Annoint the wounds

The Good Samaritan, ​Teofilo Patini via Wikimedia Commons
 
Anoint the wounds
of my spirit
with the balm
of forgiveness.
Pour the oil
of your calm
upon the waters
of my heart

Take the squeal
of frustration
from the wheels of my passion
that the power
of your tenderness
may smooth
the way I love

That the tedium
of giving
in the risk of surrender
and the reaching
out naked
to a world
that must wound

may be kindled fresh daily
in a blaze of compassion
– that the grain may fall gladly
to burst in the ground
– and the harvest abound.

Father Ralph Wright, 1938- , Benedictine Monk St Louis Abbey
Sharing the Darkness

_____________________

Luke 10:33-34

But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was;
    and when he saw him, he took pity on him.
He went to him and bandaged his wounds,
    pouring on oil and wine.
Then he put the man on his own donkey,
    brought him to an inn and took care of him.

_________________________

Questions

When have you been wounded caring for another person’s needs? 
Can you trust God to minister to your wounds in these times?

My Ego is like a Fortress

Photo by Margarida CSilva on Unsplash  

 
My ego is like a fortress.
I have built its walls stone by stone
To hold out the invasion of the love of God.
But I have stayed here long enough.  There is light
Over the barriers. O My God-
The darkness of my house forgive
And overtake my soul.
I relax the barriers.
I abandon all that I think I am,
All that I hope to be,
All that I believe I possess.
I let go of the past,
I withdraw my grasping hand from the future,
And in the great silence of this moment,
I alertly rest my soul.
As the sea gull lays in the wind current,
So I lay myself in the spirit of God.
My dearest human relationships,
My most precious dreams,
I surrender to His care.
All that I have called my own
I give back.  All my favorite things
Which I would withhold in my storehouse
From his fearful tyranny,
I let go.
I give myself
Unto Thee, O my God.
    Amen.

Howard Thurman, 1899-1981, African-American theologian civil rights leader
Say Amen! The African American Family’s Book of Prayers

______________________

Psalm 51:17

My sacrifice, O God, is a broken spirit;
a broken and contrite heart
you, God, will not despise.

______________________
 
Questions:

When you project your own ego, what do you think it looks like to other people?    

To God?

I weave a silence on my lips . . .

Jesus Calming Storm by Jane Wilson Boyle via Pinterest
 
I weave a silence on my lips
I weave a silence into my mind
I weave a silence within my heart
I close my ears to distractions
I close my eyes to attractions
I close my heart to temptations

Calm me O Lord as you stilled the storm
Still me O Lord, keep me from harm
Let all the tumult within me cease
Enfold me Lord in your peace.
 
David Adam, 1936-2020, English priest, rector of Lindisfarne
The Book of a Thousand Prayers
 
_____________________________
 
Psalm 62:1-2
 
For God alone my soul waits in silence;
    from him comes my salvation.
He alone is my rock and my salvation,
    my fortress; I shall not be greatly shaken.
 
_____________________________
 
Questions
 
When have you experienced God’s peace most powerfully? 
What was the occasion or circumstance?

God, help me with my thoughts!

book cover of “Scattered Thoughts of a Disorganized Mind” by Andrea Koerner

God help me with my thoughts!
They stray from me, setting off on their wildest journeys.
When I am in church, they run off like naughty children,
   quarreling, making trouble.
When I read the Bible, they fly to a distant city,
   filled with beautiful women.
My thoughts can cross an ocean with a single leap;
   they can fly from earth to heaven,
   and back again, in a single second.
They come to me for a fleeting moment,
   and then away they flee.
No chain, no locks can hold them back;
   no threats of punishment can restrain them,
   no hiss of a lash can frighten them.
They slip from my grasp like tails of eels;
   they swoop hither and thither like swallows in flight.
Dear, chaste Christ, who can see into every heart and read every mind,
   take hold of my thoughts.
Bring my thoughts back to me,
   and clasp me to yourself.
 
Celtic prayer, c.450-c.700
 
_____________________
 
 
You have searched me, Lord,
    and you know me.
 
Search me, O God, and know my heart;
    test me and know my thoughts.
See if there is any wicked way in me,
    and lead me in the way everlasting.
 
_____________________
 
Questions:

What do you need God to do in your thought life?
Can you ask God to heal your diseased imagination?

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Defend the cradle of my mind

The Three Wise Men, by Henry Ossawa Tanner, via Wikimedia Commons
 
Come closer to me, closer still, O Power of the Holy Trinity.  
Enter into my consciousness more deeply 
    than thoughts and emblems of the world can.
In the same way as a wise mother, when she conceives,
    prepares and embellishes a cradle for her child,
    so prepare and embellish my mind for that which will be begotten from You,
    O Beauty and Purity.

Many evil thoughts lurk like serpents around the cradle of Your Son.
And many wicked desires emerge from my heart and seek the cradle of Your Prince,
    to poison Him with their arrows.

Defend the cradle of my mind,
    and teach my soul how to give birth and care for an infant.

Shroud in deep darkness 
    the journey of all malevolent visitors coming to see my newborn son.
And raise aloft a most radiant star 
    over the way of the Wise Men from the East,
    men who are truly wise, 
    because they are coming to visit my most precious child with three gifts—
    faith, hope, and love.

Come closer to me, still closer, my majestic Lord.

Nikolai Velimirovich 1881-1956 Serbian Orthodox monastic
Prayers by the Lakesource, edited
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Matthew 2:9-12

After they had heard the king, they went on their way, 
    and the star they had seen when it rose went ahead of them 
   until it stopped over the place where the child was. 
When they saw the star, they were overjoyed. 
On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, 
    and they bowed down and worshiped him. 
Then they opened their treasures 
    and presented him with gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. 
And having been warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, 
    they returned to their country by another route.
__________________________________

How is your mind vulnerable to harmful thought patterns?
How can reflecting on the personhood of Jesus help protect your thought life?

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We welcome Your Arrival

The Birth of Christ, Albrecht Altdorfer c.1513, wikimedia commons
 
Night has fallen; the clear, bright stars are sparkling in the cold air; 
    noisy, strident voices rise to my ear from the city, 
    voices of the revelers of this world who celebrate with merrymaking 
        the poverty of their Savior. 
Around me in their rooms my companions are asleep, 
    and I am still wakeful, thinking of the mystery of Bethlehem.

Come, come, Jesus, I await you. . . .

I am a poor shepherd; 
I have only a wretched stable, a small manger, some wisps of straw. 
I offer all these to you, be pleased to come into my poor hovel. 
I offer you my heart; 
    my soul is poor and bare of virtues, 
    the straws of so many imperfections will prick you and make you weep
    –but oh, my Lord, what can you expect?
This little is all I have. . . . 
I have nothing better to offer you, Jesus, 
    honor my soul with your presence, adorn it with your graces. 
Burn this straw and change it into a soft couch for your most holy body.

Jesus, I am here waiting for your coming. 
Wicked men have driven you out, and the wind is like ice. 
I am a poor man, but I will warm you as well as I can. 
At least be pleased that I wish to welcome you warmly, 
    to love you and sacrifice myself for you.

Amen.

Angelo Giuseppe Roncalli 1881–1963 also Pope John XXIII
_____________________________________

Luke 2:4-7

And Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the town of Nazareth, 
    to Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem,
  because he was of the house and lineage of David, 
    to be registered with Mary, his betrothed, who was with child.  
And while they were there, the time came for her to give birth. 
And she gave birth to her firstborn son 
    and wrapped him in swaddling cloths 
    and laid him in a manger, 
  because there was no place for them in the inn.
_____________________________________

What is one sacrifice you can make to welcome Jesus anew this Christmas?

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It is your home

 
Bright moon, scattered stars; so solitary is creation.
The universe which God has created is especially
   silent on this night.
It waits with bated breath
   for the Lord of Creation to return.
The universe belongs to God,
   it is his home.

Silence reigns supreme.
The flowers of the field sway gently
   in the moonlight.
This night, the vast earth awaits
   the homecoming of our Creator God.
The vast earth and open fields belong to God,
   they are his home.

Bethlehem lies dreaming.
In his gentle mother’s arms,
   the babe sleeps peacefully this night.
The City of David awaits
   the homecoming of David’s descendant.
The town of Bethlehem belongs to him,
   it is his home.

My bones, my flesh, my blood, my lungs and my heart,
   were all made by his hand.
This night, my heart is at peace,
   awaiting my Creator’s return.
My heart belongs to him,
   it is his home.

Advent prayer from China
_______________________

Micah 5:2

But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah,
    who are too little to be among the clans of Judah,
from you shall come forth for me
    one who is to be ruler in Israel,
whose coming forth is from of old,
    from ancient days.
 
_______________________

How do you recognize God’s presence in creation?
How do you see God’s presence in Jesus? Within yourself?

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protect my heart

image by Annija U via Pexels
 
I give you my heart, 
    and I humbly pray that you would always keep it in your hands,
    since it is so unfaithful in loving what is good.
When it is in my control, 
    it is prone to follow all sorts of evils.
Oh Father, 
    keep my heart steadfast and unalterable in your ways.
Let it not be inclined to any evil thing 
    nor lean toward any of my former vanities.
Keep my eyes from looking upon and my ears from listening
    to any sort of wickedness.
Do not let my lips utter anything that is ungodly 
    or my feet move even a step in any of the paths of death,
    but hold my whole spirit, soul, and body in a righteous fear of you.
Keep me comfortable in the hope of your favor,
    through Jesus Christ, my blessed Lord and only Savior.
Amen.
 
John Kettlewell, 1653-1695, English clergyman and devotional writer
 
___________________________
 
 
May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. 
May your whole spirit, soul and body 
    be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. 
The one who calls you is faithful, and he will do it.

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open my hand

photo by Oladimeji Odunsi on Unsplash
 
 
You have called me to open my hand
    so that you can fill it.
 
But I would not open my hand.
I held the world tightly 
    and kept my hand shut.
I would not let it go.
 
But please God,
    open my hand for me.
And do not only open my hand, 
    but also open my mouth –
  and not only my mouth,
    but my heart also.
 
Grant that I may know nothing but you,
    that I may count everything as loss compared to you,
    and that I may strive to be conformed to you.
 
Jeremy Taylor, 1613-1667, English cleric, imprisoned during the Protectorate
 
__________________________
 
 
I am the Lord your God,
    who brought you up out of the land of Egypt.
    Open your mouth wide, and I will fill it.

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prayer before the prayer

Desmond M. Tutu CC BY 2.0
 
 
I want to be willing to let go, to forgive.
but dare not ask for the will to forgive,
    in case you give it to me
    and I am not yet ready.
I am not yet ready for my heart to soften.
I am not yet ready to be vulnerable again.
Not yet ready to see that there is humanity in my tormentor’s eyes
    or that the one who hurt me may also have cried.
I am not yet ready for the journey.
I am not yet interested in the path.
I am at the prayer before the prayer of forgiveness.

Grant me the will to want to forgive.
Grant it to me not yet but soon
Can I even form the words?
Forgive me? Dare I even look?
Do I dare to see the hurt I have caused:
I can glimpse all the shattered pieces of that fragile thing
    that soul trying to rise on the broken wings of hope.
But only out of the corner of my eye.
I am afraid of it.
And if I am afraid to see
How can I not be afraid to say: Forgive me?

Is there a place where we can meet?
You and me
The place in the middle where we straddle the lines
Where you are right and I am right too.
And both of us are wrong and wronged.
Can we meet there?
And look for the place where the path begins
The path that ends when we forgive.
 
Desmond Tutu, 1931 – 2021 & Mpho Tutu, 1963- South African Anglican priests,
 
___________________________
 
 
Since God chose you to be the holy people he loves, 
    you must clothe yourselves with tenderhearted mercy, 
    kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience. 
Make allowance for each other’s faults, 
    and forgive anyone who offends you. 
Remember, the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others.
 

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