The little one stands
on a landscaping stone,
throws his arms up and hollers,

“Ta-da!” He stands next on a
circle of wet dirt in a backyard
full of green grass and proclaims,

“Ta-da!” He recognizes himself
as remarkable and trusts that we’ll agree.
If I’d forgive myself my faults, I could join his company.

My lashes are touching
his smooth, waiting cheek
and I blink, blink, blink, blink –

he looks at me slowly,
the corner of his mouth
turning up in happy bewilderment –

he looks at me
with half-closed eyes,
lifts his cheek and tells me, “again!”

“Tremble, Earth, at the presence of the Lord,
the presence of the Lord of Jacob,
who has turned the rock into a pool of water
and made a fountain out of the flint.” (Psalm 114)

 

 

My Lord calls me to love
and to be loved,

and not all of this is easy
and falls not effortlessly

into being, but my God
does not rest on my understanding

nor does he move at my whim,
but the mystery and the mercy

are there out of time
and space has no bearing,

for the power of love and of loving
has created them,

and the power of love and of loving
grants me mercy in the mystery.

Amen.

Alleluia.