Help Me Keep My Eyes on You
You are the incarnation of Divine Love,
you are the expression of God's infinite compassion,
you are the visible manifestation of the Father's holiness.
You are beauty, goodness, gentless,
forgiveness, and mercy.
In you all can be found.
Outside of you nothing can be found.
Why should I look elsewhere or go elsewhere?
You have the words of eternal life,
you are food and drink,
you are the Way, the Truth, and the Life.
You are the light that shines in the darkness,
the lamp on the lamp stand,
the house on the hilltop.
You are the perfect Icon of God.
In and through you I can see the Heavenly Father,
and with you I can find my way to him.
O Holy One, Beautiful One, Glorious One,
be my Lord, my Savior, my Redeemer, my Guide,
my Consoler, my Comforter, my Hope, my Joy, and my Peace.
To you I want to give all that I am.
Let me be generous, not stingy or hesitant.
Let me give you all--
all I have, think, do and feel.
It is yours, O Lord.
Please accept it and make it fully your own.
Amen.
(a prayer of Henri Nouwen, from A Cry for Mercy)
For the Beauty of Small, Homely Things
Sunlight through a jar of beach-plum jelly...
A rainbow in soapsuds in dishwater...
An eggyolk in a blue bowl...
White ruffled curtains sifting moonlight...
The color of cranberry glass...
A little cottage with blue shutters...
Crimson roses in an old stone crock...
The smell of newly baked bread...
Candlelight on old brass...
The soft brown of a cocker spaniel's eyes...
Thank you, in Jesus' name, amen.
(based on lines from Peter Marshall; photo via pixabay.com)
And Ever Thanks
Every good gift comes from your hand, Lord!
Help me to count my blessings this day
and to be grateful to you from whom they flow...
I thank you for the blessing of family and friends,
those with me still and those gone home to you...
I thank you for my eyes and ears,
for finding the beauty of your presence all around me...
I thank you for nature's seasons and all I learn
in their coming and going, year in and year out...
I thank you for the blessing of a sunrise
and the blessing of the same sun's setting...
I thank you for the company of others
and good times shared with them...
I thank you for silence, for solitude
and for times of peace and quiet with you...
I thank you for your mercy and forgiveness,
for your pardon of my faults and sins...
I thank you for correction that helps me grow
and for reprimands that keep me honest...
I thank you for the healing grace of forgiving others
and of others forgiving me...
I thank you for anticipation's joy
and for disappointment's healing...
I thank you for a good night's sleep
and the blessing of sweet dreams...
I thank you for the gift of each new day,
one day at a time...
I thank you for steady work, for satisfying work,
for work that serves the needs of others...
I thank you for the gift of those who help me
and for the opportunity to be of help to others...
I thank you for the works of grace and faith
that shape us as your people...
I thank you for a child's birth,
the promise new life brings...
I thank you for the gift a peaceful death can be
for those who've lost a loved one...
I thank you for the life that's mine
and your promise of a life that never ends...
I thank you for the ordinary, the routine
the unexpected, the surprise...
I thank you for cleansing tears
and for healing laughter...
I thank you for my faith when I'm confused;
for the gift of hope when trust's in short supply;
for the blessing of your love when I'm alone...
In the quiet of my prayer, Lord,
help me count my blessings before I list my problems,
before I whine and whimper,
before I turn to pity for myself...
Every good gift comes from your hand, Lord,
and you're more generous than I'm sometimes willing to notice,
to see, to acknowledge, to remember
and to hold in my heart as gift and grace...
In the quiet of my prayer, Lord,
show me the peace, the grace, the healing
of your blessings in my life:
the ones I often miss, the ones that I've forgotten,
and the blessings will come my way today...
Amen.
(graphic and prayer from A Concord Pastor Comments)
On Thanksgiving
Our Father in Heaven,
If ever we had a cause to offer unto Thee our fervent thanks, surely it is now, on the Eve of our Thanksgiving Day, when we, the people of this Nation, are comfortable, well fed, well clad, and blessed with good things beyond our deserving. May gratitude, the rarest of all virtues, be the spirit of our observance.
Let not feasting, football, and festivity end in forgetfulness of God. May the desperate need of the rest of the world, and our own glorious heritage, remind us of the God who led our Fathers every step of the way by which they advanced to the character of an independent nation.
May the faith and conviction of George Washington be renewed in us as we remember his words:
...there is no truth more thoroughly established than that there exits in the economy and course of nature an indissoluble union between virtue and happiness; between duty and advantage; between the genuine maxims of an honest and magnanimous policy and the solid rewards of public prosperity and felicity; since we ought to be no less persuaded that the propitious smiles of Heaven can never be expected on a nation that disregards the eternal rules of order and right which Heaven itself has ordained...
For if we do not have the grace to thank Thee for all that we have and enjoy, how can we have the effrontery to seek Thy further blessings? God, give us grateful hearts.
For Jesus' sake.
Amen.
(a prayer from the Senate of the United States, November 26, 1947, by Rev. Dr. Peter Marshall, Chaplain)
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