accept this fact (that God is present and active and seeking opportunity to engage with me) then I have nothing to fear and nothing to lose.

The birth of John the Baptist features in today’s Gospel. But note that while the story is of his birth and naming, the protagonist in the account is God.

The account concludes noting that indeed the hand of the Lord was on John.

Much of the artwork featuring John has him pointing away from himself and towards Christ.

And that’s the heart of pre-prayer-ation.

 

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Here’s an inclusive grace you might like to use at your Christmas meal this year.

A Grace before Christmas Dinner

One of the more senior people
at the dinner begins saying:

Before we share this Christmas meal together,
Let us take a moment of silent prayer
to give God thanks
for all the blessings we have received this year
and for the burdens we bear, shared and personal.

A moment of silent reflection follows
Then the leader continues

Let us remember those
we have shared Christmas with in past years,
those who have died,
and also those who are not able to be with us today.
Let us now share aloud
the names of those we especially wish to remember.

Those at table take a moment
to share the names of those
they wish to remember.

When the names have been shared
a candle is lit in the centre of the table
(perhaps by one of the children).
Then the leader prays

May the light of this candle
lead us to the One
who overcomes every darkness.

And for what we receive in this meal,
the food, drink, and family and friendship,
let us be deeply grateful.

Amen