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Celtic-style prayers are particularly good for meditating on
God in the world. They invoke a sense of being surrounded by God, and an
awareness of God in the ordinary, everyday aspects of life. For the Celts, God
wasn’t somewhere “up there,” or not only; and the birth of Christ wasn’t
something that happened millennia ago, or not only.
Because the
Celts believe that God is with them in every aspect of their lives and their
world, their prayer was often spontaneous or easy to craft or learn, because it
simply named that truth. A famous Celtic prayer is St. Patrick’s Breastplate,
the last portion of which goes:
Christ behind and before me,
Christ beneath and above me,
Christ with me and in me,
Christ around and about me,
Christ on my left and my right,
Christ when I rise in the morning,
Christ when I lie down at night,
Christ in each heart that thinks of me,
Christ in each eye that sees me,
Christ in each ear that hears me.
Good to think about in Advent, as we wait for the Christ to
be born again in us and in our world. That miraculous birth can happen anywhere
and everywhere.
I invite you to write a Celtic-style prayer of
your own. Below is a sample you can use for inspiration – or just rewrite this
prayer substituting everyday, ordinary things and actions in your own life
(like dressing and walking) you want to see God in. Be creative and go in your
own direction.
God to enfold me, Christ
in my life, God this morning,
God to surround me, Christ
in my lips, God this
noon,
God in my speaking, Christ
in my hands, God the evening,
God in my thinking. Christ
in my heart. God this night.
God in my sleeping, God
in my working, Be thou
before me,
God in my waking, God
in my playing, Be thou
beside me
God in my watching, God
in my living, Be thou
beneath me,
God in my hoping. God
in my dying. Be though
behind me.
-- Rev. Christine Ng
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