Phyllis Tickle: Divine Hours
“Prayer is a nonlocative, nongeographic space that one enters at one’s own peril, for it houses God during those few moments of one’s presence there, and what is there will most surely change everything that comes into it.” —Phyllis Tickle in Phyllis Tickle: Essential Spiritual Writings (Jon Sweeney, ed., Church Publishing, 2018), p. 93.
Phyllis Tickle, founding religion editor of Publishers Weekly, was a prolific writer and incredible lecturer, rarely speaking from notes. She was also a great mentor and friend. My thank-yous to her are feeble attempts to continue the kindness and encouragement she showed me.
She may be remembered for her analysis of the Emergent Christian Church, but I most treasure her Divine Hours, a series of books of observance of the fixed-hour of prayer for spring, summer, fall, and winter.
I know she not only wrote about it, but she also practiced it. I remember seeing her slipping away at meetings for a few minutes to pray at one of the fixed hours of the morning, midday, vespers, or compline. Phyllis’ books allow us to follow a set prayer time, no matter where we are in time or place. She brought an ancient rule of life back to modern times and reminded us how this would change our lives. She taught us that we would never be the same after experiencing the practice.
I am not as faithful as Phyllis, but instead practice the fixed hours of prayer at certain seasons of the year, sometimes for only a week or a month, sometimes for a whole season.
Lent is an excellent time to start.
Joanna https://www.joannaseibert.com/