…and when the day arrived, Brendan said to his company: “Let us proceed to our work, that is to our (canonical) hours,” and they did so. And when they had finished their hours, Brendan said to them: “Let us make for our boat now.”
– The Life of Brendan of Clonfert
O God, You are my God;
Early will I seek You;
My soul thirsts for You;
My flesh longs for You
In a dry and thirsty land
Where there is no water.
– Psalm 63.1
And they continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in prayers.
– Acts 2.42
The lofty island
Brendan and his company sailed for forty days under the influence of the Holy Spirit, until they came to “a lofty island, stony and sandy.”
The banks around the island were all very steep, and the men were becoming thirsty and hungry, their provisions having been exhausted. As they continued around the island “they desired to catch the waters of the streams in their vessels, and take it with them.” But Brendan cautioned his crew not to do so, as they might be guilty of theft, since they did not know who inhabited the island and whether they had rights to the water.
Finding a harbor, they disembarked and began to traverse the island. A little dog met them “which fawned at the feet of Brendan.” He discerned this dog was a pet, and he and his men followed it to its home and master. And there they found lodging and provision to meet their needs.
The estate seems to have been prosperous, and Brendan warned his company not to steal anything. His warning would, by one of his company, go tragically ignored.
Back to work
In the morning, Brendan called the men to their first work, the morning prayers. In this they followed a practice as old as the Old and New Testaments, of doing the work of prayer first thing in the day. And it was work, good work. Monks from all kinds of medieval communities understood that orare est laborare —to pray is to work. They also understood this in reverse—to work is to pray—and so filled their days with prayer and praise and thanksgiving.
Prayer must be our first work as well. And we must work at it, not merely go through the motions of prayer. In prayer we, finite and sinful, labor to praise the God of all creation for His greatness, majesty, wisdom, virtues, works, powers, and many other excellent attributes. We work at giving thanks for all His many and considerable gifts. We offer ourselves as living sacrifices for the day ahead, mentioning to the Lord our need for grace and strength for our every specific task, asking that in all things we might be a witness for our Lord Jesus.
Prayer is work, and we have many more works to do throughout the day for which prayer can make us ready. But unless we make prayer our first work each day, and an ongoing work throughout the day, we will end up relying on our own best ideas about what we should do and how we should do it.
Which was the downfall of one of Brendan’s companions. What could it matter whether he stole one of estate owner’s beautiful bridles? He had so many, he would not miss it. And so he did, hiding it in his cloak. Somehow Brendan discerned his crime and called him to confess and repent. He did, but so traumatized was he by his wickedness and disobedience that he fell into a swoon and died.
Our first work is our most important work each day. Let us work to improve our skill in prayer, our desire for prayer, and our faithfulness in prayer in everything we do.
For Reflection
1. Are you satisfied with your work of prayer? Explain.
2. What can you do to improve your “first work” and all your work of prayer?
Psalm 63.1, 2
(Nun Danken: Now Thank We All Our God)
O God, You are my God, and earnestly I seek You!
My soul thirsts and my flesh in weariness now greets You!
Thus I would see Your face, with glory and pow’r arrayed,
in this Your holy place, Your beauty here displayed.
T. M. Moore
If you have found this meditation helpful, take a moment and give thanks to God. Then share what you learned with a friend. This is how the grace of God spreads (2 Cor. 4.15).
Other columns of interest this week: Our Read Moore podcast takes up the book Understanding the Times to help us in knowing how to live and proclaim the Kingdom. Our ReVision series, “The Kingdom Economy”, continues to unpack the secrets of the Kingdom. And new in our bookstore, our book, The Ongoing Work of Christ shows us how the book of Acts provides a template and footprint for all who take up the work of building Jesus’ Church.
And please prayerfully consider supporting The Fellowship of Ailbe with your prayers and gifts. You can contribute online, via PayPal or Anedot, or by sending a gift to The Fellowship of Ailbe, P. O. Box 8213, Essex, VT 05451.
Except as indicated, all Scriptures are taken from the New King James Version. © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. For sources of all quotations, see the weekly PDF of this study. All psalms for singing are from The Ailbe Psalter.
