Chapter 4: Prime Time: Our Root System (81-98)

Tomorrow morning June and I leave on A bus trip, along with some forty-six other “senior citizens.” Our destination is New York City, but along the way we’ll be stopping in Henderson, NC, Cherry Hill, NJ; on the way back we stop off at Atlantic City, Philadelphia, and Washington, DC, and again in Henderson. Although I’m packing lightly, I’ll be sure to take along Ford’s Attentive Life. But because I’m not sure how often I can get myself to a wireless connection, I’ve decided this afternoon to begin reading and writing about Chapter 4, which our group will be discussing on September 14.

Although Ford doesn’t give us the etymology for the word prime, it might be helpful to remember that prime comes from the Latin primus and refers to the first hour of daylight (i.e., dawn). Counting six a.m. as prime (first) , terce (three) signifies 9:00 a.m.; sext (six), noon; and none (nine), 3:00 p.m. Thus when Scripture says that Jesus hung on the cross from the sixth to the ninth hour (Matt. xxvii, 45; Mark xv, 33; Luke xxiii, 44), we sometimes translate that ancient time-reckoning to mean that he was dying from noon to 3:00 p.m.

Although, as Ford helps us see the Mepkin Abbey monks going off to work after observing Prime, it's helpful to know that today Prime as one of hours for prayer is observed, with few exceptions, only in monasteries. Prayer at Prime tells the monks that it's time to begin their day’s labor.

Prime has an interesting history as to its origins: “around the year 382, in one of the monasteries near Bethlehem, a problem arose, because after the night offices (which corresponded to the more modern Matins and Lauds), the monks could retire to rest. The lazier ones then stayed in bed until nine in the morning (the hour of Terce) instead of getting up to do their manual work or spiritual reading. The short office of Prime, inserted a couple of hours before Terce, solved the problem, by calling them together to pray and sending them out to their tasks” (The Structure of the Liturgy).

Prime (or a close cousin to it) can still be found in some prayerbooks today. The Book of Common Prayer provides a short “Order of Service for Noonday” (103-107), and my Lutheran prayerbook gives me a few pages of “Responsive Prayer” if we want to pause to speak to God at noon or in the afternoon, or before travelling. By and large, however, most “prayerbook” Christians no longer observe Prime; instead, with psalms and scripture readings they make an effort to pray and stay with God twice a day: in the morning and in the evening.

But with that said, Ford provides a quite wonderful meditation on Prime in Chapter 4. He finds “a metaphor for this hour of beginning” —remember: prime has to do with “first things!”—in the way the root systems of trees grow near the Glen Burney Falls and “snake down and around rocks, finding their way into the ground through a cleft to gain firm support” (82). As Christians, Ford suggests, we like those trees. We have such beginnings, and at the beginning of the day, we do well to ask: “What is the root system of our lives? Is it deep and wide and long and strong enough to withstand the pressures of each day? That is the paramount question at the hour of prime?” (82-83).

Ford asks us to contemplate such questions, that is, to “look at life in the presence of God,” and then adds this insightful clarification: “with the eyes of God, or through the eyes of Christ—at any time, not just at special times; anywhere, not just in certain places; toward anyone, not just ‘special’ people” (83). In this way, Ford breaks open the ancient understanding of Prime so that it becomes atany time, any place, and with any person prime time, primary, premiere.

In the next few pages Ford continues his reflections on Prime with this question: “What does it mean to be contemplative? (83-85). Tomorrow in my bus seat as I watch the countryside go by, I’ll be musing over and pondering what are the "first things" in my life. With some good luck, I’ll try to post a few more words on Sunday or Monday evening. In the meantime, think about what's prime in your life and perhaps share your thoughts with a comment.

Image Source: http://www.matthewfelton.com/Photos/Yosemite/TreeRoots.jpg