Scrubbing:
Maybe He is taking
a clean white brush
and scrubbing me all over
down to a thin peeled
core--with only the truth
left around me.
I seem to keep
falling in the scrapings
however--
Does anyone have a wash
cloth for my feet!
A Female Tiger:
Like a female tiger crawling in the tall unsteady grass,
hunting, malevolent, wanting to snarl and bite,
failing that peace I shudder down in some murky foreign soil.
It is not home.
But deep within,
all around, over and below is the strength of Judah,
gentle Lamb,
the forgiving place in God,
home of homes.
Insult is the lightening across my sky,
but weak gods threw it, their fingers shaking.
They will not last; they were canceled in the darkness
as his cross drew blood.
High King of Heaven the Anglo-Saxons called him.
He will not bruise or bend the tall unsteady grass,
but thunder home words that only a beast like I can hear.
A Spider's Prayer:
I am a spider, falling softly to the ground
On a thin unsteady string,
and when it breaks I cannot spin it back again.
Catch me oh my God and understand
I am a luna moth, all green and beautiful, but torn,
walking when I really long to fly.
Keep me yours my God,
and cushion me within your hand.
I am a creature running wounded from a fall,
within a land all full of swamp and sea,
without retreat or bridges to the sky.
Gather me my Lord and set me where you stand.
3 comments:
This prayer has come up twice today with internet friends. And I've not been on but for the last hour...
grace,
dm
A prayer by St. Nikolai Velimirovic, a Serbian Orthodox bishop of the last century, who opposed Naziism and was eventually taken to Dachau. In this prayer he no doubt has in mind personal enemies, rather than national ones; the prayer is not intended as a guide for political and military decisions.
Bless my enemies, O Lord. Even I bless them and do not curse them.
Enemies have driven me into Your embrace more than friends have. Friends have bound me to earth, enemies have loosed me from earth and have demolished all my aspirations in the world.
Enemies have made me a stranger in worldly realms and an extraneous inhabitant of the world. Just as a hunted animal finds safer shelter than an unhunted animal does, so have I, persecuted by enemies, found the safest sanctuary, having ensconced myself beneath Your tabernacle, where neither friends nor enemies can slay my soul. Bless my enemies, O Lord. Even I bless them and do not curse them.
They, rather than I, have confessed my sins before the world.
They have punished me, whenever I have hesitated to punish myself
They have tormented me, whenever I have tried to flee torments.
They have scolded me, whenever I have flattered myself
They have spat upon me, whenever I have filled myself with arrogance.
Bless my enemies, O Lord. Even I bless them and do not curse them.
Whenever I have made myself wise, they have called me foolish.
Whenever I have made myself mighty, they have mocked me as though I were a dwarf.
Whenever I have wanted to lead people, they have shoved me into the background.
Whenever I have rushed to enrich myself, they have prevented me with an iron hand.
Whenever I thought that I would sleep peacefully, they have wakened me from sleep.
Whenever I have tried to build a home for a long and tranquil life, they have demolished it and driven me out.
Truly, enemies have cut me loose from the world and have stretched out my hands to the hem of Your garment.
Bless my enemies, O Lord. Even I bless them and do not curse them.
Bless them and multiply them; multiply them and make them even more bitterly against me:
so that my fleeing to You may have no return;
so that all hope in men may be scattered like cobwebs;
so that absolute serenity may begin to reign in my soul;
so that my heart may become the grave of my two evil twins: arrogance and anger;
so that I might amass all my treasure in heaven;
ah, so that I may for once be freed from self-deception, which has entangled me in the dreadful web of illusory life.
Enemies have taught me to know what hardly anyone knows, that a person has no enemies in the world except himself.
One hates his enemies only when he fails to realize that they are not enemies, but cruel friends.
It is truly difficult for me to say who has done me more good and who has done me more evil in the world: friends or enemies.
Therefore bless, O Lord, both my friends and my enemies.
A slave curses enemies, for he does not understand. But a son blesses them, for he understands.
For a son knows that his enemies cannot touch his life. Therefore he freely steps among them and prays to God for them.
Bless my enemies, O Lord. Even I bless them and do not curse them.
Green
www.frederica.com
Dave,
I want to say all kinds of things but in the face of this prayer there is nothing more to say. Thank you.
Frederica Matthew Green is one of my favorite people.
yeah, it kinda does that to you, doesn't it?
me too.
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