Good morning…
Last Friday, we began our class with silence, a reading, and a prayer. Before I read aloud the heartfelt prayer below, I asked people to consider, “Which words capture your attention?” After our time of prayer, we introduced ourselves to one another for the first time by sharing the words grabbing us most, explaining why these words might have touched us so.
Now if you were to introduce yourself to a new group of people, which of the intrigue words below would you choose to share? Then think to yourself, “Why am I drawn in by these particular words right now?”
Let’s listen with our hearts as we slowly read aloud.
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Find Me Lord by Ted Loder
Oh, Eternal One,
it would be easier for me to pray
if I were clear and of a single mind and a pure heart;
if I could be done hiding from myself and from you, even in my prayers.
But, I am who I am,
mixture of motives and excuses,
blur of memories,
quiver of hopes,
knot of fear,
tangle of confusion,
and restless with love, for love.
I’m left wanting somewhere between gratitude and grievance,
wonder and routine,
high resolve and undone dream,
generous impulses and unpaid bills.
Come, find me, Lord. Be with me exactly as I am.
Help me find me, Lord.
Help me accept what I am, so I can begin to be yours.
Make of me something small enough to snuggle,
young enough to question,
simple enough to giggle,
old enough to forget,
foolish enough to act for peace,
skeptical enough to doubt the sufficiency of anything but you,
and attentive enough to listen…
as you call me out of the tomb of my timidity into the chancy glory of my possibilities
and the power of your presence.
Amen.
******
Now, take a moment to share with God the key words tickling your fancy. Why these particular words today?
As we deepen down into our own honest prayer, might we find the voice of our true self in the place where we feel found by God?
In the same way, we can see and understand only a little about God now, as if we were peering at his reflection in a poor mirror; but someday we are going to see him in his completeness, face-to-face. Now all that I know is hazy and blurred, but then I will see everything clearly, just as clearly as God sees into my heart right now (1 Corinthians 13:12, TLB).
…Sue…
