Formation in your Pocket

Formation is a loaded word. Often it makes me conjure up images of ancient rocks surrounded by water (or even remnants of where water used to be), or images of soldiers coming together in a deffensive posture against a perceived enemy, or even of monks studying secret books under candlelight. Most recently, it makes me think of the training scene from Batman Begins, when Bruce Wayne trains under Ra's al Ghul.

All of these things are quite different, but they have one thing in common: they involve slow, repetitive, and methodical change from one state of being to another. This is what Spiritual Formation is - the slow, progressive change from separation from God to abiding in the presence of God's eternal love.

Countless philosophies, religions, and leaders have tried to uncover the best methods to grow closer to God; and I am by no means going to claim to have found the best one yet. However, I do want to share a simple, small resource that has changed my prayer life (and by extension, has transformed my relationship with Jesus). That resource is the Book of Common Prayer.

Written in simple English (or Spanish!), the BCP is designed for the common person to consistently be in the presence of God - in thoughts, words, and deeds. Most notably, this is found in praying the Daily Offices of Morning and Evening Prayer.

We begin with a centering prayer - called the invitatory. Next, we confess our sins to God and our neigbor - reminding us of our need for God's grace, and for our calling to forgive others as God forgives us. Then, we move onto praying the psalms (a topic I intend to dive more deeply into in another post) - the songs of the church. The psalms help us to traverse all of human emotion and experience, and we can see Christ in all of them. After that, we are led into a journey through time as we read the Old Testament and New Testament. Finally, we end with prayers for ourselves, the church, and reflections on God's goodness.

There is a rhythm in the Daily Office. The rhythm helps us to meditate on God and all that God has for us. There are calls to action, and calls to peace. There are reflections on reptenance, and reflections on glory. There are seasons of lament, and seasons of joy. There are teachings that make us scratch our heads, and teachings that fill our soul. Most of all, in the Daily Office, we are reminded that when two or three are gathered together, Jesus is present - and by praying the Daily Office, we are joining with Episcopalians and Christians all over the world and through time the ancient prayers of the church as one body. I find that spiritually amazing, and spiritually formative.

When I was a teenager, I lost my faith. But when I turned 30, I felt a voice calling me back to the church. The problem was that I did not know how to pray. How to read the bible. How to do any of these "churchy things." Then I discovered the Book of Common Prayer, and the Daily Office, and my entire experience with God changed. Not overnight - not even over the course of a week or month. Bu over the past 6 years, I have found my relationship grow deeper, and more complex. Through interpersonal relationships, through trials and tribulations, through creating a family, through church services and community service, and unequivocally through the rhythm of the Daily Office.

I invite you, try it out. Come to Evening Prayer on Thursday's, and see the beauty of worship. If you want to do it daily, or by yourself, grab a BCP and take it home. If you don't want a physical book or don't have time on your commute to and from work, listen to the Daily Office podcast from Forward Movement.

And I am excited to announce that we now have a Booklet of Common Prayer for all to experience and use. Designed for those that don't want to carry around a BCP but also don't want to simply listen to the Daily Office or use their phones, Forward Movement has created a pocket-friendly and simplified Daily Office that can be used by anyone for a simple and rich daily practice. Try it out, give it a whirl for 30 days, and give God the space and opportunity to come into your life and abide in you and you are called to abide in Him.