A couple of years ago, I fashioned my own Liturgy of the Hours. I found the sexist and none inclusive male language of the “official” Liturgy of the Hours an impediment to my prayer. In doing this I turned to reputable inclusive translations of the scripture by scripture scholars, and substituted these inclusive translations for all the psalms, readings, canticles and prayers that are in the Liturgy of the Hours. When I did this, I also replaced most of the hymnody in the Liturgy of the Hours, which I found outdated, medieval in theology, and text as equally non-inclusive and sexist as the psalms, prayers, and other scripture passages from the official Liturgy of the Hours. In replacing a lot of that hymnody, I substituted that hymnody with poetry from all sorts of different sources.
As I was praying Morning Prayer for the Second Sunday in Lent, I found this poem/reflection from scripture scholar, Walter Brueggemann. I believe, that as we see the visual nightmare of war tearing the nation and people of Ukraine asunder by the Russian military under the order of the dictator, Putin, we cry to the heavens, “Where are you, God?” This poem/reflection seems to echo the word of Julian of Norwich who lived in a world similarly being destroyed by the Bubonic plague and bloody military conflict. Julian simply stated in all the chaos, misery, and bloodshed, “All shall be well, and all shall be well and all manner of thing shall be well.”
Dreams and Nightmares
On reading 1 Kings 3:5-9; 9:2-9
Last night as I lay sleeping,
I had a dream so fair . . .
I dreamed of the Holy City, well ordered and just.
I dreamed of a garden of paradise,
well-being all around and a good water supply.
I dreamed of disarmament and forgiveness,
and caring embrace for all those in need.
I dreamed of a coming time when death is no more.
Last night as I lay sleeping . . .
I had a nightmare of sins unforgiven.
I had a nightmare of land mines still exploding
and maimed children.
I had a nightmare of the poor left unloved,
of the homeless left unnoticed,
of the dead left ungrieved.
I had a nightmare of quarrels and rages
and wars great and small.
When I awoke, I found you still to be God,
presiding over the day and night
with serene sovereignty,
for dark and light are both alike to you.
At the break of day we submit to you
our best dreams
and our worst nightmares,
asking that your healing mercy should override threats,
that your goodness will make our
nightmares less toxic
and our dreams more real.
Thank you for visiting us with newness
that overrides what is old and deathly among us.
Come among us this day; dream us toward
health and peace,
we pray in the real name of Jesus
who exposes our fantasies.
For over thirty years now, Walter Brueggemann (b. 1933) has combined the best of critical scholarship with love for the local church in service to the kingdom of God. Now a professor emeritus of Old Testament studies at Columbia Theological Seminary in Decatur, Georgia, Brueggemann has authored over seventy books. Taken from his Prayers for a Privileged People (Nashville: Abingdon, 2008), pp. 79-80.
