In the summer Chris and I worship at Faith Memorial Chapel in Cedar Mountain. I have shared my love of this outdoor worship venue before here and it continues to be our summer place of worship. The atmosphere is conducive to worship and a newly added Prayer Garden is the perfect place to spend some quiet time. This is on my list of things to do this summer – spend some time in the Prayer Garden.

The chapel has a lovely rotation of pastors during the summer and we get to experience a variety of worship experiences from different denominations. It really is a wonderful way to get a varied worship experience. This past Sunday Lee Canipe, Senior Pastor at Providence Baptist Church in Charlotte, NC was the guest minister and he shared some parting words as a benediction. They stayed with me.

Christ before us, Christ beside us.

Christ behind us, Christ in all that we do.

Christ in our hearts so that we may love mercy,

Christ in our mouths so that we may speak the truth.

Christ in our eyes so that we may see Him in the faces of our neighbors.

I knew I had heard similar words before and after a little research found that different variations of these words have come from The Breastplate of Saint Patrick (also known as The Lorica of Saint Patrick or St. Patrick’s Breastplate). Going back to the 8th century, this is a traditional Celtic prayer for protection. The main thrust of the passage is that Christ is ever present and surrounds the believer.

I really love this piece and think it is a great way to look at how to live each day. The last phrase is the big one for me – seeing Chris in the faces of our neighbors. I must admit that I am not always looking for Christ in the faces of my neighbors so this challenges me.

Sometimes words in worship just pass over me and I don’t give them a second thought but for whatever reason I needed to hear and read these words this week. I hope that they are meaningful to you as well.