You came running up behind me and jumped up on my back, asking for a ride and laughing in my ear. Out of nowhere you ambushed me and left me suddenly smiling. My feet that had been dragging suddenly are dancing. This is no quiet, somber thoughtful joy. It is a foot-stomping knee-slapping raucous joy. I never dreamed that joy would catch up to me. You have given me a … [Read more...] about Surprise Party

Give me the grace to care without neglecting my needs, the humility to assist without rescuing, the kindness to be clear without being cold, the mercy to be angry without rejecting, the prudence to disclose without disrespecting my privacy, the humor to admit human failings without experiencing shame, the compassion to give freely, fully, without selfish ambition … [Read more...] about Give Me the Grace

You invite me to be your child. An overture I have often declined since the thought of childhood frightens me. But I am beginning to wonder if you are offering me an experience of childhood as it was meant to be. Maybe you are saying that with you I can enjoy unselfconscious wonder, because you will share in my delight. That, with you, I can be unabashedly dependent because … [Read more...] about Your Child?

Hold me gently in your strong, artisan hands as you pressure, push, pull, remake me. Hold me securely as the life wheel spins beneath my frame in cycles of birth, death, rebirth. Hold me faithfully as you make sturdy, solid, hard-as-diamond those brittle, broken places and soft, molten liquid-as-pure-gold those places that need to learn to yield in graceful … [Read more...] about Artisan Hands

Give me peace, not a hopeless resignation, giving into the darkness, but a growing certainty that one day Light will dawn. Give me peace, not a deadening novocain that robs outrage, but a quiet awareness of Presence in the angst of the day. Give me peace, not a passionless state of not-seeing, not knowing, but a fierce, calm clarity about what matters most. Give me peace, not … [Read more...] about Give Me Peace

We sat beside your wild, wet skirt, wanting to soothe our sore hearts by watching your joyful jig. But we were too absorbed in our pain to gain perspective from your frolicking. We talked and sighed, sitting there on that smooth rock beside your playful splendor. Until you picked up a corner of your hem and splashed us wet, salty and surprised. Play! Laugh! Enjoy! you … [Read more...] about At the Ocean

I don’t have a proper pocket; none large enough to carry your kindness and respect. Your generous gifts slip awkwardly from my hands as I fumble for a place to keep them. I need to sew me some way-down-deep-pockets, big enough to hold your love. ------ For this reason I kneel before the Father. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power... … [Read more...] about Pockets