Fr Robert Hendrickson

Dear Friends in Christ.

There are many illustrations and metaphors to explain the corporate aspect of the life of the church; the body of Christ, the family of God, the household of faith. For less Biblically based analogies we may think of an orchestra, composed of many players and instruments forged into an harmonious whole. Or of a democratic government, a cabinet, with each member representing a particular department, yet all fitting into a ruling body.

The principle involved is always that membership of the church, in however humble a capacity, involves active participation and not spectatorship. A congregation is not an audience, nor is it a monochrome assembly line. It is the subtle interaction between unique individuality and corporate organism, between uniquely personal gifts and fidelity to a wider community.

Every creature of God is unlike any other, and yet none can survive by itself. We are neither ants, droning about under central control nor are we rabbits, bursting off at our own speedy pace and leaving each other behind.

The essential threefold Christian life of prayer is comprised of private devotions, community prayer, and the Eucharist. Each of these is part of a whole - and our participation in each is part of the whole life of the community. We are called to pray on our own, to pray using the shared forms of what we call the daily office (morning and evening prayer, noonday devotions, compline, or the like), and to participate as one body in the Eucharist.

Each of these is one part of the work of both individual longing and expression as well as part of the essence of being community - in communion - with one another. There are weeks when one of these will get the most emphasis for me. Some weeks I am quite good about saying the Daily Offices but perhaps less attentive to personal prayer time. Other weeks I find myself caught up in the Eucharist but lagging in the others.

This is only natural - and it is why we need each to strengthen the others. So my challenge for myself this week is to seek the balance between each of these - to take responsibility for a personal prayer life that will make me a more grounded member of the whole body and to take responsibility for the duties and gifts of shared devotion so that I can continue to grow in the only way we all do - in deeper relationship.

I’d invite you this week to consider this threefold balance for yourself and to see if it might give you a deeper sense of grounding, connection, and peace.

Yours in Christ,

Fr Robert