Bogosity

As promised, here is the body of an email James sent me about getting into the habit of praying the daily office.

Some suggestions for daily office (take ‘em or leave ‘em)

• it may be worth starting small, just with five minutes a day in the morning. This is not enough time for a whole office, but enough time for a psalm or a reading. When the habit of doing this is established, you can build up to a longer time.
• I find the complete morning office takes 20-25 minutes. Consider an abreviated version initially, with a longer version on holidays perhaps, eg. just one reading, skip the second canticle.
• sometimes I dont say the office, but just sit quietly. Usually, when i am too tired to say the office, or if i dont have time to spend on the office. (having said this, often it is easier to be saying something than be doing nothing.
• When sitting quietly, I try to do just that – not forming mental
  words to God or intentially saying or thinking any one thing. The idea is just to sit in the presence of God, make space – even if nothing is said and nothing happens.This works partly because I have a prayer space – I’m not just sitting in my room.
• dont be tempted to transfer quiet time to the walk to work. The
  reflective quiet time of working to work is valuable, certainly! But in an ideal world it should not replace intentional prayer time. The same goes for prayers on the bus or in the car… laudable, but a poor substitute for an organised prayer time.
• throughout my medical career I have struggled with late shifts and shift work disrupting the schedule. i expect that having a toddler around will have a similar effect. The important thing is, do what is doable, and keep trying – even if only initially successful a couple of times per week, that gives you something to build on.
• it seems obvious but it must be said: to say the office takes time that you would otherwise use for something else. For me to say the office means: I have to go to bed earlier than I would otherwise to get up in time for office, which means, less staring blankly at the computer in the evening, less reading novels or journals before bed. It is a matter of re-prioritising things. Clearly, when one is operating at the lower levels of Maslow’s triangle, (air, food, shelter), this is out of reach – and having a child can be like that – but as this improves, there is a chance to stake out some time.