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Longing & Blessing

Longing is a powerful word. As I speak it in my mind I feel a stir in my heart. It’s akin to “I want” or “I desire” but in a much more wistful way. In some sense there is a longing for something lost as well as something hoped for and even something that is beyond reach. This creates the sensation and the tension.

I have found that longings and desires have a better chance of manifesting if I live into my longings from a position of trust, gratitude and blessing.

Living a life centered on blessing others and blessing the spaces you find yourself in is a gateway into a beautiful life where longing and desire don’t rule you, but are intimate friends along the journey. They know you by name and love you as you are.

This morning as I pull aside and was meditating, my focus was on the following ‘Blessing for Longing’ by John O’Donohue found in his book, “To bless the space between us.”
I love the last line “May you know the urgency with which God longs for you.”
So,

Pause…
Breathe…
Read…
Meditate…
Enter in…

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Blessed be the longing that brought you here
And quickens your soul with wonder.

May you have the courage to listen to the voice of desire
That disturbs you when you have settled for something safe.

May you have the wisdom to enter generously into your own unease
To discover the new direction your longing wants you to take.

May the forms of your belonging–in love, creativity and friendship–
Be equal to the grandeur nd the call of your soul.

May the one you long for long for you.

May your dreams gradually reveal the destination of your desire.

May a secret Providence guide your thought and nurture your feeling.

May your mind inhabit your life with the sureness with which your body inhabits the world.

May your heart never be haunted by ghost-structures of old damage.

May you come to accept your longing as divine urgency.

May you know the urgency with which God longs for you.

~John O’Donohue, To Bless the Space Between Us

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Help Me To Believe In Beginings

Have you ever been unable to pray what you need to pray? I know I have. Chaotic times often perplex us and leave us wordless or prayer-less, right when we need them most!

I have a number of books of prayers, meditations, and poems to ruminate through in those and other life moments. Today I was praying through a great collection of prayers written by Ted Loder. Ted is a spiritual poet, wordsmith, thinker, and writer that I read often and appreciate greatly. He has an uncanny knack at painting verbal poetry that hits the spot. One of my favorite collection of prayers written by Ted is called: Guerillas of Grace.

Today, In Guerilla’s of Grace, I prayed through one titled: Help Me To Believe In Beginnings

Take a moment and breathe through this prayer, it might be just what your soul needs…

 

 

 

 

God of history and of my heart,
so much has happened to me during these whirlwind days:
I’ve known death and birth;
I’ve been brave and scared;
I’ve hurt, I’ve helped;
I’ve been honest, I’ve lied;
I’ve destroyed, I’ve created;
I’ve been with people, I’ve been lonely;
I’ve been loyal, I’ve betrayed;
I’ve decided, I’ve waffled;
I’ve laughed and I’ve cried.
You know my frail heart and my frayed history –
and now another day begins.

O God, help me to believe in beginnings
and in my beginning again,
no matter how often I’ve failed before.

Help me to make beginnings:
to begin going out of my weary mind
into fresh dreams,
daring to make my own bold tracks
in the land of now;
to begin forgiving
that I may experience mercy;
to begin questioning the unquestionable
that I may know truth
to begin disciplining
that I may create beauty;
to begin sacrificing
that I may make peace;
to begin loving
that I may realize joy.

Help me to be a beginning to others,
to be a singer to the songless,
a storyteller to the aimless,
a befriender of the friendless;
to become a beginning of hope for the despairing,
of assurance for the doubting,
of reconciliation for the divided;
to become a beginning of freedom for the oppressed,
of comfort for the sorrowing,
of friendship for the forgotten;
to become a beginning of beauty for the forlorn,
of sweetness for the soured,
of gentleness for the angry,
of wholeness for the broken,
of peace for the frightened and violent of the earth.

Help me to believe in beginnings,
to make a beginning,
to be a beginning,
so that I may not just grow old,
but grow new
each day of this wild, amazing life
you call me to live
with the passion of Jesus Christ.

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Loosen My Grip: Loder

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I just found a quiet space to think, ponder and pray.
I’ve turned off the news…turned off my phone…and am trying to turn off my busy mind.

As I settled in to pray, I read a prayer by Ted Loder to center my tired soul.
I felt the refreshing Spirit fall as I was reminded to loosen my grip.

If your grip has been too tight, take a moment and pray it too…

Loosen My Grip-Ted Loder

O God, it is hard for me to let go,

most times,

and the squeeze I exert

garbles me and gnarls others.

So, loosen my grip a bit

on the good times,

on the moments of sunlight and star shine and joy,

that the thousand graces they scatter as they pass

may nurture growth in me

rather than turn to brittle memories.

Loosen my grip

on those grudges and grievances

I hold so closely,

that I may risk exposing myself

to the spirit of forgiveness

that changes things and resurrects dreams and courage.

Loosen my grip

on my fears

that I may be released a little into humility

and into an acceptance of my humanity.

Loosen my grip

on myself

that I may experience the freedom of a fool

who knows that to believe

is to see kingdoms, find power, sense glory;

to reach out

is to know myself held;

to laugh at myself

is to be in on the joke of your grace;

to attend to each moment

is to hear the faint melody of eternity;

to dare love

is to smell the wild flowers of heaven.

Loosen my grip

on my ways and words,

on my fears and fretfulness

that letting go

into the depths of silence

and my own uncharted longings,

I may find myself held by you

and linked anew to all life

in this wild and wonderous world

you love so much,

so I may take to heart

that you have taken me to heart.

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Valley of Vision

I have many different collections  of prayers. From modern writers to prayers from the early church fathers. One of my favorite collections of prayers hails from the Puritan tribe and is called “Valley of Vision: A collection of Puritan Prayers & Devotions”

The Puritan movement was a wave of influence in the sixteenth and seventeenth century right up to the time of Charles Spurgeon (1834-1892) who might be regarded as the last of the great Puritan preachers.

The heartbeat of Puritan spirituality was a deep devotion to the practice of prayer. The prayers in the book, “The Valley of Vision” are taken from many of the greats like Spurgeon, William Law, Richard Baxter, Augustus Toplady, John Bunyan ands Isaac Watts to name a few. This prayer is the opening prayer to the book…Take a moment, remove your distractions, ask the Holy Spirit to speak and reflectively read the prayer.

Enjoy!

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LORD, HIGH AND HOLY, MEEK AND LOWLY,
Thou hast brought me to the valley of vision,
where I live in the depths but see thee in the heights;
hemmed in by mountains of sin I behold thy glory.

Let me learn by paradox
that the way down is up,
that to be low is to be high,
that the broken heart is the healed heart,
that the contrite spirit is the rejoicing spirit,
that the repenting soul is the victorious soul,
that to have nothing is to possess all,
that to bear the cross is to wear the crown,
that to give is to receive,
that the valley is the place of vision.

Lord, in the daytime stars can be seen from the deepest wells,
and the deeper the wells the brighter the stars shine;
Let me find thy light in my darkness,
thy life in my death,
thy joy in my sorrow,
thy grace in my sin,
thy riches in my poverty,
thy glory in my valley.