Let me direct you to this post from the Velveteen Rabbi, who blogs about a discovery in the Jewish daily prayers (services) and their names:

I recently learned a new Hebrew word: mincha, gift or offering. It’s also the name of one of the three daily services: ma’ariv (evening), shacharit (morning), and mincha (afternoon).

There is a similar tradition in Christianity known as the Daily Office or Divine Hours. Over the last couple months I’ve been drawn to it, something about its formality, its intentionality, its history, and its poetic pattern, resonating within me. I don’t yet have an old-fashioned paper and ink copy of the liturgy, so I’ve been using the one provided at the Ann Arbor Vineyard’s website. (It has a wonderful introduction as well, for those who are interested.)

Though I am drawn to the idea, I’m finding the practice difficult. I have ready access to the liturgy during the day, yet the simple act of stopping, stopping to perform the liturgy, eludes me. It doesn’t take a huge chunk of time or a monumental effort. It just takes a moment of decision.

So the Rabbi has me thinking. Mincha = gift. I like that attitude toward the Daily office, but it begs two questions. Who is the gift from, and to whom is it being given?

Is it my gift to God? It is a gift of my time and effort, my “good intentions” to borrow the Rabbi’s words?

Or, it is God’s gift to me (via the historic proxy of the church)? Is it a gift of interruption, meant to refocus and re-center me in my otherwise scattered day?

If you’ve read other posts of mine, you probably know how I’d answer this set of questions.