A Prayer For Friday - RETURNS!

It has been a while, but it is time to return to the Friday prayer post. Preparing for this weekend, whether you are headed toward Sabbath or busyness, may this prayer carry you through. Today, I credit Ruth Barton with turning me towards Ted Loder's wonderful book Guerrillas of Grace: Prayers for the Battle. I pray it blesses you today.

Eternal friend,

grant me an ease

to breathe deeply of this moment,

this light,

this miracle of now.

Beneath the din and fury,

of great movements

and harsh news

and urgent crises,

make me attentive still

to good news,

to small occasions,

and to the grace of what is possible

for me to be,

to do,

to give,

to receive

that I may miss neither my neighbor's gift

nor my enemy's need.

Precious lord,

grant me

a sense of humor

that adds perspective to compassion,

gratitude

that adds persistence to courage,

quietness of spirit

that adds irrepressibility to hope,

openness of mind

that adds surprise to joy;

that with gladness of heart

I may link arm and aim

with the One who saw signs of your kingdom

in salt and yeast,

pearls and seeds,

travelers and tax collectors,

sowers and harlots,

foreigners and fishermen

and who opens my eyes with these signs

and my ears with the summons

to follow something more

of justice and joy.

("I Need to Breathe Deeply, pp. 22-23)