Common Prayer in the 21st Century

I have observed the ancient Daily office of chanted psalms and scripture readings since the late 90s. Sometimes I have used the offices of morning and evening prayer as found in The Episcopal Church’s Book of Common Prayer. Other times I have used Phyllis Tickle’s The Divine Hours. More recently, I have made a hybrid of the prayer services and the format for individual devotions that is also found in the BCP.

However I have done, this structured prayer has given me a sacred space for wisdom, beauty, and peace. But with a spirituality grounded in “Common Prayer,” I have yearned to find a way to make this truly “common,” that is, of the people, not just my individual experience. But how to do that? We are far too large and scattered and mobile to be drawn together by a church bell.

If we cannot be physically together for common prayer, are there other ways to be together? For the past few years, I have shared meditations from my observance of the offices online. This morning, I’m going to try something else. Using the SoundCloud app, and the electronic CommonPrayer app provided by TEC, I’ve recorded my observance of a Morning Prayer and uploaded it. I will do the same for an Evening Prayer.

I invite you to listen and pray with me. The chants I use are simple and easy to memorize. Let me know what you think, and let’s see if, with modern technology, we can still pray as Jews and Christians have prayed for centuries, in common, together in spirit if not in body.