Call to prayer, A reflection in Turkey

Call to prayer
slicing through the cold
bended knee
bended heart
contrite
God, in your mercy, hear our prayer.

 Gems of your earth
Shining bling
catch the eye
catch the heart

God, in your mercy, forgive us
our greed
our delight in sparkle



our ability to ignore the consequential poverty
the ravaged earth
the exploited labour
the left-behind children

Bended knee
bended heart
Call for prayer
Call for justice
slicing through the air

God, in your mercy, shower your truth upon us.

Antalya, Turkey
Friday 11 March
Response to hearing the call to prayer at 11:15 am while waiting in our coach after a visit to a gold and gemstone showroom.

Thank God for church!
This might be read by numerous voices, responsively or by a single voice. Remember to pause and focus on firstly each attribute of the Spirit and secondly each specific gratitude. After each refrain, take time to consider specific people, activities, worship words, prayers, songs, sermons, and other aspects of church for which you are grateful.




Spirit of Community         
Thank you for church that brings strangers together...
Spirit of Truth         
Thank you for messages that open my/our ears and minds...
Spirit of Trust
Thank you for familiar words of prayer that provide solid grounding for yet another day...
Spirit of Comfort        
Thank you for the old melodies that reside in the core of my/our being...
Spirit of Eternity
Thank you for the new lyrics set to old tunes that connect my/our today with the yesterday of others...
Spirit of Delight         
Thank you for the questions of children...
Spirit of Generosity
Thank you for the opportunity to share when all week I/we’ve been looking for ways to get more...
Spirit of New Life
Thank you for the challenge to change, to act, to be someone better...
Spirit of Power
Thank you for others with whom to work for justice and peace, so together we can make a difference in our world...
Spirit of Love
Thank you for this community we call Church that defies death and promises companions along this journey of life....

Shared as a Morning Prayer during the iChurch annual on-line festival:
http://windermere.urc.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/WO16-Ana-Gobledale-Thursday-Morning-Prayers.pdf

Photos taken at Box Hill Baptist Church, Melbourne, Australia

Where does God live?

God’s abode

Where do you live, God?

Where can I find you abiding?

I find you in moments of awe – breathing in the odor of lavender

I find you in moments of wonder – looking across the icy waters toward the snow-covered hills

I find you in moments of anxiety—lighting the flame of a devotional candle

I find you in  moments of searching– inspired by a preacher’s words

I find you in moments of connectedness  -- walking over worn steps of an abbey

I find you in moments of delight—dancing a reel on a straw-strewn barn floor

I find you in moments of assurance – singing ancient melodies in worship

I find you in moments of seeking--sitting in prayer in the dark recesses of an ancient cathedral

I find you in moments of risk—witnessing for justice at the feet of power

I find you in moments of sorrow—words of memory flowing over me at a funeral

I find you in moments of insecurity—reciting memorized words of ancient prayers …I shall not want

Where do you live, God?

Where can I find you abiding?

Your house is my house. 

Your world is my world. 

Your being abides in me and my being abides in you.

Open my heart to find you everywhere I find myself.

Written while on retreat at the Windermere Centre of the United Reformed Church in Windermere, Cumbria