Eternal Echoes

The cloak ( a mothers prayers)- pondering the Lost (Prodigal) Son Luke 15:

the day he left

I began weaving,

first with tears,

hot and angry,

how dare he go

like this, and rage

bade my fingers

work swiftly

for the rawness

of this new grief....

+

weaving a cloak

for his return

+

as days went by

I softened, tears

fell but more slowly,

tears for memories

not rage, and my

weaving turned to prayer

as I told myself 

the story of his days

+

weaving a cloak

for his return

+

day after day I worked,

purple thread, and red,

and gold, priestly colours

royal colours,

colours of love

and of heartbreak,

of desire and sacrifice

of waiting and longing

+

weaving a cloak

for his return

+

as it neared completion

I dreamed and dared

to pray again the prayers

I prayed before his birth,

prayers for hope,

prayers for a future,

prayers for promises

to be fulfilled...

+

weaving a cloak

for his return

+

then came the day

so longed for,

and as his father draped 

my cloak, woven with love

around his tired and

drooping shoulders,

a new day dawned

in my heart...

but were we still

a long way from home?

+

weaving a cloak

for his return

+

 

 

 

 

Mother us; a prayer....

Holy and eternal God

Mother us

+

Wrap us in your arms

of mercy,

cover us with your blanket

of grace,

Mother us.

+

Hold us and help us,

bind our wounds,

heal our hearts,

Mother us.

+

 When our arms ache

with emptiness,

grief and longing,

Mother us.

+

When our minds race

with recriminations,

unanswered questions,

and words said and unsaid,

still the storms with in us,

pour your peace into

our thirsty souls,

nurture and feed us,

help us to stand

make us strong in you

again.

Mother us.

+

AMEN

Resurrected Lord, a prayer for Lent....

resurrected Lord,

as I walk through

this desert

transform me,

grant me your power

to take the next step,

the grace to plant my feet

firmly in your way...

+

Grant me courage and compassion,

a strength that can only

come from you,

help me to offer my life,

my whole life, my wounds,

my moments and my days, 

my desire to live

freely and lightly in your prescence...

+

Place in my heart

a deep longing, 

burn in my bones the fire

of your passion,

claim me and mark me as yours,

ever yours...

+

And as I walk towards the cross

plant your seeds of resurrection

within my heart

and teach me to sing

your new song....

grace... (pondering Luke 13:1-9)

unafraid of 

getting his hands dirty

in the mess and muck

of our lives

he comes,

embracing our brokenness,

offering grace,

another chance, 

another year,

another day,

 every moment

another opportunity

to receive

his nurture and care,

he comes

binging nourishment,

he comes 

wrapping us in his  tenderness,

for he sees beyond

what we call fruitless and worthless

to the potential locked within,

and his desire is to 

call it forth,

to rejoice in the beauty

yet to be,

he sees beyond the surface,

through the lies we tell ourselves,

the masks others force upon us

and the stories that they tell.

for deep within our souls his story

has been woven

and we were his before the world began,

and now he comes,

holding out his nail scarred hands,

his brokenness meets ours

and we can be made whole,

he gift is

one more chance, 

one more year, 

this is grace...

 

 

a prayer of longing....

how do I put into words an ache,

a longing for your longing

to be poured into my heart,

to permeate my soul

that I may groan for release

in harmony with all creations voice;

there is more than this,

more than this achingly beautiful brokenness,

unspoken as the heartbreak of an orphan of war

knowing his parents will not return,

unspoken as the wails and tears of the mother

unable to feed her child,

unspoken in the knowing eyes of that child

echoing misery , receiving love,

unspoken in the hearts of those who know and own their woundedness

+

may I groan with the rivers choked for life,

and the forests  diminishing foot prints

whose cry for justice rages

there is more than this!

There is more than this,

may  longing ignite within, and draw us beyond ourselves

to yearn with you

for completion

where all will be made new....

longings....

Lord I am blind,

I long to see,

set the fire of your Spirit within me,

I long to see others

as you see them,

to revel in creations beauty

to marvel at the grandeur of the skies,

to rejoice in the smallest detail,

I long to see your life and love beyond myself...

+

Lord I am deaf,

I long to hear,

set the fire of your Spirit within me,

I long to hear your voice,

your voice in the voice of others,

your voice on the wind

heavens harmonies as they pulse

with the energies of the universe,

I long to hear your life and love  beyond myself...

+

Lord I am calloused,

I long to feel,

set the fire of your Spirit within me,

I long to feel your touch,

your touch in the touch of others,

in the grains of sand between my toes on the seashore,

in the freshly fallen snow,

the rushing mountain stream, and the busy city streets,

I long to feel your life and love beyond myself

+

Lord come into this blind, deaf brokenness of mine

bring your healing,

make me a channel of peace,

your peace

that I might share your life and love

in the places I go

to the people I meet....