"You can read Morning Prayer on your cell phone?" my friend asked, incredulous.
"Yeah, well, it has Internet connection, so I just type in http://www.missionstclare.com/. Saves me carrying my office book around in my suitcase -- that thing must weigh three pounds." I'm trying to lighten my luggage, so I don't get so tired in airports.
Some Jesuits in London have a Podcast for daily prayer -- http://www.pray-as-you-go.org/. You get to hear a brother with a lovely accent talking about prayer, monks singing a psalm, a young woman reading a lesson for the day. A simple and kind place to go -- and, just in case you didn't know this either, you don't have to have an IPod to listen to a Podcast. Never mind why this is so.
And Episcopal priest Brenda Monroe reads the entire morning office, including the readings and psalms -- http://morningprayer.libsyn.com/. Her calm voice speaking the ancient words counters a frequent problem for many who want to pray regularly: I don't like to do it alone. A wonderful service to all of us.
And my friend Jim does Morning Prayer at the gym -- he's memorized all the fixed parts of the service and now, after all this time, just jumping on the treadmill makes him start to pray. Getting on the train could do the same thing. Turning on the ignition. Taking your first sip of coffee. Getting in the shower, with the water pouring over you gloriously, warm and steady as the love of God.
Oh, but it can be hard to establish a prayer habit! Everything under the sun seems to want to get in the way of it. Nonetheless, there's not a person alive who can't pray, not even one. It calls for flexibility and some inventive imagination. Think outside the stained glass box a little, and you just never know what you'll find.
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Bookstore News: VivaBooks, the coolest bookstore in San Antonio, has taken over the Geranium Farm's online bookstore. Ordering should be just the same, and delivery will be much more prompt -- just follow the instructions, and email viva@vivabooks.com if you run into any initial snags.
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