View from the Plaza Prayer Station: When the Wind Blows

The wind is not my friend.  At least not at CNU.  And it is always windy at CNU!  At least twice now it has been so windy that the incredibly heavy prayer station sign has blown over as it sat in front of the chapel.  The wind off the nearby river combined with the way the buildings are situated creates quite a wind tunnel in areas of campus.  Unfortunately the knocking down of the sign has caused the top portion where it says, "How may I pray for you?" to become separated from its frame.  As I carried it to the Plaza yesterday, the top part came off in my hand while the rest slid out to the ground.  I can no longer put the small part of the sign on top of the large part.  So, yesterday I just leaned it up against the sandwich board part of the sign.  I'm hoping I can glue it all back together, good as new, but I guess on windy days I need to take that top part off anyway so that it doesn't act as a sail.

The sun was warm and the temp was near 50, but the wind made it brutal at times.  Still, I wanted to be outside, and daylight savings means that the sunlight stays on the Plaza the whole time I'm there now.  More students were outside, and I was amazed at the shorts and sleeveless dresses.  I had on long johns under my layers plus coat, scarf and gloves!  I wouldn't have needed all that if I'd been moving around, but just sitting made me a prime target for the cold wind.  There was a career day on campus, so many of the students were dressed up - but I think they had gotten their seasons confused!  A few skateboard dudes zoomed around, but not the ones I know.  I received a couple of prayer requests and spent time with a few of the Canterbury students and exchanged hellos and smiles with many passing by.  Apparently it was Appreciation of Women Day at CNU because at one point a young man came over and handed me a red carnation.  When I asked someone later what it meant, she told me it was for appreciation of women.  I had noticed women walking around with flowers.  Nice!  I put mine on top of the sign.

I have to admit that I wasn't thinking very kindly of the wind much of the day.  And yet, I don't always dislike wind.  In the summer I love how it helps keep things cooler, and when I'm warm enough in other seasons, I enjoy how the wind feels against my face.  Often I think of the wind as being the breath of God.  Ruah in Hebrew:  breath, spirit, wind.  I imagined my prayers on the breath of God, and asked God to carry blessings of love, peace, comfort, and strength on the wind as it blew through campus.  I have written about my desire to start a blessing ministry here, and yesterday I decided I wanted to try it out.  So when a student I know made a prayer request, I said a prayer, and then I offered a blessing as well.  I hope I have more opportunities to do that.  Of course, with the constant wind, I can always imagine blessings blowing out from the Plaza and swirling about the campus.

In other news, the new Admin building is nearing completion.  It will be known as Christopher Newport Hall.

View from the Plaza Prayer Station: Blessings

A few years ago at the conclusion of a gathering of my colleague group, John Kerr said good-bye to me at the door of his house and spontaneously reached out to give me a blessing as I left.  He said, "We don't do that enough, do we?"  Bless each other.  Ever since he and I have been exchanging blessings, and I have found it to be such a lovely way of praying for each other.  Recently I began reading Russ Parker's book, Rediscovering the Ministry of Blessing.  It talks about the scriptural roots of blessings and the different types of blessings and how they can be used in ministry.  It's been a wonderful book to read in Advent and has inspired me to start thinking about how I can incorporate blessing prayer into my ministry more.  The Plaza Prayer Station is one place I'd like to try it.  

This past Thursday was a day full of blessings.  It started with two St. Stephen's volunteers who helped me load up an abundance of snacks that had been donated by members of the church to hand out to students during their exams.  United Campus Ministries organizes the event.  From 10-4 each day of exams churches come and hand out treats to frazzled exam takers.  Some are nervously preparing to take an exam and some approach the table bleary-eyed, scarcely able to focus because they've been writing essays for 2 1/2 hours.  Some are hyped up with the joy of an exam-gone-well or with sugar and caffeine pulsing through their systems.  We provide chips and fruit and granola bars and other sweet and salty snacks.  We always have a few home-baked items, and those are the most popular of all.  The students are sweet and appreciative, and we assure them of our prayers for them in this stressful time.  This year one student asked for prayer for her baby who is due in 3 weeks, so I was blessed to be able to pray with her.

After time at the snack station I moved out into the cold, windy winter sunshine of the Plaza and set up the station.  A few regulars came by and a couple of new ones.  I prayed for a mission trip to Vietnam and for discernment and clarity for some making decisions as well as for relief from stress and anxiety.  At one point I was startled by the loud sound of three young men on skateboards zooming by.  They weren't my skateboard dudes, but they brought a smile to my face nevertheless.  Another student brought me hot chocolate, and I was grateful because it was cold!

It was my last time to sit in the Plaza this semester.  Just before I decided to pack up, one of the original members of the skateboard crowd came over to chat.  He was the very first one who had come over to me on that warm September afternoon when I began this ministry and told me he thought what I was doing was cool.  The first one to come up and the last one I spoke to before leaving.  Only God, I thought, could bookend the semester so neatly.  I invited him and the campus ministry he's a part of to participate in our "Blessing of the Semester" event that we're going to do on the first Sunday of next semester.  It will be kind of like a house blessing, only we're going to bless all the main buildings on campus.  We'll start on the chapel steps in full vestments, swinging incense and carrying a cross, and we'll make our way through the student union to the humanities, science, and business buildings, past the admin building that's under construction, through the library and back to the chapel.  I'm hoping people will see us crazy Christians and get curious about what we're doing.  Blessing the semester.  Blessing the campus.  Blessing the students, faculty, and staff.  And most of all, giving thanks for all the ways God continues to bless us.  

As for me, I deem the first semester of the Plaza Prayer Station a success beyond my imagining.  I trust that God has blessed CNU through me.  I know God has blessed me through this ministry.  And now, we rest.  Until next semester...