Monday Morning Musing: Of Collects and Collections
- stillhotundertheco
- Jan 30, 2023
- 2 min read
It's true that the Church (big C) has its own language, a shorthand if you will, based in antiquity and faith. Some of those words are rooted in languages other than my own or are just in those languages altogether. And some are so obvious we do a disservice to ourselves by making our attempts to understand them harder than they should be.
Take the word "Collect". To 'collect' something means to gather them together. Some people collect stamps or tea pots or cars or rocks. But in the church, when we offer a "Collect" it's a prayer that has gathered our petitions, our prayers, around a subject. There are Collects for each day (aka as The Prayer of the Day") and there are Collects for seasons and situations.
This afternoon I picked up my Book of Common Prayer and it fell open to the Collect for Guidance from Morning Prayer, Rite II. Whew. That felt timely. The changes and chances of this life, (to also borrow language from the BCP) feel big lately. The world feels uncertain and unsafe.
The other Collect on that page (pg. 100) is a Collect for Grace, which also feels entirely useful.
I thought I'd share them both with you as this week begins. Collecting our prayers for Guidance and Grace is a faithful practice; may you be blessed by these words.
A Collect for Guidance
Heavenly Father/Mother/Parent* (edit is mine), in you we live and move and have our being: We humbly pray you so to guide and govern us by your Holy Spirit, that in all the cares and occupations of our life we may not forget you, but may remember that we are ever walking in your sight; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
A Collect for Grace
Lord God, almighty and everlasting Father/Mother/Parent*, you have brought us in safety to this new day: Preserve us with your mighty power, that we may not fall into sin, nor be overcome by adversity; and in all we do, direct us to the fulfilling of your purpose; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
*I understand God to be beyond gender, inexpressible in the words we possess, so I try to pray to God in expansive and inclusive ways.
I love how these prayers anticipate our weakness and tendency to forget the promise of morning and often our best intentions. All so often, the cares, troubles, and outrages of any day may cause us to lose sight of the peace that surpasses all understanding.