Guided by the heart and vision of Thomas Cranmer’s Great Litany, (yes this was the beloved Anglican figure who was burnt at the stake under the wrath of bloody Queen Mary), Leonard Freeman and Lindsay Hardin Freeman explore the many ways in which deliverance comes to us. Like the Great Litany itself, their reflections speak of human frailty and holy grace, the longings and aspirations of our human hearts, and of the transformative power of God’s abiding love.
From Thomas Cranmer’s Great Litany
That it may please thee to inspire us, in our several callings, to do the work which thou givest us to do with singleness of heart as thy servants, and for the common good.
We beseech thee to hear us, good Lord.
In our “several callings.” When I first approached retirement, I had a limited sense of call. I realize that now. After forty years of ordained ministry I saw that as my call, and I was anxious about leaving my call behind. Looking back, it is clear how misled I was…All along I have been called—to be a father to my children, a support to my spouse, a writer, a doer of laundry and shopping, a consultant and guide for others in their ministries…the list goes on.
I find it freeing to realize my different callings. It lets me enter inot the different parts of my particular life story and know their value. This allows me to offer my whole self up, with “a singleness of heart.”
Leonard Freeman