Helen G. Crotwell - "With Sighs Too Deep for Words" (February 11, 1979)

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-	Duke University Chapel Service of Worship,	0:03
	February 11th, 1979.	0:07
	(organist playing "Mein junges Leben hat ein End")	0:13
	(baby babbles)	7:18
	(organist playing "Christ unser Herr zum Jordan kam")	7:23
	(choir sings "Beautiful Savior")	12:37
	♪ Beautiful Savior ♪	12:38
	♪ Lord of the nations ♪	12:45
	♪ Son of God ♪	12:53
	♪ And Son of Man ♪	12:59
	♪ Glory and honor ♪	13:09
	♪ Praise, adoration ♪	13:16
	♪ Now and forevermore be Thine ♪	13:23
	♪ Now and forevermore be Thine ♪	13:34
	♪ Now and forevermore be Thine ♪	13:38
	(organist playing "Beautiful Savior")	13:59
	(organ music drowns out singing)	14:38
-	Let us confess our sins to Almighty God.	17:52
	Our petty lives, our sin,	17:56
	these we confess to you, oh God.	17:59
	The quietness of your presence rebuffs us.	18:03
	For some, there is no discipline	18:07
	to hold us steady in the waiting,	18:10
	and our minds reject the noiseless invasion of your Spirit.	18:13
	For some, there is no will to offer	18:18
	what is central in our thoughts.	18:21
	(congregation murmuring)	18:24
	For some, the evils of the world tear down	18:31
	all our concentrations.	18:34
	(congregation murmuring)	18:37
	War and oppression,	18:40
	illness and loneliness have covered us with heavy shadows,	18:42
	making the days big with forebodings.	18:47
	(congregation murmuring)	18:50
	We do not know how to do what we know to do.	18:56
	(congregation murmuring)	19:00
	Our petty lives, our sin,	19:06
	these we place upon your altar.	19:09
	In silence, each of us confesses.	19:12
	Almighty God, have mercy on us.	19:44
	Forgive us all our sins through our Lord, Jesus Christ.	19:48
	Strengthen us in all goodness,	19:53
	and by the power of the Holy Sprit,	19:55
	keep us in eternal life, amen.	19:58
	Let us give thanks, for God is good,	20:04
	and God's love is everlasting.	20:06
	(congregation murmuring)	20:09
	May I call your attention	20:22
	to two announcements in the bulletin?	20:23
	The first is that all of today's offering is to go	20:26
	to the Edwin Tate Fund for a 10 year-old Durham boy	20:30
	who has been through successful open-heart surgery.	20:36
	That is the designation of the offering today.	20:41
	And also, at 7:30 tonight,	20:46
	there will be in the chapel crypt	20:50
	a second century Eucharist,	20:52
	conducted by Professor Robert Greg,	20:55
	a professor of early church history in the Divinity School.	20:58
	The soloist for the anthem today, O Lord Most Holy,	21:03
	will be Professor John Hanks.	21:10
-	Let us pray.	21:23
	Dear God, open our hearts and minds	21:25
	that we may hear your word	21:28
	through the reading of the scripture, amen.	21:29
	The reading of the scripture's	21:35
	from the eighth chapter of Romans.	21:36
	Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness.	21:41
	For we do not know what to pray for as we ought,	21:45
	but the Spirit himself intercedes for us	21:48
	with sighs too deep for words.	21:51
	And he who searches hearts of men knows	21:54
	what is the mind of the Spirit	21:58
	because the Spirit intercedes	22:01
	for the saints according to the will of God.	22:03
	This ends the reading of the scripture.	22:08
	(organist playing "O Lord Most Holy")	22:21
	♪ O Lord most holy ♪	23:07
	♪ O Lord most mighty ♪	23:15
	♪ O loving Father ♪	23:23
	♪ Thee would we be praising alway ♪	23:29
	♪ Help us to know Thee ♪	23:39
	♪ Know Thee and love Thee ♪	23:47
	♪ Father, Father ♪	23:56
	♪ Grant us Thy truth and grace ♪	24:04
	♪ Father, Father ♪	24:12
	♪ Guide and defend us ♪	24:20
	♪ Rule Thou our wilful hearts ♪	24:44
	♪ Keep Thine our wand'ring thoughts ♪	24:52
	♪ In all our sorrows ♪	25:00
	♪ Let us find our rest in Thee ♪	25:06
	♪ And in temptation's hour ♪	25:16
	♪ Save through Thy mighty power ♪	25:24
	♪ Thine aid, O send us ♪	25:32
	♪ Hear us in mercy ♪	25:41
	♪ Show us Thy favor ♪	25:49
	♪ So Shall we live and sing praise to Thee ♪	25:58
	Will the congregation please stand	26:35
	for the reading of the Gospel.	26:37
	And when they came to the disciples,	26:45
	they saw a great crowd about them	26:47
	and scribes arguing with them.	26:49
	And immediately all the crowd, when they saw him,	26:52
	were greatly amazed and ran up to him and greeted him.	26:56
	And he asked them, "What are you discussing with them?"	27:00
	And one it the crowd answered him,	27:04
	"Teacher, I brought my son to you,	27:07
	"for he has a dumb spirit.	27:11
	"And whenever it seizes him, it dashes him down,	27:13
	"and he foams and grinds his teeth and becomes rigid.	27:17
	"And I asked your disciples to cast it out,	27:22
	"and they were not able."	27:25
	And he answered them, "O faithless generation,	27:28
	"how long am I to be with you?	27:32
	"How long am I to bear with you?	27:35
	"Bring him to me."	27:38
	And they brought the boy to him.	27:41
	And when the spirit saw him,	27:43
	immediately it convulsed the boy, and he fell on the ground	27:44
	and rolled about, foaming at the mouth.	27:47
	And Jesus asked his father, "How long has he had this?"	27:51
	And he said, "From childhood.	27:56
	"And it has often cast him into fire	28:00
	"and into the water, to destroy him.	28:02
	"But if you can do anything, have pity on us and help us."	28:05
	And Jesus said to him, "'If you can'!	28:10
	"All things are possible to him who believes."	28:14
	Immediately the father of the child cried out and said,	28:18
	"I believe; help my unbelief!"	28:22
	And when Jesus saw that a crowd came running together,	28:26
	he rebuked the unclean spirit, saying to it,	28:30
	"You dumb and deaf spirit, I command you,	28:33
	"come out of him and never enter him again."	28:36
	And after crying out and convulsing him terribly,	28:42
	it came out, and the boy was like a corpse,	28:45
	so that most of them said, "He is dead."	28:49
	But Jesus took him by the hand	28:54
	and lifted him up, and he arose.	28:55
	And when he had entered the house,	28:59
	his disciples asked him privately,	29:01
	"Why could we not cast it out?"	29:04
	And he said to them,	29:08
	"This kind cannot be driven out by anything but prayer."	29:10
	Here ends the reading of the Gospel.	29:17
	All praise and glory be to God.	29:19
	(organist plays traditional worship music)	29:22
	♪ Glory be to our Creator ♪	29:37
	♪ Praise to our Redeemer ♪	29:44
	♪ Glory be to our Sustainer ♪	29:51
	♪ Ever three and ever one ♪	29:58
	♪ As it was in the beginning ♪	30:06
	♪ Ever shall be, amen ♪	30:13
-	Being in the presence of Dr. Howard Thurman focused again	30:38
	for me the power, the value,	30:42
	and the importance of prayer and meditation.	30:46
	We marveled at his surviving the trip	30:51
	from San Francisco to Raleigh by train	30:54
	during the midst of that terrible snowstorm.	30:58
	When the heating system on the train failed,	31:02
	there were times when the temperature	31:06
	was well below freezing.	31:08
	And then when the trains could not get out	31:12
	of the Chicago terminal, and there were no hotels available,	31:15
	and his friends could not get to the station to get him,	31:21
	he sat up for 36 hours	31:26
	in the terminal.	31:31
	How would you imagine a 79 year-old man responding	31:34
	to that situation?	31:39
	Or can you imagine how you would have coped with such?	31:41
	Perhaps with anger, outrage, frustration,	31:46
	emotional exhaustion because of events	31:51
	you cannot control.	31:56
	I asked Dr. Thurman what surely must have been	31:59
	the most inane he was asked during his whole stay at Duke.	32:03
	"Did your life of prayer and meditation help sustain you	32:10
	"on that awful trip?"	32:13
	Of course it did, I didn't have to ask.	32:17
	You looked at his face and his eyes and knew.	32:21
	Even so, he responded, telling with some amusement	32:26
	about the most unlikely place for meditation,	32:32
	sitting in the dispatcher's office in Chicago,	32:37
	huddled to keep warm.	32:42
	To be human is to pray.	32:46
	It may be in moans or sighs too deep for words	32:50
	or in words which reflect our petitions,	32:57
	confessions, thanksgiving.	33:01
	Whatever form it takes,	33:05
	prayer is as essential to our humanity as breathing,	33:07
	eating, sleeping, thinking.	33:12
	Prayer is a critical condition	33:17
	for our being fully human.	33:20
	And just as some other dimensions of our lives,	33:25
	our creativity, our sensitivity, our compassion,	33:28
	even our physical wellbeing can be stunted	33:34
	and may not develop to the fullest,	33:39
	so it is with our capacity to be people who pray.	33:43
	I yearn, and may of you yearn,	33:49
	for a richer, fuller life of prayer.	33:52
	We wonder what happened to the resolutions,	33:55
	to our intentions.	33:58
	Why is it that we are not faithful?	34:01
	Why is there still this yearning, this longing?	34:05
	Perhaps for a web of reasons.	34:10
	Even with all of our talk and reading about prayer,	34:15
	we do not have a clear understanding	34:19
	of what it means to be a person of prayer.	34:21
	We are like the man who felt that he was incapable	34:25
	and too ignorant to pray.	34:30
	And so he said to God,	34:32
	"Here are all of the letters of the alphabet, oh God.	34:35
	"Take them and make them	34:39
	into a prayer from me to you."	34:43
	We who are fairly intelligent,	34:49
	sophisticated, and wise may have more trouble praying,	34:51
	though, than this man did	34:56
	or those who don't get so tied up in theoretical	34:59
	or unanswerable and sometime inane questions like:	35:03
	Can God create a rock so big	35:08
	that it can't be moved by the same creative power?	35:12
	Being 20th century people who analyze	35:17
	and understand the world puts us in a climate	35:20
	that makes it difficult	35:25
	for us to accept an unseen spiritual power,	35:27
	which is not observable or measurable.	35:33
	We feel that we have been liberated from the myth,	35:38
	or is it mystery?	35:43
	That there is a spiritual power at work in this world,	35:45
	which is beyond the bounds of our understanding	35:48
	and comprehension and control.	35:52
	We also have trouble being people of prayer	35:57
	because of our experience with some people's prayers,	36:01
	prayers where people seem to try to manipulate God	36:05
	to take care of their selfish interests,	36:10
	often at the expense of another person or group.	36:13
	And we are, indeed, irritated	36:17
	by some of the obscene examples of public prayer,	36:19
	which make a mockery of God and of us.	36:23
	We pull away from any implication of prayer that suggests	36:27
	that we can coerce God into doing something for us	36:32
	or any suggestion that implies that God needs to be informed	36:38
	in detail about our particular situation or problem,	36:43
	in fact sometimes even needs to be given instruction as to	36:48
	what would be an appropriate response to our situation.	36:52
	For these and other reasons,	36:57
	many of us have a limited and often distorted understanding	36:58
	and vision of the depth and breadth of prayer.	37:03
	Prayer as listening, as waiting,	37:08
	as silence, as work,	37:13
	as a radical response to life.	37:18
	In our experience of corporate worship,	37:24
	we usually participate in two models of prayer:	37:26
	the liturgical and the free spontaneous,	37:30
	forms of praying which can be rich and nourishing for some	37:35
	and yet for others, empty and meaningless.	37:39
	For some, the liturgical seems mechanical	37:44
	and incomprehensible. And the free spontaneous,	37:46
	which too soon becomes rigid in its form,	37:51
	seems inane chitchat with God.	37:55
	Bill Coffin once described a preacher's public prayers	37:59
	as sounding like a person reading a laundry list	38:03
	or asking God to have the next dance.	38:08
	Now if this has been our experience,	38:11
	we may decide that we are not praying people	38:14
	without realizing the wealth and the diversity	38:17
	of options available to us	38:20
	as we seek to relate to and respond to God.	38:22
	And some people never follow through	38:29
	on their intentions to develop the devotional life	38:31
	because they just never find time to pray.	38:34
	This is especially true when our lives seem self-sufficient	38:37
	and all is going well.	38:42
	Someday we'll find time when we finish school	38:44
	and don't have all of those papers to write	38:48
	or when we finally get established in our profession	38:52
	or we don't have so many demands being made	38:55
	on our time and energy	38:59
	or we don't have to be so busy trying to prove our worth	39:01
	and value in this world.	39:05
	My need to prove myself became obvious to me	39:08
	through an experience I had during my stay in Europe.	39:12
	I visited one of the second orders of the Taize community	39:17
	located in a small town near Basel.	39:21
	It was a house of silence, a retreat center,	39:24
	a place I could stay indefinitely for free	39:28
	if I participated in the work of the house	39:32
	in the same way as the members of the order.	39:35
	With a strict discipline and schedule for prayer	39:38
	and work and personal devotions,	39:42
	I was pleased to have this time	39:46
	and space to develop my devotional life.	39:48
	The work was done in the mornings,	39:53
	as we prepared the guesthouse	39:55
	for people to make their spiritual retreats.	39:56
	My specific jobs were cleaning the windows and floors	40:02
	and bathrooms and stuff like that.	40:05
	And being from the United States,	40:08
	I was afraid I'd be seen as a person so used to luxury	40:10
	that I wouldn't do any hard work.	40:14
	So I was determined to show them.	40:16
	I'd work zealously,	40:19
	finishing the assigned task for the morning in record time	40:21
	and then asking for more, give me more to do.	40:25
	Then when the afternoons came, I'd be so exhausted,	40:30
	the time for study and meditation and reflection,	40:37
	that instead of using that time, my exhaustion meant	40:43
	that I would go to my room and fall asleep.	40:47
	Dumb, but unfortunately,	40:51
	not isolated dumbness.	40:56
	Now these past few comments have only opened to us	41:01
	for our consideration some of the problems,	41:04
	and we have time to open up only a few	41:08
	of the many dimensions of prayer available to us.	41:11
	All of us have experienced the kind of prayer Paul describes	41:16
	as being sighs too deep for words.	41:19
	When our resources are not equal to the	41:25
	limits of our lives,	41:29
	when we realize that we are not self-sufficient,	41:32
	not self-contained islands, that our strengths	41:36
	and abilities are not enough to get us through,	41:41
	when the pain and anxiety are too much for us,	41:46
	then we cry out to God in sighs	41:51
	that are too deep for words,	41:56
	for at these times, words are inadequate.	41:59
	Paul says that when this happens,	42:04
	God's spirit works through us, releasing our sighs.	42:07
	Our prayers come as sighs too deep for words	42:13
	when we experience the shock of the loss of that	42:17
	which has been a source of joy,	42:20
	of meaning, of value in our lives,	42:23
	when we know the fear in us as we face emptiness	42:28
	or defeat or betrayal	42:33
	or the overwhelming burden	42:37
	of the world's tragedies.	42:40
	Just this year, we as a community have responded	42:44
	with sighs too deep for words when we have faced	42:47
	the many personal tragedies in our midst,	42:51
	the pain and terror of illness and accidents,	42:55
	the anxiety for the recovery	43:00
	to good health of people we love,	43:03
	the agonizing and unexpected loss by death	43:07
	of those we love.	43:12
	And these sighs too deep for words bring us	43:15
	into the presence of and an awareness	43:18
	of God's supporting, encompassing arms,	43:21
	and we know comfort	43:27
	as when a mother enfolds a hurting child to her body	43:30
	and the strength of the Father's sure hand	43:35
	as we walk and do what for us is the unknown.	43:38
	In all this, we experience God's sustaining grace.	43:44
	These sighs, though, soon become words,	43:50
	cries for help, prayers of intercession and supplication.	43:54
	But how can we do this if we say,	44:01
	we do not believe that God needs to be told,	44:04
	that God does not have to be begged.	44:07
	We do this because we cannot help it.	44:11
	But what is our hope?	44:15
	And what do we do with some of the stories Jesus told us,	44:18
	like the judge who was pestered and hounded	44:22
	by a certain widow who needed help from him?	44:25
	She followed this man everywhere he went,	44:29
	never leaving him, not letting him be our of her sight,	44:33
	always pleading her case, and finally he responded,	44:37
	just to get rid of her to have some peace.	44:42
	Then another story, the neighbor who was awakened	44:47
	at midnight by a friend in need of bread.	44:50
	The friend was not put off by the neighbor's admonition,	44:53
	"Go away, leave us alone, we are asleep.	44:56
	"My whole family is asleep, please don't disturb us.	45:00
	"Surely your guest will not starve until morning!"	45:04
	Every time the man would pull the covers back over his head,	45:08
	the friend would knock and plead even louder,	45:12
	and finally, out of desperation	45:16
	and the desire to get a night's sleep,	45:19
	the neighbor got up and gave the friend some bread.	45:21
	Now is Jesus saying that God is like this?	45:26
	That God has to be pestered and harassed?	45:29
	If we, like a gnat, keep on annoying God,	45:33
	God will respond to get rid of us	45:37
	and get back to the important work in the universe.	45:40
	Now these are truly funny stories	45:44
	and reflect Jesus' great sense of humor.	45:47
	And these are stories about us, not about God,	45:51
	stories telling us, it's not easy work to pray.	45:56
	We must be persistent and struggle and keep on with it,	46:00
	for Jesus knew well how easy it is	46:04
	for us to become distracted and not to keep seeking	46:08
	and searching and reaching and remaining open to God.	46:11
	And for those of us who are skeptical	46:17
	about prayer of intercession,	46:19
	it would be helpful for us to look at Jesus' life of prayer	46:22
	and his teachings about prayer,	46:26
	getting some idea of both the possibility and the limits.	46:28
	The story from Mark, which was read today,	46:36
	describe Jesus' healing of the epileptic son	46:38
	after the disciples had failed.	46:42
	This was quite an embarrassment to the disciples.	46:45
	Many people had gathered around	46:48
	to watch them perform this miracle, and they failed.	46:50
	We know what the disciples must have felt like.	46:56
	We come upon simple problems or terrible conditions	46:59
	in this world and we rush around,	47:03
	showing everyone how we can fix things up,	47:06
	work miracles and we, too, fail.	47:09
	A friend discussed this passage with me,	47:14
	noting that Jesus used many ways to change lives,	47:16
	to heal people, sometimes saying, "Get up and walk,"	47:20
	or "Repent, all your sins are forgiven."	47:24
	Sometimes touching, looking,	47:28
	and sometimes using spit to make some mud.	47:31
	The disciples were scurrying about	47:36
	to work the same sort of miracle but failed,	47:38
	and after Jesus healed the boy, he told them,	47:42
	"Don't be too upset, this was indeed a difficult case,	47:47
	"and these demons could only be driven out by prayer."	47:52
	Prayer, which we dismiss into	47:58
	the area of ineffectual,	48:02
	is for Jesus necessary	48:05
	for situations beyond human power.	48:08
	Now this really is a story	48:12
	about God's power and our human power.	48:14
	We have freedom, and we have limited power,	48:18
	power to move things about, things, people, and ideas.	48:21
	We have power to work from the outside	48:27
	to push, to pull, to prod, to mold,	48:30
	to alter people to our own liking for our own good,	48:33
	and sometimes for their own good.	48:37
	But our power is limited, outside power.	48:40
	None of us has the power to	48:45
	satisfy our own deepest longings	48:48
	nor those of another person.	48:52
	God's power is love,	48:57
	love which fulfills our deepest human quest.	49:01
	But this power is also limited,	49:07
	limited by our human freedom.	49:10
	It is possible for us to close ourselves off	49:13
	from God's love. Love is given.	49:17
	We cannot work for it or achieve it.	49:22
	Love is given to us by God.	49:26
	Now when we reach the limits of our power,	49:31
	even if we have made intellectual statements	49:35
	that we do not believe in intercessory prayer,	49:38
	we pray to God, we cry out to God	49:41
	in prayers of supplication and intercession.	49:45
	Nowhere in the Gospels or in any testimony of the saints	49:50
	do we have any clue that life of prayer is easy	49:57
	or that to pray means	50:00
	that we or those we love will not suffer,	50:03
	that our lives will be all A's	50:07
	or tenured or good news or good meals	50:09
	with no illness and no demonic situations	50:14
	and no accidents and no tragedies	50:18
	or no early and unexpected deaths,	50:21
	for we are living in a world	50:25
	which is messed up by human freedom,	50:27
	a world which caused Jesus to pray with such agony	50:30
	that his sweat was like great drops of blood,	50:35
	a world which killed Jesus.	50:39
	So we pray not expecting	50:43
	that this will mean life will have no pain	50:45
	or no heartbreak or no suffering,	50:47
	not expecting God to do magic tricks for us,	50:50
	not expecting that, without our help,	50:55
	God will eradicate human evil	50:57
	or loneliness or hunger or war.	50:59
	But we pray knowing that we do not have	51:02
	within ourselves the resources to survive	51:05
	through the tragedies we face,	51:09
	nor can we find ultimate meaning	51:11
	within ourselves or within our families,	51:14
	and we pray knowing that our prayers	51:19
	of intercession may be empty phrases,	51:23
	like Jesus' description of the pharisees as hypocritical.	51:27
	If we pray to God to feed the hungry	51:33
	and clothe the naked and free the prisoners	51:36
	and go about our daily tasks,	51:39
	if all we have to do is to tell God	51:41
	what needs doing in this world,	51:44
	and our of gratitude for being reminded of our condition,	51:46
	God will immediately zap and create another Garden of Eden	51:50
	for us to mess up again,	51:54
	it just may be that there is another reason	51:57
	we do not pray as we wish.	52:02
	It may be that we are afraid	52:05
	God might take us seriously and use us.	52:08
	To become people of prayer,	52:14
	we need to learn what enables us to pray,	52:15
	the form, the space, the aids we need.	52:19
	Perhaps it will mean finding a regular time	52:25
	and space for quietness and stillness,	52:27
	or finding a spiritual director,	52:30
	or writing a prayer journal.	52:33
	We can learn from those lives,	52:36
	from those people whose lives are lives of prayer,	52:39
	not only in the private places but in the very public places	52:45
	like we saw in Dr. Howard Thurman.	52:50
	We can appropriate the vast human resources	52:54
	which are available to us,	52:57
	people, books, the psalms, guides for prayer.	53:00
	We can begin to pray.	53:07
	Prayer offers to us an opportunity to be related	53:10
	to the spirit of God and brings to our lives meaning,	53:13
	which transcend our finitude.	53:18
	Prayer is God working in us	53:23
	to enable us to love,	53:26
	and so we pray with the expectancy that through our prayer,	53:30
	our lives will become transparent with God's love,	53:35
	and we'll become channels of God's loving purpose,	53:41
	that God's love will flow through us, healing us	53:46
	and enabling us to become healing agents for others.	53:51
	And so today we pray,	53:59
	Lord, we believe.	54:02
	Help Thou our unbelief,	54:06
	amen.	54:11
	(organist playing "Oh God of Earth and Altar")	54:21
	♪ O God of earth and altar ♪	55:04
	♪ Bow down and hear our cry ♪	55:10
	♪ Our earthly rulers falter ♪	55:15
	♪ Our people drift and die ♪	55:21
	♪ The walls of gold entomb us ♪	55:27
	♪ The swords of scorn divide ♪	55:32
	♪ Take not thy thunder from us ♪	55:38
	♪ But take away our pride ♪	55:44
	♪ From all that terror teaches ♪	55:52
	♪ From lies of tongue and pen ♪	55:57
	♪ From all the easy speeches ♪	56:03
	♪ That comfort cruel men ♪	56:09
	♪ From sale and profanation ♪	56:15
	♪ Of honor and the sword ♪	56:20
	♪ From sleep and from damnation ♪	56:26
	♪ Deliver us, good Lord ♪	56:32
	♪ Tie in a living tether ♪	56:40
	♪ The prince and priest and thrall ♪	56:46
	♪ Bind all our lives together ♪	56:52
	♪ Smite us and save us all ♪	56:58
	♪ In ire and exultation ♪	57:03
	♪ Aflame with faith, and free ♪	57:09
	♪ Lift up a living nation ♪	57:15
	♪ A single sword to thee ♪	57:20
	♪ Amen ♪	57:29
-	Let us affirm what we believe.	57:39
	We believe in God, who has created and is creating,	57:43
	who has come in the truly human Jesus	57:49
	to reconcile and make new,	57:52
	who works in us and others by the spirit.	57:55
	We trust God, who calls us to be the church,	57:59
	to celebrate life and its fullness,	58:04
	to love and serve others,	58:08
	to seek justice and resist evil,	58:10
	to proclaim Jesus, crucified and risen,	58:14
	our judge and our hope.	58:18
	In life, in death, in life beyond death,	58:21
	God is with us, we are not alone.	58:26
	Thanks be to God.	58:30
	Be seated please.	58:34
	The Lord be with you.	58:42
	(congregation murmurs response)	58:43
	Let us pray.	58:45
	In peace we pray to you, oh Lord,	58:48
	for the holy church of God,	58:52
	that it may be filled with truth and love	58:55
	and be found without fault at the day of your coming,	58:58
	we pray to you, oh Lord.	59:02
	For our own ministers, especially Robert and Helen,	59:05
	and other ministers and for all the holy people of God,	59:10
	we pray to you, oh Lord.	59:15
	For all who fear God and believe in you, Lord Christ,	59:19
	that our divisions may cease	59:23
	and that all may be one as you and the Father are one	59:25
	we pray to you, oh Lord.	59:30
	For the mission of the church,	59:33
	that in faithful witness it may preach the Gospel	59:35
	to the ends of the Earth, we pray to you, oh Lord.	59:38
	For those who do not believe	59:44
	and for those who have lost their faith,	59:46
	that they may receive the light of the Gospel,	59:49
	we pray to you, oh Lord.	59:52
	For the peace of the world,	59:56
	that a spirit of respect and forbearance may grow	59:58
	among nations and peoples, we pray to you, oh Lord.	1:00:02
	For those in positions of public trust,	1:00:07
	that they may serve justice and promote the dignity	1:00:10
	and freedom of every person, we pray to you, oh Lord.	1:00:14
	For all who live and work in this community,	1:00:20
	we pray to you, oh Lord.	1:00:23
	For a blessing upon all human labor	1:00:26
	and for the right use of the riches of creation,	1:00:29
	that the world may be freed from poverty, famine,	1:00:33
	and disaster, we pray to you, oh Lord.	1:00:37
	For the poor, the persecuted, the sick, and all who suffer.	1:00:42
	For refugees, prisoners, and all who are in danger,	1:00:48
	that they may be relieved and protected,	1:00:54
	we pray to you, oh Lord.	1:00:57
	For this congregation,	1:01:00
	that we may be delivered from hardness of heart	1:01:02
	and show forth your glory in all that we do,	1:01:05
	we pray to you, oh Lord.	1:01:09
	For our enemies and those who wish us harm	1:01:12
	and for all whom we have injured or offended,	1:01:15
	we pray to you, oh Lord.	1:01:19
	For ourselves, for the forgiveness of our sins,	1:01:21
	and for the grace of the Holy Spirit to amend our lives,	1:01:25
	we pray to you, oh Lord.	1:01:29
	For all who have commended themselves to our prayers,	1:01:32
	for our families, friends, and neighbors,	1:01:35
	that being freed from anxiety, they may live in joy,	1:01:39
	peace, and health, we pray to thee, oh Lord.	1:01:44
	For all who have died in the communion of your church	1:01:48
	and those whose faith is known to you alone,	1:01:51
	that, with all the saints, they may have rest	1:01:55
	in that place where there is no pain or grief	1:01:58
	but life eternal, we pray to you, oh Lord.	1:02:01
	Rejoicing in the fellowship of all the saints,	1:02:06
	let us commend ourselves and one another	1:02:09
	and all our life to Christ our God.	1:02:12
	Heavenly Father, you have promised to hear	1:02:17
	what we ask in the name of your son.	1:02:19
	Accept and fulfill our petitions, we pray,	1:02:22
	not as we ask in our ignorance	1:02:26
	nor as we deserve in our sinfulness,	1:02:29
	but as you know and love us in your son,	1:02:32
	Jesus Christ our Lord, amen.	1:02:34
	And now, as our savior Christ hath taught us,	1:02:39
	we are bold to say,	1:02:42
	Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name.	1:02:44
	Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done	1:02:49
	on earth as it is in heaven.	1:02:53
	Give us this day our daily bread,	1:02:56
	and forgive us our trespasses,	1:02:58
	as we forgive those who trespass against us,	1:03:01
	and lead us not into temptation,	1:03:05
	but deliver us from evil.	1:03:08
	For thine is the kingdom, the power,	1:03:11
	and the glory, forever, amen.	1:03:14
	(organist playing "Praise, Praise the Lord (Psalm 150)")	1:03:38
	♪ Alleluia ♪	1:05:07
	♪ Alleluia ♪	1:05:11
	♪ Alleluia, Alleluia ♪	1:05:23
	♪ Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia ♪	1:05:29
	♪ O Praise ye the Lord ♪	1:05:46
	♪ Praise God in His temple ♪	1:05:51
	♪ Praise ye the Lord in the firmament of His power ♪	1:05:58
	♪ O praise Him for His might ♪	1:06:09
	♪ And the greatness of His wonders ♪	1:06:14
	♪ O praise Him, praise Him according to His majesty ♪	1:06:20
	♪ Praise the Lord with the sound of the trumpet ♪	1:06:33
	♪ Praise the Lord with the lute and the harp ♪	1:06:40
	♪ Praise the Lord with the timbrel ♪	1:06:47
	♪ The timbrel and the dance ♪	1:06:51
	♪ O praise Him with the organ and instruments of strings ♪	1:06:55
	♪ Praise Him, praise Him upon the loud cymbals ♪	1:07:12
	♪ Praise Him, praise Him upon the high-sounding cymbals ♪	1:07:30
	♪ Let everything that hath breath ♪	1:07:40
	♪ Let everything that hath breath ♪	1:07:46
	♪ Praise, praise the Lord ♪	1:07:51
	♪ Praise, praise the Lord ♪	1:07:56
	♪ O Praise ye the Lord ♪	1:08:04
	♪ Praise God in His temple ♪	1:08:09
	♪ O praise ye the Lord in the firmament of His power ♪	1:08:15
	♪ O praise Him for His might ♪	1:08:25
	♪ And the greatness of His wonders ♪	1:08:30
	♪ O praise Him, O praise Him according to His majesty ♪	1:08:35
	♪ Praise the Lord, praise the Lord ♪	1:08:47
	♪ With the sound of the trumpet ♪	1:08:49
	♪ Praise the Lord, praise the Lord ♪	1:08:50
	♪ With the sound of the trumpet ♪	1:08:52
	♪ Praise the Lord, praise the Lord ♪	1:08:54
	♪ With the lute and the harp ♪	1:08:55
	♪ Praise the Lord, praise the Lord ♪	1:08:57
	♪ With the lute and the harp ♪	1:08:59
	♪ Praise the Lord with the timbrel. ♪	1:09:01
	♪ The timbrel and the dance ♪	1:09:04
	♪ Alleluia ♪	1:09:08
	♪ Alleluia ♪	1:09:13
	♪ Alleluia ♪	1:09:17
	♪ Alleluia ♪	1:09:22
	(organ drowns out choir singing)	1:10:12
	♪ Alleluia, Alleluia ♪	1:10:24
	(organ drowns out choir singing)	1:10:30
	♪ Alleluia, Alleluia ♪	1:10:41
	♪ Alleluia ♪	1:10:47
	♪ Alleluia ♪	1:10:50
	♪ Alleluia ♪	1:10:54
	♪ Alleluia ♪	1:11:01
	God of Abraham and Sarah, strengthen us.	1:11:16
	Brother Jesus, let us walk with thee.	1:11:20
	Holy Spirit, haunt our hearts.	1:11:24
	Lord of love, we give ourselves to thee, amen.	1:11:28
	(organ plays traditional worship music)	1:11:36
	(organ music drowns out singing)	1:12:31
	The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ	1:16:54
	and the love of God and the fellowship	1:16:57
	of the Holy Spirit be with us all evermore.	1:17:00
	(choir harmonizes "Amen")	1:17:07
	♪ Amen ♪	1:17:09
	♪ Amen ♪	1:17:12
	♪ Amen ♪	1:17:19
	♪ Amen ♪	1:17:25
	♪ Amen ♪	1:17:32
	♪ Amen ♪	1:17:42
	♪ Amen ♪	1:17:55
	(organ plays traditional worship music)	1:18:13
	(people murmuring and chattering)	1:24:40

Item Info

Title:

Helen G. Crotwell - "With Sighs Too Deep for Words" (February 11, 1979)

Description:

Sermon start time: (Part 1) 30:38. Sermon end time: (Part 1) 54:13.
Crotwell emphasizes the importance of prayer through discussing reasons why we do not pray, the purpose of prayer, and practical ways to pray more. (Abstract created by Duke Divinity School staff.)
Key quotation: “So we pray, not expecting that this will mean that life will have no pain, no suffering, no heart break…But we pray, knowing that we do not have within ourselves the resources to survive through the tragedies we face, nor can we find ultimate meaning within ourselves or our family.”

Permalink:

https://idn.duke.edu/ark:/87924/r4jm23x1t

Date:

February 11, 1979

Speaker:

Crotwell, Helen Gray, 1925-2006

Biblical Book:

Chapter and Verse:

Subject:

Contributor:

Duke University. Chapel

Identifier:

UA.17.01.0003 RR-1004
ref7217_xy9
uachapelsermaud
duke:321051
dcrau001884
ark:/87924/r4jm23x1t
81df7ffb-f1b7-48bd-afab-2cdf7d930b63

Digital Collection:

Duke Chapel Recordings

Source Collection:

Duke University Chapel recordings

Related Resources:

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Language:

English

Location:

United States
North Carolina
Durham (N.C.)

Format:

Provenance:

The Duke University Chapel Recordings were transferred to the Duke University Archives beginning in 1970.

Rights:

Limited Re-Use

CC BY-NC 4.0

Rights Note:

This recording may contain 3rd party materials, such as music or readings that are therefore not covered by the Creative Commons license indicated here. For more information see https://library.duke.edu/rubenstein/research/citations-and-permissions.

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Helen G. Crotwell - "With Sighs Too Deep for Words" (February 11, 1979)

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Item Info

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Duke University Archives