Autumn comes cleanly into my day.

Autumn comes cleanly into my day.
It has us wearing jackets
and opening windows, stacking books
and rearranging toys; it has us moving furniture
and wiping baseboards, walking to school
and praying in church.

The three little ones and I stop in at the sanctuary.
We are there with two women, mopping and dusting,
and we have our first practice sitting with God.
Jesus in the tabernacle; Jesus in our heart.
It lasts twenty seconds.
(Success!).

After nap we pop outside for swinging and soccer,
but the two youngest stoop beside our out-of-service flower-pot,
spying rain around the bottom, and dip their hands
in the dirt-flecked water.  Over and again:  “Amen.  A-men!” he says,
fingers touching forehead.  “Amen,” she smiles, crossing herself.
Christ comes cleanly into my day.

Living Miracles

These miracles, so bright I cover my eyes;
they bound, glide, skip before me and beside.

She rides his old training bike with eyes halfway closed;
he jukes and zags in front as she laughs from her toes,

and the little girl plays “touch each stone” along the way;
then it’s “touch the shoulder” when she finds me out of place.

Baby boy plays at cars, trucks, and tractors,
making their noise, making laughter.

The air moves and settles differently tonight;
it is the autumn coming, the new slant of light.

Ah, this wind, sweet-covered in leaf and seed-pod;
these miracles, rain-bursts of exhausting love.

They are four together and apart
sparkling each with their own purpose, their hearts

beating sorrowful now and again, though joy comes down with storms,
growing hurts, but this light hurts more.

 

A Prayer for Kindness in All Things

A Prayer for Kindness in All Things

Dear Lord, I praise you as the essence of all things loving; You are complete in Yourself; You are unconditional in Love. In my heart I desire to be more like You, and I invite you to be with me as I move about through my day. When I begin to compare myself to others, let me remember that we are all made in your likeness, and that each of our bodies is a temple of Your Holy Spirit. When I am tempted to make judgments about the actions, behaviors, even the looks of others as a way of making myself feel better, come to my aid and bring about in me a spirit of contentment, a spirit of gratitude. Help me to treat each person I encounter as I would like to be treated, and fill me with loving kindness so that my thoughts, words, and deeds flow from Your spirit of unconditional Love. Let me remember You always; let me be ever aware of Your presence in each moment of my life, as I would surely cease to live, to move, to have my being if thought of me falls from Your mind’s embrace for the span of even one breath; for it is Your breath that gives me life.

I ask all these things through Christ who strengthens me.
Amen.