One of the most fun things we did was color a variety of Celtic knots and designs. You can do a Google or Bing search and come up with many different designs yourself. What I find fascinating is the symbolism in the knot. Celtic Christianity emphasizes the intertwining of heaven and earth, of Creator and creation. There is a sense in the prayers and way of living that recalls that we humans are only part of the entire God-filled world.
One of the prayers we used has lingered with me since I returned as a reminder that every speck of creation-seen and unseen, friend and foe is formed by God:
The One who made thee, made me likewise.
It's easy to say this brief line when confronted with something or someone stressful. It is also a surprisingly deep way to recall that God is indeed in everything we touch. On the deepest molecular level, even things we think of as 'man-made' are formed of bits of God. It is also a lovely greeting, similar to the Indian Namaste or African Ubuntu-both loosely translated "I see you" or "I see the God in you".
Another part of Celtic Christianity is the understanding that all things are related. God's presence is prayed in and through all activities. An example is this prayer that could be said while dressing:
My soul and my body;
Bless to me, O God
My belief and my condition;
Bless to me, O God
My heart and my speech,
And bless to me, O God
The handling of my hand;
Strength and busyness of morning,
Habit and temper of modesty,
Force and wisdom of thought,
And Thine own path, O God of virtues,
Till I go to sleep this night.
I think we can enrich our own walk with Christ as we experience new and different ways of prayer.
Do you have favorite prayers from the BCP or from another faith tradition? We learn to see God more and more in all people and all things as we discover that God is, indeed intertwined, like the Celtic knot, in every part of our lives.