It is with great humility that I respond to an invitation to write about daily prayer. My prayer is always to live into the discipline of the daily "office," which grounds me in the loving grace of the God who calls again and again and responds as I call again and again.

The search for balance, or rhythm in our lives, absorbs much time and conversation as we seek a discipline or system that "works" to ground us and give us the peace the world cannot give. We live in a constant search for what theologian Joan Chitester calls "the One whose heart beats with ours." We long to name and know that rhythm — to claim it and "keep the beat"...to be in constant reciprocal relationship with our God.

The truth as we come to live it is, of course, that it is in the daily seeking, the daily conversation with our God, that we see clearly our inability to sustain our part in the relationship. As we are drawn deeper into the mystery of the love embracing us we find ourselves unable to respond even with daily consistency.

At the Lambeth Conference last summer I was "recalled" into a new understanding of daily prayer. Every morning, early before breakfast, men and women from all over the world emerged from residences spread all over the University of Kent Campus to meet under a Big Top to share the Eucharist together. We spoke many languages and sometimes disagreed about the issues facing our church, but we prayed our common prayers and received from a common cup. Some mornings I found it difficult to get up and make my pilgrimage, and on those mornings I was given such a profound sense of being upheld by those around me praying our prayers. I became aware that the same experience was true on a global scale: someone is saying our prayers — the prayers of the whole church, of Christ's body, always and everywhere. And then it became clear that the same is true over time: the communion of saints has been saying our prayers over time and space. It was such a gift to understand that my daily prayers are part of a grand conversation — a rich stream of longing and seeking that runs on and on and when I enter that ongoing communal stream of prayer, even when I am alone, I am upheld, and grow spiritually.

I'm reminded, too, on those days when it is hard to stay grounded in my commitment to daily prayer that, as counterintuitive as it may sound, we do "behave ourselves into being." If we wish to be in intentional relationship, we need to behave as if we are in that relationship and committed to it. If we take on a new role, we need to behave ourselves in that role, thereby learning just what that feels like from the inside out. As an educator I am reminded of the meaning of the word "curriculum" — which is a course to be run or taken. Perhaps committing oneself to a rule of life, daily prayer; be it the daily office from the Book of Alternative Services, or J. Philip Newell's "Celtic Benediction Morning and Night Prayer," which I have also prayed for years now, is like running the course. The deep joy is that the whole church "holds" the course — it is a communal discipline and practice into which I enter, as I am able, and am sustained with deep joy. Again, to Joy Chitester: "Prayer is not a pious gesture at all. It is a response to the One whose heart beats with ours."

Saint Francis' Project Goes to the Dogs

by Beverly Sloboda

photo beverly sloboda

100 DOG BLANKETS — ACW of Saint Francis completed a project to produce 100 dog blankets for donation to the Kelowna and Vernon SPCAs.

With the Centennial Celebration of our parish in mind, the ACW of Saint Francis have recently completed a project spearheaded by Kathy Leftwich and Corrine MacKay, to produce 100 dog blankets for donation to the Kelowna and Vernon SPCAs. The project was ongoing for close to a year. A tag attached to each blanket bore the touching inscription, "Comfort #_ of 100 blankets made by friends and parishioners of St. Francis Anglican Church, Winfield, for the SPCA and ALL CREATURES, GREAT AND SMALL." The parish women were supported in knitting the blankets by churchwomen and others from the Lake Country Manor retirement facility. As well as benefiting the animals, the women found pleasure in keeping busy at an activity they enjoyed.

On Wednesday, April 22 the blankets were displayed throughout the church in an array of color to rival Joseph's famous coat. Every scrap of wool available was used to create stripes, squares, zig zags and various patterns in the blankets. Each lady used her imagination to produce blankets in assorted designs with whatever yarn they had. Their imaginations were limitless. Corinne MacKay was touted for her exhaustive efforts in collecting wool from church and community members, various thrift shops and any other benevolent source she could find.

All those who contributed to the effort were invited to the church for a blessing of the blankets. Elizabeth Blake, chairperson for the community council of the Kelowna SPCA and Ruth Whitson, representing the auxiliary to the branch, were in attendance to receive their part of the donated blankets. Bruce MacDonald, Church archivist and leader in our church Centennial preparations also attended. The Reverend Patricia Horrobin gracefully and passionately asked for God's blessing on "the blankets, the hands that brought them here and the creatures that would use them." Kathy Leftwich thanked all those involved and invited everyone to the social room for tea, coffee and biscuits topped with homemade jam and whipped cream. The jam is part of another centennial project. The parish ladies will donate 100 jars of this home-made sweet, in a banquet of flavors, to the Lake Country Hospital Auxiliary for use in their ongoing work to raise funds for the Kelowna hospital.

Not to be overlooked, in another ACW Centennial project, 100 SPCA kitties received a cuddly cat-nip fish made for them to chew or wrestle with, as their kitty notions take them.

Congratulations ladies for your innovative and generous gestures complementing our Centennial year!

Other Centennial year preparations, to which all are invited, celebrates our parish history. On Saturday August 1 at 11 a.m. a Eucharist service, in the form of worship used in 1909, will be held at the Okanagan Centre Community Hall on Maddock Road. Formerly All Saints, it was the first Anglican Church in our area. The service will be followed by a barbecued salmon lunch.

On Sunday August 2 at 10 a.m. a Eucharist will be celebrated at our new church, St. Francis, at 10162 Nuene Road. Several past incumbents of the parish have been asked to assist in both services. Please advise any former priests, parishioners, and their descendants from St. Mary's, Oyama, St. Margaret's, Winfield and the parish of Woodsdale of the coming celebrations. For further information phone (250)850-2445 email: saint_francis@telus.net