HOPE IS THE THING WITH FEATHERS

in

“Hope” is the thing with feathers -
That perches in the soul -
And sings the tune without the words -
And never stops - at all -

And sweetest - in the Gale - is heard -
And sore must be the storm -
That could abash the little Bird
That kept so many warm

I’ve heard it in the chillest land -
And on the strangest Sea -
Yet - never - in Extremity,
It asked a crumb - of me.

Emily Dickinson

UNEARTHING

in

To be born
a certain shade
a certain time
a certain place
gives or takes
chances, glances

The invisible institution
that taught
without words
formed a foundation
for me to stand
but another to suffer

Re-formation and
transformation require
unearthing efforts
seeing what was
hidden and hardened

Hope gains
ground slowly
the plow digs in
tilling and turning
allowing seeds
of all shades
to grow and
to gather

Jared Ray Mackey

PRAYERS OF A LIFE WITHOUT LACK

in

OPENING PRAYER

Lord Jesus Christ, 
We are so thankful to you that you have said, 
“Fear not, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.”

We are thankful for the ease with which you walked upon this earth, the generosity and kindness you showed to people, the devotion with which you cared for those who were out of the way and in trouble, the extent to which you even loved your enemies and laid your life down for them. 

We are so thankful to believe that this is a life for us, a life without lack, a life of sufficiency. 
It’s so clear in you, the sufficiency of the Father and the fullness of life that was poured through you, and we’re so thankful that you have promised that same love, that same life, that same joy, that same power for us. 

Lord, slip up on us today.
Get past our defenses, our worries, our concerns.
Gently open our souls, and speak your Word into them.
We believe you want to do it, and we wait for you to do it now.

In your name, amen.

PSALM 23 PRAYER

The Lord is my Shepherd, I have life without lack.
In his green pastures I’ve eaten my fill so I lie down.

At his still waters my thirst is satisfied.
He heals and reintegrates my broken depths in his eternal life
so I can walk in paths of righteousness on his behalf.

Even though I go through loss, hunger, disease, aging, and death
I will fear no evil because you Jesus are with me.
Your strong rod and protective staff put me at liberty.

Your abundant provision is a feast for me so I’m happy to share with my enemies.
You give me hot showers and warm fluffy towels, joyful experiences and deep relationships,
to make me feel clean, special, and powerful.
My cup runs over so I can be generous without ever running out. 

Surely this world is a perfectly safe place for me to be
Because I dwell and abide with God in the fullness of his life in the Kingdom of the Heavens forever. 

CLOSING PRAYER

Gracious Lord, 
Help us to see and understand – with the eyes of faith and the mind you have given us – your magnificent, glorious, self-sufficient being, and the greatness of your kingdom into which we are invited. 
May we grasp the deep significance of the words, “in Him we live and move and have our being,” and know that in that safest of places – in you – there is simply no lack. 

Open our eyes to the high privilege of being created in your image. 
Convince us that nothing makes you happier than seeing those you redeemed by your grace devoting their days to the good of other people and your creation. 
Win over our timid and doubting hearts with the conviction that we are your greatest treasure in all creation. 

Give us sober yet fearless awareness of Satan’s ploys and deceits.
Strengthen our hearts in the knowledge that we have nothing to fear, for you have defeated him. 
We are so glad to know that greater are you who are in us that he that is in the world. 
May our hearts carry that message as we contemplate the awesome reality of the spiritual battle around us.  

Tender Father, you have taught us so clearly that faith – trust – is essential to life without lack. 
We confess that we while we believe in you, we need to believe more fully, more deeply, more constantly. 
In his life, death, and resurrection Jesus showed us that you are completely and utterly trustworthy, and even in the shadow of death there is nothing to fear, for you are with us.  

Bring us to the place of peace where we no longer feel a need to defend ourselves, or to worry about who’s going to take care of us, or to be recognized, or to get our way, or to make sure things turn out right. 
Lord, free us through the knowledge that because you are with us, working in our lives, we have everything we need.

And now, with the truth of who you are deeply engraved in our hearts, give us the confidence and power to love all who are in our lives just as we are being loved by you – freely, fully, joyfully.
Let your Spirit move in our minds and hearts so we believe ever more fully that because you are our all-sufficient Shepherd, we shall never want. 

We ask all this because we would have it no other way.
Amen.

ON THE ARRIVAL OF AN ILLNESS

in

When the reverberations of shock subside in you,
May grace come to restore you to balance.
May it shape a new space in your heart
To embrace this illness as a teacher
Who has come to open your life to new worlds.

May you find in yourself
A courageous hospitality
Toward what is difficult,
Painful, and unknown.

May you learn to use this illness
As a lantern to illuminate
The new qualities that will emerge in you.

May you be granted the courage and vision
To work through passivity and self-pity,
To see the beauty you can harvest
From the riches of this dark invitation.

May you learn to receive it graciously,
And promise to learn swiftly
That it may leave you newborn,
Willing to dedicate your time to birth.

John O’Donohue
excerpts from “On the Arrival of Illness”

FOR THE UNKNOWN SELF

in

So much of what delights and troubles you
Happens on a surface
You take for ground.

Your mind thinks your life alone,
Your eyes consider air your nearest neighbor,
Yet it seems that a little below your heart
There houses in you an unknown self
Who prefers the patterns of the dark
And is not persuaded by the eye's affection
Or caught by the flash of thought.

It is a self that enjoys contemplative patience
With all your unfolding expression,
Is never drawn to break into light
Though you entangle yourself in unworthiness
And misjudge what you do and who you are.

It presides within like an evening freedom
That will often see you enchanted by twilight
Without ever recognizing the falling night,
It resembles the under-earth of your visible life:
All you do and say and think is fostered
Deep in its opaque and prevenient clay.

It dwells in a strange, yet rhythmic ease
That is not ruffled by disappointment;
It presides in a deeper current of time
Free from the force of cause and sequence
That otherwise shapes your life.

Were it to break forth into day,
Its dark light might quench your mind,
For it knows how your primeval heart
Sisters every cell of your life
To all your known mind would avoid,
Thus it knows to dwell in you gently,
Offering you only discrete glimpses
Of how you construct your life.

At times, it will lead you strangely,
Magnetized by some resonance
That ambushes your vigilance.

It works most resolutely at night
As the poet who draws your dreams,
Creating for you many secret doors,
Decorated with pictures of your hunger;
It has the dignity of the angelic
That knows you to your roots,
Always awaiting your deeper befriending
To take you beyond the threshold of want,
Where all your diverse strainings
Can come to wholesome ease.

John O’Donohue