College Decisions

Over the summer, Anna and I have spent a lot of time sitting on the porch going on virtual college visits and trying to nail down her list of colleges where she would like to apply. 

Last night, we took a couple of hours to try to finalize her list and I pulled out my favorite book of liturgy called Every Moment Holy by Douglas McKelvey to see if I could find a prayer for us to work on her search. This book is amazing as it has a wide range of prayers for morning coffee, for home repairs, for sunsets, for gardening, for paying the bills, for those who cannot sleep, for changing diapers, for those who feel awkward at social gatherings, for bee keeping, for fiction writers, for road rage, for times of frustration with a child, for waiting in line--- just to name a few. 

There was not a liturgy in the book written exactly for "finding the perfect college" but we both agreed that the one that I chose nailed it and helped us put into words what we were hoping for as we worked together to narrow things down and create her list.  

A Liturgy Before Beginning a Book 

Author of Life and Author of My Life, 

As I begin the reading of this book, 

give me a sensitivity to listen, 

not just to the story told, 

but to the responses of my own heart 

to what I encounter in these pages. 

What does it draw out of me? 

What joy? 

What longing? 

What fears? 

What temptation? 

What hope? 

What mirth? 

What love of beauty? 

What awe? 

What wonder? 

What doubt? 

What faith? 

What resolve? 

What unfinished grief? 

What untended wound? 

Give me ears to hear, O Spirit of God, 

what notes the reading of this story would strike

and what melody it would draw forth

from the tuned strings of my own soul. 

Waste no moment in my brief years, O Lord. 

Let all things, and this book as well, 

be as tools in your hands, 

to shape me and make me more truly your own, 

more fitly a child of the hope

of the restoration of all things in Christ

whose fullness dwells within them. 

So let the honest responses to this reading 

grant new insight into the story

your grace is already telling my own life

that I might be a more willing co-laborer

in that process. 

-Amen