Office Blessing

- Lanier Ivester masterfully tells a story about seeing her ballet teacher praying before a recital that dramatically impacted her view of life and worship (http://rabbitroom.com/2018/07/guest-post-face-down/) :

“….she was praying for inspiration, for the choreography and for the execution of it. She was entreating the favor of God upon this endeavor and imploring His ability to procure it. She had the spiritual vision to see that this was not just a workshop recital for families and friends at a little performing arts school—it was a chance to honor the God of the universe. To love God with the heart, soul, mind and strength. To create something beautiful out of love for Him and to lift it up as an offering of praise.

That moment changed everything for me, in the way that small, seemingly trifling moments often do. All my loves—writing, music, dancing, homemaking, gardening—have since been charged with the influence of it. And not only by the ‘glory’ side of the equation; by the appeal, as well, if not more so.  I have in that memory of my beloved and respected teacher, face down before the God she adored, an image of the creative process that I will carry with me for the rest of my life. Creativity is a giving, an offering to others and a glory to the Creator-God. But it is also a receiving. And the courage to create and not valuate our offering by the market standards of the world is, I believe, a gift in itself, and one to be sought most earnestly by the likes of such frail co-creators as we humans prove ourselves to be.”

She also writes, “I used to love to tell my ballet students and piano students what we all probably know and already admire about Bach, namely, that he ever signed his scores and compositions with the letters S.D.G. at the end: Soli Deo Gloria. But of equal insight to me is the way that he opened them: J.J. Jesu Juva.

Jesus, help.”

With that in mind, here is the blessing I said over my office yesterday: 

 

JJ- 
Jesu Jevu 

o   Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men. 
Colossians 3:23

o   Teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom. 
Psalm 90:12

o   May the favor of the Lord our God rest on us; establish the work of our hands for us-- 
yes, establish the work of our hands. 
Psalm 90:17

  

Jesus, help me to make something beautiful for You here and lift it up each day as an offering of praise. In this office. Through my ideas. On this computer. Through the meetings around this little table. In my planning and grading. In my emails and notes to students and colleagues…. Give me the grace in this little space to honor you. Help me to love you with my heart, soul, mind and strength.  God, help me to think your thoughts and feel your feelings for the people you bring into this office. 

     

In this place, Lord, I yield myself to you.

May your will be my delight here.

May your way have perfect sway in me.

May your love be the pattern of my living.

I surrender to you my hopes, my dreams, my ambitions.

Do with them what you will, when you will, as you will.

I place into your loving care my family, friends, colleagues and future.

Care for them with a care that I can never give.

I release into your hands my need for control, my craving for status, my fear of obscurity.

Eradicate the evil, purify the good, and establish your kingdom on earth here in this place.

I ask that you would bless me with discomfort at easy answers, half-truths, 
and superficial relationships, so that I may live deep within my own heart.

Bless me with anger at injustice, oppression, and exploitation of people,
 so that I may work for justice, freedom and peace.

Bless me with tears to shed for those who suffer from pain, rejection, starvation, and war, 
so that I may reach out my hand to comfort them and to turn their pain in to joy.

And bless me with enough foolishness to believe that I can make a difference in this world, 
so that I can do what others claim cannot be done.

SDG- Soli Deo Gloria

September 6, 2018

I love this wall hanging we got in India! It's so perfect for this space!! 

essential oil I used to mark the doorframe with the sign of the cross 

(and that I use in my little diffuser to make this place smelling really great)