a blessing when you need a gentler day

God, I need a gentler day,
a respite from the strident voices
and the attention economy,
problems I can’t solve
and burdens that feel too heavy.
I need a break.

God, shelter me awhile.

My soul cleaves to the dust;
revive me according to Your Word.
Psalm 119:25 NASB

God have mercy.
Christ have mercy.
Spirit have mercy.

For in the day of trouble,
God will conceal me in God’s tabernacle;
God will hide me in the secret place of God’s tent;
God will lift me up on a rock.
Psalm 27:5 NASB

God have mercy.
Christ have mercy.
Spirit have mercy.

Blessed are we who come to You o God
just as we are
asking to be gathered, hidden, and held,
shielded for a time
from things too hard for us,
too heavy to hold for this long.

Blessed are we,
when the apocalypse comes to the door again,
who speak quietly to it and say,
no thank you, not today.

Blessed are we, looking to You,
for help to fix our minds on gentler things,
on things that are both true and honorable,
right and pure, lovely and admirable,
excellent and worthy of praise (phil. 4:8)

Yet God, we are weary from living in the fog
that is this crisis on slow-release.
we’re not good at staying on track,
even for the good we desire.

So God,
give us grace for one whole day of gentle turning,
of turning from away from worry toward restful action,
of turning from the troubles of yesterday or tomorrow,
toward only what is here, today.

Blessed are we
when the unsolvable problem comes to mind again,
to turn from it, just for now.
when checking the news one more time seems a good idea,
to let the hands rest and the computer screen go dark.
when the muscles in the body speak their tight reminders,
to listen to them long enough to give them release.
to gentle up the breathing and lower the eyes,
to let ourselves be small again,
wrapped up, and lifted into Your arms o God,
for long enough until the stirrings of enoughness–
enough energy to tend just the little space
that is within reach today.

Blessed are we in this gentle day of turning
that is our sweet repentance.

God have mercy.
Christ have mercy.
Spirit have mercy.

Jesus took the children into his arms.
placed his hands upon them.
and blessed them.
Mark 10:16
 
Look again. It’s God.
Calling our name.
 
“to turn, turn,
‘twill be our delight,
till by turning,
turning we come ‘round right.”
-Shaker hymn.