You have turned for me my mourning into dancing;
you have loosed my sackcloth
and clothed me with gladness,
that my glory may sing your praise and not be silent.
O Lord my God, I will give thanks to you forever! (Psalm 30: 11-12)
My Lord God,
I have been back in Arizona since Saturday,
And if there had ever been any lingering thoughts
About where I belong,
Those have been extinguished
By my time spent in New York.
It's been a long week,
Time stretched alternately slow and quick
And laden with layers of meaning.
I have simultaneously aged and become younger
In the span of six days.
My Lord God,
I am but a human,
A being of Your Design gifted with
A brief span of years upon this earth.
Portions of my earlier years
Have covered me in shadows,
But increasingly,
Your Light has illumined me,
And drawn me through to
The other side of grief and sorrow.
And on the other side
Of those griefs and sorrows,
I am unabashedly encountering joy.
Cover me with Your Mercy;
Protect me with Your Lovingkindness.
Do not withdraw Your Face from me.
Without You,
I am nothing.
Be ever with me,
My Creator and King,
As I embark into the
Glorious, terrifying, unknowable future.
Anointed One,
Above all things,
Teach me daily
And remind me hourly
How to love
My cherished ones
Like You love us:
Patiently and kindly.
Without envy, boasting,
Arrogance, or rudeness.
Ready to compromise and accommodate.
Without irritability or resentfulness.
In truth, and honesty.
Bearing all things,
Believing all things,
Hoping in all things,
Enduring all things.
Love never ends. *
It is true.
My life continues to be shaped
By the love I have encountered
From You,
And through Your Creation...
From those who are here now,
And from those no longer
On this plane of existence...
From the parents who raised me,
To the birth mother I may never know.
Let the seeds You plant in me
Flourish and bloom and propagate.
Grant that I,
However dimly,
May reflect Your Love
And sing Your praises
Out, and out, and ever out,
Indefinitely... ad infinitum...
Amen.
Father,
Thank you
For my life,
And everything and everyone in it.
And Father...
Have I mentioned to You lately
How much I love Arizona?...
* derived from 1 Corinthians 13: 4-8
you have loosed my sackcloth
and clothed me with gladness,
that my glory may sing your praise and not be silent.
O Lord my God, I will give thanks to you forever! (Psalm 30: 11-12)
My Lord God,
I have been back in Arizona since Saturday,
And if there had ever been any lingering thoughts
About where I belong,
Those have been extinguished
By my time spent in New York.
It's been a long week,
Time stretched alternately slow and quick
And laden with layers of meaning.
I have simultaneously aged and become younger
In the span of six days.
My Lord God,
I am but a human,
A being of Your Design gifted with
A brief span of years upon this earth.
Portions of my earlier years
Have covered me in shadows,
But increasingly,
Your Light has illumined me,
And drawn me through to
The other side of grief and sorrow.
And on the other side
Of those griefs and sorrows,
I am unabashedly encountering joy.
Cover me with Your Mercy;
Protect me with Your Lovingkindness.
Do not withdraw Your Face from me.
Without You,
I am nothing.
Be ever with me,
My Creator and King,
As I embark into the
Glorious, terrifying, unknowable future.
Anointed One,
Above all things,
Teach me daily
And remind me hourly
How to love
My cherished ones
Like You love us:
Patiently and kindly.
Without envy, boasting,
Arrogance, or rudeness.
Ready to compromise and accommodate.
Without irritability or resentfulness.
In truth, and honesty.
Bearing all things,
Believing all things,
Hoping in all things,
Enduring all things.
Love never ends. *
It is true.
My life continues to be shaped
By the love I have encountered
From You,
And through Your Creation...
From those who are here now,
And from those no longer
On this plane of existence...
From the parents who raised me,
To the birth mother I may never know.
Let the seeds You plant in me
Flourish and bloom and propagate.
Grant that I,
However dimly,
May reflect Your Love
And sing Your praises
Out, and out, and ever out,
Indefinitely... ad infinitum...
Amen.
Father,
Thank you
For my life,
And everything and everyone in it.
And Father...
Have I mentioned to You lately
How much I love Arizona?...
* derived from 1 Corinthians 13: 4-8
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