By Tish Harrison Warren and Caroline Triscik

Tish Harrison Warren: Prayer in the Night

“Is the love of God real? Is it enough to actually bear the weight of our souls?" 

— Tish Harrison Warren

Listen in on our conversation with priest and writer Tish Harrison Warren where we discuss human vulnerability, the nighttime prayer of Compline, and Tish’s upcoming book.

"Keep watch, dear Lord, with those who work, or watch, or weep this night, and give your angels charge over those who sleep. Tend the sick, Lord Christ; give rest to the weary, bless the dying, soothe the suffering, pity the afflicted, shield the joyous; and all for your love’s sake. Amen."

—A prayer of Compline from The Book of Common Prayer

As the longest night of the year was upon us last December, I spent time reading each night after long days of working while my children and husband were asleep. In those nights I was sitting with Tish Harrison Warren’s words in her most recent book Prayer in the Night: For Those Who Work or Watch or Weep. Even in a book about the inevitability of our mortality and our “woundability,” Tish’s invitation was a balm to me in a dark winter. Framed by the themes found in the prayer of Compline from The Book of Common Prayer, Tish welcomes us into her own journey of learning to embrace our shared vulnerability, to offer permission to grieve even the small sufferings, and to fall into the depths of joy. She reminds us of God’s goodness and presence with us even when answers to the questions surrounding suffering cannot be found. Just as much, in this podcast, Tish invites us to consider how the triune God is with us in our suffering, vulnerability, and joy. I hope you’ll find it as meaningful as I did.

— Caroline Triscik

 
You can listen on iTunesSpotify, or at All Shall Be Well: Conversations with Women in the Academy and Beyond. We hope you enjoy this conversation as much as we did.
 

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About the Author

Tish Harrison Warren is a priest in the Anglican Church in North America. She is the author of Liturgy of the Ordinary: Sacred Practices in Everyday Life (Christianity Today's 2018 Book of the Year) and Prayer in the Night: For Those Who Work, or Watch, or Weep (Christianity Today's 2022 Book of the Year). Tish has written a weekly newsletter for The New York Times, and she is a columnist for Christianity Today. Her articles and essays have appeared in Religion News Service, Christianity Today, Comment Magazine, The Point Magazine, The New York Times, and elsewhere. For over a decade, Tish has worked in ministry settings as a campus minister with InterVarsity Graduate and Faculty Ministries, as an associate rector, and with addicts and those in poverty through various churches and non-profit organizations. She is a founding member of The Pelican Project and a Senior Fellow with the Trinity Forum. She lives with her husband and three children in Austin, Texas.

Caroline served with InterVarsity since 2002 as a campus staff member in northwest Indiana and most recently in central Pennsylvania. She received her bachelor’s degree in English with a focus on creative writing from Purdue University in 2002 and holds a master's degree in clinical mental health counseling from Messiah College. Caroline, her husband, and their three children live in “the sweetest place on earth,” otherwise known as Hershey, Pennsylvania. In her spare time, she likes to read, discover new music, and attempt to train her exuberant Labrador retriever, Pax. Caroline is a clinical mental health counselor and a former associate with Women in the Academy and Professions.

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