Kipp Gilmore-Clough of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, writes about the idea that gave to a prayer he calls Home Brewer’s Prayer. It is an Advent discipline … the passing of time for transformation. Here is his explanation first and then his prayer for those who love that … or skip to the prayer for those who prefer simply accepting the gift.
“The idea that gave birth to this transformed into conscious prayer my participation in a favorite hobby: home brewing. There are monasteries that have supported themselves for centuries through the brewing of beer, and Martin Luther is said to have utilized the caloric content of strong beer to sustain himself during lengthy fasts. If Jesus turned water into wine, then perhaps there are intrinsic spiritual possibilities in the transformation of barley, hops, water, and yeast into beer, though the alchemy is different.
“It is not only the thaumaturgy that differs between home brewing and the miracle at Cana, however. The home brewer’s final key ingredient is time. The initial outlay involves preparing the pot and other equipment, and giving a few hours over to steeping, boiling, transferring the mix into the fermenter. All must be done with care and attention. After the yeast is added comes the waiting. It may take a couple of weeks for the yeast to do its job, working through the grainy water to digest the extra sugars and morph into beer. Over this time, providing that it has been properly sealed and attended to, it may be forgotten about – but it does not stop working. Thus has a hobbyist’s endeavor become a metaphor for the movement of the Spirit: with proper tending and care, something bracing comes forth that is ultimately beyond the brewer’s ability to entirely control. And, as with the end product of home brewing, the best part lays in the sharing:”
A Home Brewer’s Prayer:
Wild and yeasty God, you who image your realm in a lump of leaven, let your spirit work its fermentation within me. Grant me the grace to pay proper attention, to undertake the labors that help lay the conditions that make possible, your invisible work. And as my brews usually do, God, surprise me with the unpredictable directions of your leavening, the transmutation of good into good, of work into delight, of life into sharing. Amen.
