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Letters from 23 to 29 July 2007

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Wesley, not Wellesley

Your editorial this week (link) -- insightful as ever -- puts me in mind of an eloquent and challenging old prayer used and adapted by that most methodical of Anglicans, John Wesley. Interested readers will find its history here. British Methodists, at least, still use an updated form of it in their annual "Covenant Service".

Michael Kemp
St Andrew's Episcopal, Wellesley
Wellesley, Massachusetts, USA
23 July 2007

And as Thou knowest

As it pleases Thee… Thank you for your little essay on the prayer of Henry VI. Perhaps he drew from an even more ancient prayer of Macarius the Great (4th Century). It goes simply:

"Lord, as it pleases Thee and as Thou knowest, have mercy on me."

So often, when I pray for others—and the Anglican Communion—I find myself returning to these words. For surely it is “as it pleases God” that all things will be. Hard to remember when faced with tragedy, despair, or yes, even schism, but true nonetheless.

And so we pray, not simply “until something happens”, but always, and everywhere, “As it pleases Thee, and as Thou knowest.”

The Rev. Susan Creighton
DeepLight Anchorhold
Bellingham, Washington, USA
anchorhold@comcast.net
23 July 2007

Earlier letters

We launched our 'Letters to AO' section on 11 May 2003. All published letters are in our archives.