Bundle of Life

O God, you have bound us together in this bundle of life:
give us grace to understand how our lives depend upon the courage,
the industry, the honesty and the integrity of others;
that we may be mindful of their needs,
grateful for their faithfulness,
and faithful in our responsibilities to them.

(a prayer by Reinhold Niebuhr; photo via everystockphoto.com)

The Word I Need

O Holy One, I hear and say so many words, yet yours is the word I need. Speak now, and help me listen; and, if what I hear is silence, let it quiet me, let it disturb me, let it touch my need, let it break my pride, let it shrink my certainties, let it enlarge my wonder. 

(a prayer from Ted Loder's Guerrillas of Grace; photo by Fa Barboza via unsplash.com)

Tracks

Lord God, let the tracks I leave behind be such as will guide and empower and bless all who come after me. Amen.

Calvary

Lord, make Calvary real to me.  

Lord, make Calvary real to me. 
Open mine eyes to see victory in Christ for me; 
Lord, make Calvary real to me.

(photo by Mateus Campos Felipe via unsplash.com)

When I am Afraid

 

Hold On to Me

To Rejoice in Your Mysterious Companionship

O Holy Spirit of God, abide with me;
inspire all my thoughts;
pervade my imagination;
suggest all my decisions;
order all my doings.

Be with me in my silence and in my speech,
in my haste and in my leisure,
in company and in solitude,
in the freshness of the morning and
in the weariness of the evening;
and give me grace at all times humbly to rejoice
in your mysterious companionship,
in Jesus' name, amen.

(a prayer of John Baillie, revised slightly from A Diary of Private Prayer)

Before Speaking

Lord, please speak through me. 

If you don't speak, it won't matter what I say. 

But if you do speak, it won't matter what I say.

With My Whole Heart

 

Troparia of Thanksgiving

Now that the day has come to a close, I thank thee, O Lord, and I ask that the evening with the night may be sinless; grant this to me, O Saviour, and save me.

Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.

Now that the day hath passed, I glorify thee, O Master, and I ask that the evening, with the night may be without offence; grant this to me, O Saviour, and save me.

Both now and ever, and unto ages of ages. Amen.

Now that the day hath run its course, I praise thee, O Holy One, and I ask that the evening with the night may be undisturbed; grant this to me, O Saviour, and save me.

Lord, have mercy.
Lord, have mercy.
Lord, have mercy.
Lord, have mercy.
Lord, have mercy.
Lord, have mercy.
Lord, have mercy.
Lord, have mercy.
Lord, have mercy.
Lord, have mercy.
Lord, have mercy.
Lord, have mercy.

Daily Need

 

In the Middle

For Their Mother

Abba, Father, 

I don't have to tell you how blessed I am 

by the wife you've given to me, 

and the kind of mother she has been--

and is--

to our children. 

She walks in beauty, like the night 

of cloudless climes and starry skies 

(to quote Byron). 

She showers blessing, like August rain, 

on every dry and needy place. 

She denies herself, like the pelican of myth, 

feeding her loved ones with her own lifeblood. 

She fights with passion, like a badger, 

to defend and protect her home and family. 

What a gift she is to me and to this family. 

Lift her up in our love, 

encourage her with our gratitude, 

and let her feel your favor 

flowing through ours, 

in Jesus' name, amen.

For All in Present Need

We bring before You, O God:

the cries of the weary,

the pains of the distressed,

the tears of the tragedies of life,

the anxious hours of the insecure,

the restlessness of the refugees,

the hunger of the oppressed.

Dear God, be near to each.

Helper of the helpless,

Hope of the homeless,

The Strength of those tossed with tempests,

The Haven of those who sail:

Be all to all.

Be within us, to strengthen us;

without us, to keep us;

above us, to inspire us;

beneath us, to uphold us;

before us, to direct us;

behind us, to propel us;

around us, to sustain us.

Be all to all in present need.

(a prayer of Lancelot Andrewes; photo by Paul Einerhand via unsplash.com)

Thy Goodness Show

While I speak to Thee, 

Lord, Thy goodness show: 

Am I what I ought to be? 

Oh, Savior, let me know.

(photo by Amaury Gutierrez via unsplash.com)

To Seek, to Find

Lord, have mercy.

Have mercy on my darkness,

my weakness,

my confusion.

Have mercy on my infidelity,

my cowardice,

my turning about in circles,

my wandering,

my evasions.

I do not ask for anything but such mercy,

always, 

in everything,

mercy.

My life here – a little solidity and very much ashes.

Almost everything is ashes. What I have prized most is ashes.

What I have attended to least is, perhaps…

a little solid.

Lord, have mercy.

Guide me,

make me want again to be holy,

to be a man of God, 

even though in desperateness and confusion.

I do not necessarily ask for clarity, a plain way, 

but only to go according to your love,

to follow your mercy, to trust your mercy.

I want to seek nothing at all, if this is possible.

But only to be led without looking and without seeking.

For thus to seek is to find.

(A prayer by Thomas Merton, Journals, August 2, 1960, IV.28; photo by Jamie Street via unsplash.com)

When I Love You

What is that love when I love you, my God?
It is a certain light that I love
and melody and fragrance and embrace
that I love when I love you--
a light, melody, fragrance, food,
embrace of the God-within,
where, for my soul,
that shines which space does not contain;
that sounds which time does not sweep away;
that is fragrant which the breeze does not dispel;
and that tastes sweet which, fed upon, is not diminished;
and that clings close which no satiety disparts--
that is what I love when I love you, my God.

(from The Confessions of St. Augustine, slightly reworded)

Shepherd of the Stars

You are Shepherd of the Stars.
Whole galaxies form your royal train.
The countless host of heaven,
blazing suns,
mighty planets,
dappled moons,
comets, asteroids, vapors, black holes,
all follow after you like so many ducks behind their mother.
And yet, Lord, my immmense, mind-boggling, Star-Shepherd,
you condescend to me,
to sit with me,
whisper to me,
commune with me.
Such thoughts are too marvelous for me,
I cannot attain unto them!
But I praise you and thank you,
in Jesus' name, amen.

(photo by skeeze via pixabay.com)

Until My Spirit Sings

 

(from the book David's Crown: Sounding the Psalms by Malcolm Guite)

Rock of Ages