I have been having some thoughts regarding prayer "to" saints.
I use the word "to" advisedly. As I understand it our relationship to saints in prayer is to ask them to pray for us - not to pray to them. As explained by Rosamundi a year or three ago, this seems eminently sensible. As she remarks, it's not always much good asking Rosamundi to pray for you. Apart from anything else, she's normally quite busy belting around on her bike and liable to forget. Whereas in her view, the saints in heaven basically have time on their hands to bring our concerns before the Throne.
Which I can see. But I have a nagging doubt. And it comes from Psalm 90:
"A thousand years in your sight
are like a day that has just gone by,
or like a watch in the night."
If the saints are in Heaven surely they're on Heaven time? And if that's the case, and a thousand years in Earth-time goes by like a day - they're not going to have much time, are they? And if they're a bit time-constrained then I probably don't want to go asking some of the more famous saints - they're busy people, after all. In-trays full of prayer requests from people with real concerns, not some middle-class middle-age middle-of-the-road inhabitant of middle England.
So I've got an idea. I note from the Church of England "Common Worship" that John and Charles Wesley have their own day in the Calendar - just like St Chad, or St Crispin, or St George. And I don't reckon they're going to be too pestered with prayer requests from their own followers. So I'm going to be putting my prayer requests in to the Brothers Wesley. I reckon they'll have the time to put a word in for me.
As Secretary to the Faith and Order Committee of the Methodist Church in Great Britain, I object strongly to you abuse of Mr Wesley. Our beloved father in God should not be seen as a easy route for all you Anglican/Beaker Folk People's prayers. John has enuf on his hands watching what we are doing with his church. Anyway, can you pray to a (non-official) saint spinning in his grave?
ReplyDeleteHe'd probably take one look at you lot, decide you weren't holy enough for his liking, and put you all out of the Society. Don't you know who you're dealing with?
ReplyDelete- I think that Anglicans can make a claim to the Wesleys as partly their own kind, as they never left the good old Church of England (© Church Mouse). And Beaker Folk can likewise claim them as they were both very fond of worshipping in fields.
ReplyDeleteAh I'm with Anonymous here, And I would add, that the brothers Wesley are gainfully employed in heaven writing new hymns to contemporary tunes and hoping that worship leaders will pray to them.
ReplyDeleteSadly much of the drivel that masquerades as worship music shows that this is clearly not the case!