Morning Prayer

With the submission of my thesis I have stopped the daily
routine of reading, writing, and editing that characterized
four years of doctoral research. But there is one routine I
continue even though my academic program has finished:
weekday Morning Prayer at the University Chapel. It has
been the foundation of my time here at the University of
St. Andrews. It gave focus, perspective, and shape to my
scholarly endeavors here.


Ever since the end of September, 2003, I have set aside ten
minutes starting at 8:45 of every weekday of the academic
term for Morning Prayer at the University Chapel. Over
the years a small group of as many as eight academic staff
and students have met for a short time of praise, prayer,
and Scripture reading. Usually it has been just the univer-
sity chaplain and myself. Sometimes I am the only one
there. But I sense the presence of the Lord no matter the
number of us in attendance.

The setting is the splendid majesty of the University Chapel
that has been revered as a place of prayer since 1450. I am
always soothed by the sanctity and peacefulness that per-
vades the place. The central aisle leading to the communion
table and pulpit is flanked by two sets of five rows of seating
that face one another. So we proclaim alternate verses of the
psalm of the day to the persons facing us across the aisle.
There are a variety of fixtures around us that bear testi-
mony to the faith of women and men through the ages.


Before I came here I made a vow to the Lord that I would
set Him at the center of my life in academia. I wanted to be
nurtured and supported in my scholarly journey by prayer
and God's Word. Without God at the center of my life, every-
thing I did would have been pure vanity. I came to Morning
Prayer every weekday that I was able. I needed it day by
day just as much as I needed three square meals a day. Ac-
tually, I realized that I could get by without eating for a day.
But Morning Prayer was not as easy to miss. It provided
order to my day and put whatever I did in proper perspec-
tive. I felt out of sync whenever I missed it. That is why I
went to Morning Prayer just before I submitted my thesis.
My work did not make any sense unless it was seen from
God's perspective and done to His glory.


Over the past two years I have realized I was called to join
with others in prayer at the very heart of the university.
Christian scholarship must be coupled with praise and prayer.
Without those two, our academic endeavors are misinformed
and deformed. The latter is evident everywhere I look in aca-
demia. Furthermore, I have sensed-and I may be wrong
here-that St. Andrews, both the town and the university,
has been the ancient spiritual center of Scotland. And so as
I have discerned that I am called to contribute to the renew-
al of God's people in Scotland, it has become imperative for
me to join with others in praying at Scotland's spiritual
heart. Morning Prayer has been for me four years of being
prepared for ministry here in Scotland as well as providing
the foundation for my doctoral research.


As always, I ask you to please entrust me to God in prayer.


Blessings to you and yours