Moving ever more so closely to ordained life in the Episcopal Church, I am reminded that one of the practices the tradition invites? requires? encourages? us to do is to pray the Morning Office; a guided prayer that includes readings from the the Hebrew and Christian scriptures as well as guided prayers. The practice connects us to God, together with the larger American Episcopal Church and remotely to the world-wide Anglican Communion. And when I do it, I like the way it frames my day and gives it structure and focus. So, I've been trying to make it a daily habit, as well as evening prayer around the dinner hour (though with a family I find that to be a greater challenge).
I missed it this morning.
I got distracted by the usual things, Facebook, News Aggregators, morning radio. Eventually, I ended up getting ready for work, but decided firsts to take my latest Newsweek into the bath-tub (yes, I am "that guy"), the one with the highly criticized photo of Michelle Bachman on the cover, looking a bit crazed. I wanted to get up-to-speed on the news before heading to the parish, having been out of town all last week in the desert on retreat.
The story that I got stuck on was Sarah J. Robbins' account about three remarkable women, Dr. Hawa Abdi and her two physician daughters. Dr. Abdi runs a hospital turned refugee camp in Mogadishu, the former capital of Somolia, now desimated by Clan wars and anarchy. Hawa's story is riveting, as is the unbelievable suffering that is sadly common in that region.
When I finished the story, I got dressed and headed out the door. The sobering nature of such things makes me refocus, and examine small things, like how I plan to spend my money today and what things I choose to care about. How will I spend my energy today?
I missed the Daily Office from the prayer book, but I still managed to encounter a daily office of sorts. The Spirit finds a way if we will be open and embrace what we are given--and even better when we choose to act upon something that same Spirit might be asking us to do.

