Born of Wind and Light & Nicodemus - (John 3:1–17)
A well-known theology professor once visited a kindergarten class at his church. He wanted to impress them.
He said, “Children, today I will explain the doctrine of regeneration.”
They stared at him.
He tried again: “Regeneration is the transformative spiritual rebirth effected by divine grace.”
A little girl raised her hand and asked, “Do you mean being born again?”
The professor smiled. “Yes… in a manner of speaking.”
And she replied, “When my baby brother was born, he cried a lot and didn’t understand anything. Is that what you mean? You have to start all over?”
And suddenly the professor realized: he had spent his life defining what Jesus described with a birth.
Nicodemus was a professor too.
In the Gospel of John we are told he was a Pharisee, a ruler of the Jews, a teacher of Israel. He comes to Jesus at night. He comes respectfully. He comes intellectually prepared.
“Rabbi, we know…” That is how he begins. We know.
But Jesus does not congratulate him on what he knows.
Instead, Jesus says something unsettling: “No one can see the kingdom of God without being born from above.”
Nicodemus is confused. “How can anyone be born after having grown old?”
Of course he is confused. Birth is not an achievement. Birth is not a promotion. Birth is not a theological refinement. Birth is a beginning. We do not cause our birth. We receive it.
And perhaps that is what unsettles Nicodemus most. A ruler is used to control. A teacher is used to explaining. But Jesus speaks of something that happens to you.
There is an old story from the desert fathers of the early Church.
A young monk once asked the elder, “Father, I have read all the Scriptures. Why do I still not understand?”
The old monk took him outside at night and said, “Look at the sky. Do you see the sun?”
“No,” the young monk replied. The elder asked “Is it there?”
The young monk said: “Yes.”
Then, the old monk gently said: “Then wait for morning.”
Nicodemus comes at night. He sees partially. He sees enough to call Jesus “Rabbi.” He senses something divine. But he does not yet see the sun.
And Jesus does not shame him for coming in darkness. He speaks to him of light.
“God so loved the world…” Light is coming. But before the light, there is wind.
“The wind blows where it chooses,” Jesus says. “You hear the sound of it, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.”
Wind cannot be controlled. It cannot be domesticated. It cannot be predicted.
There is a n Eastern story about a man who went to a spiritual master and said, “I want to understand God.”
The master handed him a flute and said, “Blow.” The man blew. It made a harsh, awkward sound. Then the master said, “Now listen.”
The wind moved through the trees, and the trees made music.
Then, the master said to him “The same wind passes through both”. “One resists. One is hollow.”
The Spirit is like that wind.
Nicodemus comes with structure, theology, certainty — and those are not bad things. But Jesus invites him to something deeper than certainty. He invites him to surrender.
To be born from above is not to become more informed.
It is to become more open. More yielded. More alive!
It is to let the wind pass through you. And this is where the text becomes astonishingly tender. “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son…”
Notice what Jesus does not say.
He does not say, “For God so instructed the world.”
He does not say, “For God so corrected the world.”
He says loved.
Nicodemus comes asking about the kingdom. Jesus speaks about love.
Nicodemus comes by night. Jesus speaks about light. Nicodemus comes with knowledge. Jesus speaks about birth.
And birth is messy. Birth is humbling. Birth means you cannot remain who you were. But birth also means life.
Perhaps that is why this passage has comforted the Church for centuries. Because it tells us that faith is not merely about mastering ideas about God.
It is about allowing God to begin something new in us. To be born of water and Spirit.
To become like those trees — hollow enough for the wind of God to sing through us.
Nicodemus does not fully understand that night. The conversation ends in mystery. But later, in the same Gospel, Nicodemus appears again — first defending Jesus cautiously, and finally helping to bury him.
The man who came at night slowly moves toward the light.
And maybe that is the best news for us. We do not have to understand everything at once. We do not have to see the whole sunrise.
We only have to be willing to begin again.
To let go of “We know…” And to say instead, “Lord, let your Spirit move.”
Because the wind still blows. The light still shines. And the love of God still births new life. Amen.
Sunday, February 29th
How to make the Anglican Rosary
Anglican Prayer Beads
A Form of Contemplative Prayer
​
Anglican Prayer Beads are a relatively new form of prayer, blending the Orthodox Jesus Prayer Rope and the Roman Catholic Rosary. The thirty-three bead design was created by the Rev. Lynn Bauman in the mid-1980s, through the prayerful exploration and discovery of a contemplative prayer group.
The use of the rosary or prayer beads helps to bring us into contemplative of meditative prayer—really thinking about and being mindful of praying, of being in the presence of God—by use of mind, body, and spirit. The touching of the fingers on each successive bead is an aid in keeping our mind from wandering, and the rhythm of the prayers leads us more readily into stillness.
​
Symbolism of the Beads
The configuration of the Anglican Prayer Beads relate contemplative prayer using the Rosary to many levels of traditional Christian symbolism. Contemplative prayer is enriched by these symbols whose purpose is always to focus and concentrate attention, allowing the one who prays to move more swiftly into the Presence of God.
The prayer beads are made up of twenty-eight beads divided into four groups of seven called weeks. In the Judeo-Christian tradition the number seven represents spiritual perfection and completion. Between each week is a single bead, called a cruciform bead as the four beads form a cross. The invitatory bead between the cross and the wheel of beads brings the total to thirty-three, the number of years in Jesus’ earthly life.
​
Praying with the beads
To begin, hold the Cross and say the prayer you have assigned to it, then move to the Invitatory Bead. Then enter the circle of the prayer with the first Cruciform Bead, moving to the right,
go through the first set of seven beads to the next Cruciform bead, continuing around the circle,
saying the prayers for each bead.
It is suggested that you pray around the circle of the beads three times (which signifies the Trinity)
in an unhurried pace, allowing the repetition to become a sort of lullaby of love and praise that enables your mind to rest and your heart to become quiet and still.
Praying through the beads three times and adding the crucifix at the beginning or the end, brings the total to one hundred, which is the total of the Orthodox Rosary. A period of silence should follow the prayer, for a time of reflection and listening. Listening is an important part of all prayer.
Begin praying the Anglican Prayer Beads by selecting the prayers you wish to use for the cross and each bead. Practice them until it is clear which prayer goes with which bead, and as far as possible commit the prayers to memory.
Find a quiet spot and allow your body and mind to become restful and still. After a time of silence, begin praying the prayer beads at an unhurried, intentional pace. Complete the circle of the beads three times.
When you have completed the round of the prayer beads, you should end with a period of silence. This silence allows you to center your being in an extended period of silence. It also invites reflection and listening after you have invoked the Name and Presence of God.
Closing your Prayers
The following ending can be used with any of the prayers in this booklet. After three circuits around the prayer beads, you may finish as follows:
Last time through:
Invitatory Bead
The Lord’s Prayer
The Cross
I bless the Lord.
Or, in a group setting:
Let us bless the Lord
Thanks be to God.
Prayers
You may mix and match or put together your own.
Bless the Lord
The Cross
Blessed be the one, holy, and living God.
Glory to God for ever and ever. Amen.
​
The Invitatory
O God make speed to save me (us),
O Lord make haste to help me (us),
Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit: As it was in the beginning, is now, and will be forever. Amen.
​
The Cruciforms
Behold now, bless the Lord, all you servants of the Lord. You that stand in the house of the Lord, lift up your hands in the holy place and bless the Lord.
​
The Weeks
I lift up my eyes to the hills;
From where is my help to come?
My help comes from the Lord,
The maker of heaven and earth.
The Cross
In the Name of God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen.
​
The Invitatory
O God make speed to save me (us),
O Lord make haste to help me (us),
Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit: As it was in the beginning, is now, and will be forever. Amen.
​
The Cruciforms
Holy God,
Holy and Mighty,
Holy Immortal One,
Have mercy upon me (us).
​
The Weeks
Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God,
Have mercy on me, a sinner.
Or, in a group setting:
Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, Have mercy upon us.
*Trisagion means "thrice Holy"
Agnus Dei Prayer
The Cross
The Lord’s Prayer
​
The Invitatory
"Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, my strength and my redeemer."—Psalm 19:14
​
The Cruciforms
Oh, Lamb of God that taketh away the sins of the world
have mercy upon us,
Oh, Lamb of God that taketh away the sins of the world
have mercy upon us,
Oh, Lamb of God that taketh away the sins of the world
give us Thy Peace.
​
The Weeks
Almighty and merciful Lord,
Father, Son, and Holy Spirit,
bless us and keep us.
Amen.
*Agnus Dei means "Lamb of God"
Julian of Norwich Prayer
​
The Cross
In the Name of God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen.
The Invitatory
O God make speed to save me (us),
O Lord make haste to help me (us),
Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit: As it was in the beginning, is now, and will be forever. Amen.
​
The Cruciforms
God of your goodness, give me yourself,
For you are enough to me.
And I can ask for nothing less that is to your glory.
And if I ask for anything less, I shall still be in want, for only in you have I all.
​
The Weeks
All shall be well, and all shall be well,
And all manner of things shall be well.
Or
In His love He has done His works, and in His love He has made all things beneficial to us.
This prayer was created by Sister Brigit-Carol, S.D.
www.solitariesofdekoven.org
A Celtic Prayer
​
The Cross
In the Name of God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen.
The Invitatory
O God make speed to save me (us),
O Lord make haste to help me (us),
Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit: As it was in the beginning, is now, and will be forever. Amen.
The Cruciforms
Be the eye of God dwelling with me,
The foot of Christ in guidance with me,
The shower of the Spirit pouring on me,
Richly and generously
​
The Weeks
Pray each phrase on a separate bead.
I bow before the Father who made me,
I bow before the Son who saved me,
I bow before the Spirit who guides me,
In love and adoration.
I praise the Name of the one on high.
I bow before thee Sacred Three,
The ever One, the Trinity.
This prayer was created by Sister Brigit-Carol, S.D.
www.solitariesofdekoven.org
Come Lord Jesus Prayer
​
The Cross
"Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might be to our God forever and ever! Amen."—Revelation 7:12
​
The invitatory
"God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in time of trouble."—Psalm 46:1
​
The Cruciforms
"Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless God’s Holy Name."—Psalm 103:1
The Weeks
"Come Lord Jesus, draw us to yourself."—John 12:32
Saint Patrick's Breastplate
​
The Cross
I bind unto myself today the strong Name of the Trinity,
by invocation of the same, the Three in One, and One in Three.
Of whom all nature hath creation, eternal Father, Spirit, Word:
praise to the Lord of my salvation, salvation is of Christ the Lord.
​
The Invitatory
Christ be with me, Christ within me, Christ behind me, Christ before me,
Christ beside me, Christ to win me, Christ to comfort and restore me.
Christ beneath me, Christ above me, Christ in quiet, Christ in danger,
Christ in hearts of all that love me, Christ in mouth of friend and stranger.
​
The Cruciforms
I bind unto myself today
the strong Name of the Trinity,
by invocation of the same,
the Three in One, and One in Three.
The Weeks
1. I bind this day to me for ever, by power of faith, Christ’s Incarnation;
2. his baptism in Jordan river;
3. his death on cross for my salvation;
4. his bursting from the spicèd tomb;
5. his riding up the heavenly way;
6. his coming at the day of doom:
7. I bind unto myself today.
1. I bind unto myself the power of the great love of cherubim;
2. the sweet "Well done" in judgment hour;
3. the service of the seraphim;
4. confessors’ faith, apostles’ word,
5. the patriarchs’ prayers, the prophets’ scrolls;
6. all good deeds done unto the Lord,
7. and purity of virgin souls.
1. I bind unto myself today the virtues of the starlit heaven,
2. the glorious sun’s life-giving ray,
3. the whiteness of the moon at even,
4. the flashing of the lightning free,
5. the whirling of the wind’s tempestuous shocks,
6. the stable earth, the deep salt sea,
7. around the old eternal rocks.
1. I bind unto myself today the power of God to hold and lead,
2. his eye to watch, his might to stay,
3. his ear to hearken, to my need;
4. the wisdom of my God to teach,
5. his hand to guide, his shield to ward;
6. the word of God to give me speech,
7. his heavenly host to be my guard.
Words: attributed to St. Patrick (372-466)
translated by Cecil Frances Alexander, 1889
Adapted for use with Anglican Prayer Beads by Laura Kelly Campbell
An Evening Prayer
The Cross
Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit. as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be for ever. Amen.
The Invitatory
Open my lips, O Lord,
and my mouth shall proclaim
Your praise.
The Cruciforms
Guide us waking, O Lord,
and guard us sleeping;
that awake we may watch
with Christ, and asleep
we may rest in peace.
The Weeks
Jesus, lamb of God, have mercy on us.
Jesus, bearer of our sins, have mercy on us.
Jesus, redeemer of the world, give us your peace.
