Adventures in the Ancient

I may have already said that I grew up in a church that was completely void of liturgy.  We celebrated Advent, but not really.  Lately I have been completely enthralled by the practices of the Church through out history.  I don't know a whole lot about "high" church, but over the last months I have been exploring some practices that have been part of the Church for the better part of two thousand years.

The practice/discipline I picked up first was fixed hour prayer. Fixed hour prayer is not only done at specific points in the day but specific prayers are said for the time of day, the week, and the season.  These prayers are also saturated with scripture and psalms. I am completely in love with this new ordering of my life.  When I miss a prayer for any reason I feel a loss.

This new (new for me) way of praying has already begun shaping my life and my relationship with my Creator.  I do not limit my prayer to just these prayers that are already laid out for me but still I pray spontaneously.  I have found that these fixed prayers are giving me the words to pray the way I already wanted. My spontaneous prayers are becoming more frequent and more natural, which is the purpose of fixed hour prayer.  Fixed hour prayer is the discipline to help us be in constant prayer.

Other practices I have been learning are Sabbath, and fasting, and I have begun following the liturgical year.  These are topics for another day.

The "low" church is right to fear the use of ritual.  Rituals can become gods and idols themselves instead of directing us to proper worship.  These things that the Church has been doing for all these years have a rich history and great rewards.  These are the things that the Church needs to do to right itself and to be the Body of Christ.