Starter Prayer: Spirit of the Tides, remind me of the rise and fall of your rhythms, so that I may discover them deep within my own being. Amen (Christine Valters Paintner)

Focus Phrase: Rise and Fall of the Tides

Scripture Reading: Jeremiah 31:35

Optional Read-along: Water, Wind, Earth and Fire pp. 77b-84 (Chapter Two: Sister Water, Section: Rise and Fall of the Tides.)

Spiritual Direction:

Several years ago I took a pilgrimage to sites in the UK where Celtic Christianity was born. Among them, the Holy Island of Lindisfarne is a tidal island off the northeast coast of England. It was an important center of a new expression of Christianity, which began in the 6th century AD when the Roman Church established mission activity in the area we know as England.

Saint Aidan of Lindisfarne is famous for his pastoral leadership on the island as well as the prayer traditions and poetry that characterized the Lindisfarne community. To this day, the prayer life of the community is built on Aidan’s creative connection with God.

(A tidal island is a piece of land that is connected to the mainland by a natural or man-made causeway that is exposed at low tide and submerged at high tide. Once my travel group drove onto the island, we had only a few hours to explore before the tide rose again above the crossing. Once the tide rises, a visitor must stay until the next day when the tide goes down again.)

With this background in mind, read this poem/prayer of St. Aidan’s:

Leave me alone with God
as much as may be.
As the tide draws the waters close in upon the shore,
Make me an island, set apart,
alone with you, God, holy to you.

Then with the turning of the tide 
prepare me to carry your presence to the busy world
      beyond,
the word that rushes in on me
till the waters come again and fold me back to you.

In this poem, Aidan expresses the joy of having natural rhythms in our schedule. We have time when we are inaccessible to others and time when we share our presence (and God’s) with other people– family, friends, workmates and community.

For reflection: What are the natural rhythms of your life? How does your current schedule work in opposition to how your body wants to move and be? Where in your life can you sense the sacred “flow of things” happening naturally? What can you do to surrender to more of God’s natural movements in your life?

For prayer practice: At dusk offer a prayer for the time of transition from day to night, from light to dark. (Borrow Aidan’s prayer, if you like.) Stand facing the west in honor of the setting sun, and embrace the awareness that you have your own limits, that each day of life reflects the rising and falling of the tides. 

Be encouraged in your practice,

Katie Martinez

Endnotes

• For daily texts with the Focus Word, Starter Prayer and link to these daily posts, text the word “journey” to 970-500-0970.
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This daily devotion is part of the Summer Growth Journey: Learning to Pray with Nature with Crossroads Church. Many of us are also reading through Water, Wind, Earth & Fire: The Christian Practice of Praying with the Elements by Christine Valters Paintner. To purchase a copy, or for more information, email us at [email protected].