Contemporary, real-world prayer book for levelling up faith and getting closer to God. For thousands of years men and women found meaning and a deep sense of belonging though faith in God. But today, traditional images of God (as an all-powerful father figure) and much standard prayer and worship language are no longer plausible for many believers. Yet the hunger to know - and communicate with - the Sacred in some form remains strong. In this unique prayer book John McQuiston, bestselling author of Always We Begin Again , provides morning and evening devotions for two weeks, plus complete Morning and Evening Prayer services, along with a Service of Commemoration for Our Union. All use a language for and about God that reflects contemporary understandings of God and God's actions in the universe. This pocket-sized devotional is an excellent resource for individuals and congregations who are seeking to worship in a language that acknowledges today's realities and theology. "McQuiston employs a language for and about God that reflects contemporary understanding of the nature of God and His actions in the universe. A pocket-sized devotional, A Prayer Book for the 21st Century is especially commended to the attention of individuals and congregations yearning to worship and express themselves to God in a manner that is appropriate to contemporary realities and Christian theology." ― Midwest Book Review "McQuiston employs a language for and about God that reflects contemporary understanding of the nature of God and His actions in the universe. A pocket-sized devotional, A Prayer Book for the 21st Century is especially commended to the attention of individuals and congregations yearning to worship and express themselves to God in a manner that is appropriate to contemporary realities and Christian theology." ― Midwest Book Review John McQuiston II is an attorney in Memphis, Tennessee, and author of Christianity Without Superstition, Always We Begin Again: The Benedictine Way of Living, and A Prayer Book for the 21st Century. A PRAYER BOOK FOR THE TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY By John McQuiston II Church Publishing Incorporated Copyright © 2004 John McQuiston II All rights reserved. ISBN: 978-0-8192-1974-9 Contents AcknowledgmentsForeword by Marcus BorgIntroductionAn Expression of FaithA Cycle of Daily Offices: Week OneA Cycle of Daily Offices: Week TwoA Service of Morning PrayerA Service of Evening PrayerA Memorial Service in Thanksgiving for the Life of One DepartedA Service of Commemoration for Our UnionNotesBibliography Excerpt CHAPTER 1      AN EXPRESSION OF FAITH     We have faith that the whole of reality is God relating to God,     That we are to God as a wave is to the sea.     God is the thinker and the thought,     The force of gravity,     The wind on the waters,     The process of change,     The air we breathe,     The water we drink,     The bread we eat.     God is the nameless origin of names,     Acting in all that is,     Evolving and changing,     Uncreated, Ultimate, Unfathomable,     From whom all things proceed,     Of which all things are,     To which all things return.     God is the universe that has no edge,     The morning dew and the center of the sun,     God between us,     God beyond us,     God breathes us.     Rising, increasing, changing,     The great miracle and enigma,     Outside all categories,     The relationship of all relationships,     The medium of all communication,     The cause of love and love itself.     God in ourselves, our souls and bodies.     God is the source of time and endless time itself.     God is the present moment,     The Now that never ceases to be,     Infinite in all directions.     God fills the universe,     And the kingdom of God is within us.     If we could conceive all the worlds that exist,     They would be less than God's kingdom,     The place of freedom from place,     The time of freedom from time.     God is the smile on a loved one's face,     The gift of friendship,     The shared laughter that brightens the day,     Compassion and care offered during tragedy and joy.     God is the sleeping spirit of Christ present in every heart,     Ready to rise from the dead in each act of loving-kindness.     We trust that if we have true humility,     Which is the courage to abandon self-concern and fear,     We will experience the joy of self-transcendence,     And the peace that passes all understanding.     For the Holy is always with us, if we will awake to it.     It is the unwavering, constant embrace.     It is not a state of being.     It is not a state of mind.     It is that within which all states come and go.     For there are no words to describe the Presence,     It is the words we speak,     The sky we breathe,     The world we see,     The eyes through which we see,     And the eternal awareness behind our eyes.      A CYCLE OF DAILY OFFICES     Week One     Sunday Morning