Calming Collect

This is one of my faves:

O god, the protector of all who trust in you, without whom
nothing is strong, nothing is holy: Increase and multiply upon
us your mercy; that, with you as our ruler and guide, we may so
pass through things temporal, that we lose not the things eternal;
through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you
and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.


I first came across this collect two years ago as the Lambeth Conference was under way sans the Episcopal Bishop of New Hampshire. I found the petition that "with you as our ruler and guide, we may so pass through things temporal, that we lose not the things eternal..." to be spot-on for the moment. Same holds true today.


When things seem chaotic or stressful and become "THINGS", the calm comes with the remembrance that we can get through the temporal... and that as we move beyond the "THINGS", we don't lose sight of the "thing" which is the eternal.


There are lots of things that attempt to become "THINGS" in our life. I reflect on the many events recently, including the aborted special session on the oil-drilling ban, as a "THING" that could disrupt and derail and blur the focus on God as the eternal thing. Sadly I see in the legislature the continued concern with the one false God that drives so many: Money. OK, for them there is also Power... and Greed (see how "things" obscure God?) I was disappointed with what occurred at the Capitol, but I knew that's what was going to happen. And so, again, I fix my eyes and ears on God, and trust that there are other ways to right this terrible environmental wrong.

When I look at the other readings assigned for Sunday, I can see this theme of "passing through the temporal and staying with the eternal" running through it. Certainly, Paul seems concerned with reminding the Colossians that they have THE thing they need, and do not have to submit or give in to the desire for other things, such as idols. And again there is the Lukian passage about knocking on the door which will open to any who rap their knuckles on that door. Because the eternal is there and waiting for that knock, and to give shelter to those who are looking to pass through the temporal b-s.

All we have to do is follow the Nike slogan: Just Do It.