prayers and poetry

God be in my eyes,
and in my seeing;
God be in my mouth,
and in my speaking;
God be in my head,
and in my thinking;
God be in my heart,
and in my understanding;
God be in my end,
and in my departing.

~Sarum Missal
* * *

May the road rise to meet you,
May the wind be always at your back,
The sun shine warm upon your face,
The rains fall soft upon your fields,
And until we meet again,
May God hold you in the palm of His hand.

~ Irish Blessing
* * *

Let me not to the marriage of true minds
Admit impediments. Love is not love
Which alters when it alteration finds,
Or bends with the remover to remove:
O no! it is an ever-fixed mark
That looks on tempests and is never shaken;
It is the star to every wandering bark,
Whose worth's unknown, although his height be taken.
Love's not Time's fool, though rosy lips and cheeks
Within his bending sickle's compass come:
Love alters not with his brief hours and weeks,
But bears it out even to the edge of doom.
If this be error and upon me proved,
I never writ, nor no man ever loved.

~ William Shakespeare, sonnet 116
* * *

When I consider how my light is spent
Ere half my days in this dark world and wide,
And that one talent which is death to hide
Lodg'd with me useless, though my soul more bent
To serve therewith my Maker, and present
My true account, lest he returning chide,
"Doth God exact day-labour, light denied?"
I fondly ask. But Patience, to prevent
That murmur, soon replies: "God doth not need
Either man's work or his own gifts: who best
Bear his mild yoke, they serve him best. His state
Is kingly; thousands at his bidding speed
And post o'er land and ocean without rest:
They also serve who only stand and wait."

~ John Milton, sonnet 19 (On His Blindness)
* * *

To pray is to take notice of the wonder,
to regain a sense of the mystery that animates all beings,
the divine margin in all attainments.
Prayer is our humble answer to the inconceivable surprise of living.
It is all we can offer in return for the mystery by which we live.
Who is worthy to be present at the constant unfolding of time?
Amidst the meditation of the mountains,
the humility of flowers - wiser than all alphabets -
clouds that die constantly for the sake of His glory,
we are hating, hunting, hurting.
Suddenly we feel ashamed for our clashes and complaints
in the face of the tacit glory in nature.
It is so embarrassing to live!
How strange we are in the world, and how presumptuous our doings!
Only one response can maintain us:
gratefulness for witnessing the wonder,
for the gift of our unearned right to serve, to adore, and to fulfill.
It is gratefulness which makes the soul great.

~ Abraham Joshua Heschel, Man's Quest for God
* * *

Holy One,
we are humbled by the way you have included us in your dance.
We grow dizzy and breathless with its beauty and complexity.
How can we respond except to bow down with gratitude and worship?

~ Wenger-Shenk
* * *

Hold on to what is good even if it is a handful of earth.
Hold on to what you believe even if it is a tree which stands by itself.
Hold on to what you must do even if it is a long way from here.
Hold on to life even when it is easier letting go.
Hold on to my hand even when I have gone away from you.

~ Pueblo Blessing
* * *

Lord,
Give me the grace to look up,
to be freed from my own image,
from my own mirror-reflection.
Loosen the hold upon me
of many possessions.
Help me to lift my head and see you.
Fill my vision, I pray.

~ Unknown
* * *

Batter my heart, three person'd God; for, you
As yet but knocke, breathe, shine, and seeke to mend;
That I may rise, and stand, o'erthrow mee,'and bend
Your force, to breake, blowe, burn and make me new
I, like a usurpt towne, to'another due,
Labour to'admit you, but Oh, to no end,
Reason your viceroy in mee, mee should defend,
But is captiv'd, and proves weake or untrue.
Yet dearely'I love you,'and would be loved faine,
But am betroth'd unto your enemie:
Divorce mee,'untie, or breake that knot againe,
Take mee to you, imprison me, for I
Except you'enthrall mee, never shall be free,
Nor ever chast, except you ravish mee.

~ John Donne, Holy Sonnet 10
* * *
Now you will feel no rain,
For each of you will be shelter to each other.
Now you will feel no cold,
For each of you will be warmth to each other.
Now you are two bodies,
But there is only one life before you.
Go now to your dwelling place,
To enter the days of your togetherness.
And may your days be good, and long upon the earth.

~ Apache Wedding Blessing
* * *
O God of the Stars
and the night skies
May your light be coming through
thick clouds this night
On me and on everyone
coming through dark tears
On each one in need
and in suffering.

~ unknown
* * *
Be still, sad heart! and cease repining;
Behind the clouds the sun still shining;
Thy fate is the common fate of all,
Into each life some rain must fall.

~ Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
* * *
If like a fragile flower
Torn petal by petal
My heart must continue to tear
Let there be fragrance

~ Calkin
* * *
Almighty God,
unto whom all hearts are open,
all desires known,
and from whom no secrets are hid;
cleanse the thoughts of our hearts
by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit,
that we may perfectly love thee,
and worthily magnify thy holy Name.

~ Book of Common Prayer
* * *
O God, give us the serenity
to accept what cannot be changed,
courage to change what should be changed,
and wisdom to distinguish the one from the other.

~ Reinhold Niebuhr
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