a rhythm of life...insecurity

Here is the spirituality of grace: living in the grace of God and living out the grace of God. The "caim" was the encircling prayer by which the Celts affirmed the presence of God with him in the circle. In other words, wherever he walked, God was with him, a reminder of God's presence and protection. The Celtic Way is rooted in the Incarnation, the deep awareness of Immanuel, "God with us." 

The "coracle" was the little craft by which they sailed from place to place. It is said that they would set sail and let the wind blow them, and wherever they landed was the next place for mission, blown by the wind of the Spirit. Here is a spirituality of trust and risk that is the very heart of living by grace.Theirs was a "spirituality and theology of the insecure". We need to become once again the people of the caim and the coracle, engulfed in prayer and moved by the Spirit.

An example of a Celtic caim (or circling) prayer :

Circle us Lord,
Keep love within, keep hatred out.
Keep joy within, keep fear out.
Keep peace within, keep worry out.
Keep light within, keep darkness out.
May you stand in the circle with us, today and always.

And a Celtic prayer that has always moved, from St.Brendan the Navigator as he set out on the stormy Atlantic, moved by the wind, tide and current...faithful God was with him, and God would be standing on the shores of a new land...

Shall I abandon, O King of mysteries, the soft comforts of home?
Shall I turn my back on my native land, and turn my face towards the sea?

Shall I put myself wholly at your mercy,
without silver, without a horse,
without fame, without honor?
Shall I throw myself wholly upon You,
without sword and shield, without food and drink,
without a bed to lie on?
Shall I say farewell to my beautiful land, placing myself under Your yoke?

Shall I pour out my heart to You, confessing my manifold sins and begging forgiveness,
tears streaming down my cheeks?
Shall I leave the prints of my knees on the sandy beach,
a record of my final prayer in my native land?

Shall I then suffer every kind of wound that the sea can inflict?
Shall I take my tiny boat across the wide sparkling ocean?
O King of the Glorious Heaven, shall I go of my own choice upon the sea?

O Christ, will You help me on the wild waves?

Comments

[jim]

As with my comment on ritual, even so I see things here, Ron. I love the truth of equating "grace" with God "in" us. When that fact gives ground for us to surrender the Spirit possessing His own identity, we came back to ritual and grace is simply catalogued and filed under whatever definition we wish to assign it....

[Brother Tadhg]

Hi

Great stuff. I love celtic material and especially caim prayers etc. Wrote a little about caim prayers some time ago - see: http://archive.typepad.com/brothertadhg/2005/12/caim_prayers_in.html

GBY

Brother Tadhg

[Annie]

So beautiful! I want to print these out!

I know nothing of the Celtic tradition and it is definitely something that I do want to know more about when I get the time. There is just one prayer that I am familiar with. I copied it sometime ago from the Order of the Daughters of the King's website. Maybe it fits the criteria above for--what is it?--circling prayer?

I weave a silence on my lips,
I weave a silence into my mind,
I weave a silence within my heart.
I close my ears to distractions,
I close my eyes to attractions,
I close my heart to temptations.
Calm me, O Lord, as you stilled the storm,
Still me, Lord, keep me from harm.
Let all the tumult within me cease.
Enfold me, Lord, in your peace.

- Celtic Tradition

[Annie]

I couldn't open brother T.'s link--it might just be my ISP, I don't know.