by Dan Vogel
When I go to the Minneapolis Institute of Art and see this earthenware bowl, I can almost feel the hands of its maker. Except for the color of the glaze, it looks like a bowl I recently ate out of at Crisp & Green. But it’s ancient—6,500 years old.
For perspective, Moses lived 3,200 years ago. This bowl is as distant in time from him as he is from us.
The Minneapolis Institute of Art holds collections of items from throughout history, ancient and modern, all of which still hold beauty and meaning for us in the present day. I have realized the prayer book of the Episcopal Church works the same way.
When I attend St. John’s online services of Daily Morning Prayer, I hear words from our elders—words that have been spoken, passed on, written, compiled, and printed, from before the time of Moses up to the 1979 Book of Common Prayer. When these words are read aloud during Morning Prayer, I can almost hear the elders speaking to me themselves. I might not always agree with what they are saying, but I know all of them deserve to be heard. It is one of the best ways to start my day.
