In Vino Veritas, and Muslim Devotions

This comes courtesy of this morning's reading from Ecclesiasticus 31:

27 Wine is very life to human beings
if taken in moderation.
What is life to one who is without wine?
It has been created to make people happy.
28 Wine drunk at the proper time and in moderation
is rejoicing of heart and gladness of soul.

What a wonderful and proper Episcopalian sentiment. The surrounding verses argue persuasively for moderation and warn of the dangers of excess, but this exerpt here is positively celebratory, don't you think? (Note that it doesn't say anything specifically about gin martinis, because the gin martini was a later liturgical innovation.)

On to today's second topic, Muslim Devotions: other than specifying general times of the day like Morning, Evening, and Noonday, the Book of Common Prayer doesn't tell you specifically when to pray. No rubric defines "Evening" for you. Some monastic offices are much more regimented, with prayers being said every few hours throughout the day; and the Anglican Breviary is organized along these lines. For example there are hymns that reference the sunrise, and if you do the office as it is intended, you will be saying them as the sun is actually rising outside your window. (Just like "now as our eyes behold the vesper light" from Evening Prayer, except throughout the whole day.)

But what about the changing times for sunset, noon, and sunrise? I mean, here in Chicago, sunrise comes pretty late in the winter and way early in the summer. Let's say we want to say the office of Prime just as the sun is peeking over the horizon, and Sext when the sun is directly overhead. How should we time our prayers properly? For help with this we can turn to our Muslim friends. This website gives you the appropriate times (down to the minute) to pray six daily prayers throughout the day based on latitude and date. Here's a thought about this that was posted today on the Breviary discussion board:

"It's an interesting thought that the vast majority of modern Christians would regard praying six times a day at set times as impossibly onerous, yet [millions of] Muslims do this as a matter of routine."

Of course, observant Muslims don't drink as many gin martinis as we do. But their devotions are certainly laudable. With that in mind, is it really so hard to pray the four daily offices of the Prayer Book? It's only four times daily, and you don't have to have an astronomical calculator to say them properly. Just something to think about.

Parting thought: only 15 more days until Mini-Retreat 2006, your Daily Officer's day-long experience of praying the Breviary as intended, every three hours, for a full day. Anyone who is interested in participating may drop by for one or more offices. You have the following to choose from: midnight, 3 am, 6 am, 9 am, noon, 3 pm, 6 pm, and 9 pm. (Exact times may change; keep reading here.)

Peace everyone.