The Kingdom of God is Within You

I've been checking out worship services and plays. So, far I've been to three plays:

A Round-Heeled Woman by Jane Prowse
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/theatre/theatre-reviews/8929189/A-Round-Heeled-Woman-Aldwych-Theatre-review.html

The Lion In Winter by James Goldman
http://www.guardian.co.uk/stage/2011/nov/16/the-lion-in-winter-review

The Comedy of Errors by William Shakespeare
http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/theatre-dance/reviews/first-night-the-comedy-of-errors-olivier-national-theatre-london-6269859.html

I've also been to six worship services:

Morning Prayer at St. Martin in the Fields x2
Evening Prayer at St. Martin in the Fields x1
Sunday Eucharist at St. Martin in the Fields x1
A prayer memorial service for a man tragically killed in a pedestrian-truck accident near SMITF right before Christmas at St. Martin in the Fields
Evensong at Westminster Abbey x1

As you may recall I'm searching for experiences between culture and the church. For example in
"A Round-Heeled Woman" a very poignant scene with the main character's search for identity and fulfillment was reconciliation with her son. In "The Lion in Winter" I think what made the premise of the play quite attractive is that those "sainted queens and kings" of old are very much like you and me. And in "The Comedy of Errors" the director and the cast took words of old by WS and made them come alive as if it was happening today. So, reconciliation, commonality and the Word becoming flesh and dwelling among us- not bad for my first three plays.

Worship helps me with the rhythm and reason for daily life.
Here's what we are saying each morning at St. Martin's:

Morning Prayer
Epiphany Season

Preparation

O Lord, open our lips
Alland our mouth shall proclaim your praise.

Your light springs up for the righteous
Alland all the peoples have seen your glory.

One or more of the following is said or sung:

this or another prayer of thanksgiving

Blessed are you, Sovereign God,
king of the nations,
to you be praise and glory for ever.
From the rising of the sun to its setting
your name is proclaimed in all the world.
As the Sun of Righteousness dawns in our hearts
anoint our lips with the seal of your Spirit
that we may witness to your gospel
and sing your praise in all the earth.
Blessed be God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
AllBlessed be God for ever.

a suitable hymn, or Jubilate - A Song of Joy

1O be joyful in the Lord, all the earth; •
serve the Lord with gladness
and come before his presence with a song.

2Know that the Lord is God; •
it is he that has made us and we are his;
we are his people and the sheep of his pasture.

3Enter his gates with thanksgiving
and his courts with praise; •
give thanks to him and bless his name.

4For the Lord is gracious; his steadfast love is everlasting, •
and his faithfulness endures from generation to generation.

Psalm 100

AllGlory to the Father and to the Son
and to the Holy Spirit;
as it was in the beginning is now
and shall be for ever. Amen.

This opening prayer may be said

The night has passed, and the day lies open before us;
let us pray with one heart and mind.

Silence is kept.

As we rejoice in the gift of this new day,
so may the light of your presence, O God,
set our hearts on fire with love for you;
now and for ever.
AllAmen.

The Word of God



Psalmody

The appointed psalmody is said.

Each psalm or group of psalms may end with 

AllGlory to the Father and to the Son
and to the Holy Spirit;
as it was in the beginning is now
and shall be for ever. Amen.

If there are two Scripture readings, the first may be read here, or both may be read after the canticle.



Canticle

A Song of the New Jerusalem, or another suitable canticle, for example, number 31 or number 36, may be said

Refrain:
AllAbove you the Holy One arises,
and above you God's glory appears.

1Arise, shine out, for your light has come, •
the glory of the Lord is rising upon you.

2Though night still covers the earth, •
and darkness the peoples;

3Above you the Holy One arises, •
and above you God's glory appears.

4The nations will come to your light, •
and kings to your dawning brightness.

5Your gates will lie open continually, •
shut neither by day nor by night.

6The sound of violence shall be heard no longer in your land, •
or ruin and devastation within your borders.

7You will call your walls, Salvation, •
and your gates, Praise.

8No more will the sun give you daylight, •
nor moonlight shine upon you;

9But the Lord will be your everlasting light, •
your God will be your splendour.

10For you shall be called the city of God, •
the dwelling of the Holy One of Israel.

Isaiah 60.1-3, 11a, 18, 19, 14b

AllGlory to the Father and to the Son
and to the Holy Spirit;
as it was in the beginning is now
and shall be for ever. Amen.

AllAbove you the Holy One arises,
and above you God's glory appears.

Scripture Reading

One or more readings appointed for the day are read.

The reading(s) may be followed by a time of silence.

A suitable song or chant, or a responsory in this or another form, may follow

O worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness;
Alllet the whole earth tremble before him.
Tell it out among the nations that the Lord is King.
AllO worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness.
Tell out his salvation from day to day.
AllLet the whole earth tremble before him.
Declare his glory among the nations
and his wonders among all peoples.
AllO worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness;
let the whole earth tremble before him.

from Psalm 96

Gospel Canticle

The Benedictus (The Song of Zechariah) is normally said, or A Song of the Blessed may be said

Refrain:
AllThis is the Christ, the Chosen of God,
the one who will bring healing to the nations.

1Blessed be the Lord the God of Israel, •
who has come to his people and set them free.

2He has raised up for us a mighty Saviour, •
born of the house of his servant David.

3Through his holy prophets God promised of old •
to save us from our enemies,
from the hands of all that hate us,

4To show mercy to our ancestors, •
and to remember his holy covenant.

5This was the oath God swore to our father Abraham: •
to set us free from the hands of our enemies,

6Free to worship him without fear, •
holy and righteous in his sight
all the days of our life.

7And you, child, shall be called the prophet of the Most High, •
for you will go before the Lord to prepare his way,

8To give his people knowledge of salvation •
by the forgiveness of all their sins.

9In the tender compassion of our God •
the dawn from on high shall break upon us,

10To shine on those who dwell in darkness and the shadow of death, •
and to guide our feet into the way of peace.

Luke 1.68-79

AllGlory to the Father and to the Son
and to the Holy Spirit;
as it was in the beginning is now
and shall be for ever. Amen.

AllThis is the Christ, the Chosen of God,
the one who will bring healing to the nations.



Prayers

Intercessions are offered
¶ for the day and its tasks
¶ for the world and its needs
¶ for the Church and her life

This cycle and this prayer may be used.

These responses may be used 

Lord, in your mercy
hear our prayer

(or)

Lord, hear us.
Lord, graciously hear us.

Silence may be kept.

The Collect of the day or the following is said



Almighty God,
in Christ you make all things new:
transform the poverty of our nature by the riches of your grace,
and in the renewal of our lives
make known your heavenly glory;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
AllAmen.

The Lord's Prayer is said

Believing the promises of God,
as our Saviour taught us, so we pray

AllOur Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.
Forgive us our sins
as we forgive those who sin against us.
Lead us not into temptation
but deliver us from evil.
For the kingdom, the power,
and the glory are yours
now and for ever.
Amen.

(or)

Believing the promises of God,
let us pray with confidence as our Saviour has taught us

AllOur Father, who art in heaven,
hallowed be thy name;
thy kingdom come;
thy will be done;
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our trespasses,
as we forgive those who trespass against us.
And lead us not into temptation;
but deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom,
the power and the glory,
for ever and ever.
Amen.

The Conclusion



May Christ, who sends us to the nations,
give us the power of his Spirit.
AllAmen.

Let us bless the Lord.
AllThanks be to God.


There was a poem at the end of the prayer-grief-memorial service at St. Martin in the Fields.
It is by Francis Thompson of (The Hound of Heaven fame). What caught my eye and hear was a harmony and alignment with what I was hearing and seeing last week at Plum Village, i.e.
the Kingdom of God is now, right here, in you and me!

I commend the lovely poem to you

In No Strange Land

The kingdom of God is within you

O world invisible, we view thee,
O world intangible, we touch thee,
O world unknowable, we know thee,
Inapprehensible, we clutch thee!

Does the fish soar to find the ocean,
The eagle plunge to find the air--
That we ask of the stars in motion
If they have rumor of thee there?

Not where the wheeling systems darken,
And our benumbed conceiving soars!--
The drift of pinions, would we hearken,
Beats at our own clay-shuttered doors.

The angels keep their ancient places--
Turn but a stone and start a wing!
'Tis ye, 'tis your estrangèd faces,
That miss the many-splendored thing.

But (when so sad thou canst not sadder)
Cry--and upon thy so sore loss
Shall shine the traffic of Jacob's ladder
Pitched betwixt Heaven and Charing Cross.

Yea, in the night, my Soul, my daughter,
Cry--clinging to Heaven by the hems;
And lo, Christ walking on the water,
Not of Genesareth, but Thames!

~Francis Thompson