God, awaken us to the everyday miracle of a simple meal.Whether it is take-out that took a phone call,a recipe that took an entire afternoon,or the cereal-for-dinner again feeling this meal creates,bless it all. So blessed are we, sharing a meal today.May we recognize God’s goodnessin the thoughtful preparation,in the delivering,in the eating together,savoring something…
Today is new, oh God,The light is gathering and spilling onto everything. The sleeping and the sleepy.The trees brushing the window.Even the unwashed dishes know it’s time. What a gift.Unopened. Lord, you know the obstacle course ahead.The intractability of most of my problems.The irritations I will need to smile through.The forgetfulness that will undo my…
Oh God, the calendar tells me a big day is comingand this is the first one in this new reality.I don’t know how to get through it. Show me what to do withthe memories, the traditions,the pain, and the excruciating beautyof all that was. Blessed are we who come to you, oh God,in the midst…
Blessed are we in the tender place between curiosity and dread,We who wonder how to be whole,when dreams have disappeared and part of us with them,where mastery, control, determination, bootstrapping, and grit,are consigned to the realm of before (where most of the world lives),in the fever dream that promises infinite choices, unlimited progress, best life…
Blessed are we who see the impossibilityof solving today.It can’t be done. God, there are lists on listsand errands on errandsand a taste, like tin in our mouths,of the unfinishedness—the imperfectability—of our lives. Are we counting items instead of knowing what counts? God, help us live here,seeing the whole truth of what is. Blessed are…
I was hoping to be the kind of person by nowwho doesn’t tumble, headlong, into the dayfalling, falling, fallingfrom the high boardwithout nearly enough water below. God, I swear I didn’t plan it like this.But here I am, hoping for another miracle. Lord, bless these dumb plansthat will short circuit my thinkingand make me fragile,…
God, our bodies remember the sleepless nights and cold sweats and unrelenting stress.Show us how to process all that we suffer. “How frail is humanity!How short is life, How full of trouble!”—Job 14:1, NLT Blessed are we, when we decide to make room for all of it,the fear and the gratitude, the complexity and the…
God, I am a shapeshifter.Hidden in plain sight.A great disappearing act. Every now and again,when I am spinning in a tornadoof other people’s needs and wants,I worry that if I stepped out of itto stand dumbfounded for a moment,my body would cast no shadow. God, I vanish.The unnecessary pain and necessary needsof others feels durable….
Love can break your heart. (I think it’s probably in the fine print.) Blessed are you, whose ability to love crosses differences and divides that would keep others apart. Whose love advocates for weakness and fragility. Soft heartedness and “Are you okay?” You who know that this kind of life-expanding love will cost you something, maybe…
Blessed are you, resisting the urge to reframe. You who are sick and tired of silver linings. Blessed are you, speaking honestly about what is right in front of you: This is hard. Things might not get better. This really has gone horribly. There may not be a different way. You who risk honesty, especially when the world around us…
Blessed are you, faced with the impossible. You who do not take your eyes away from what threatens to swallow you whole. You who stare down reality, though your heart quickens. You for whom action comes swiftly, as you chart the next step or bulldoze a new path yourself. You know how to turn hope…
God, it seems that stopping is impossible. Dishes need to be washed.Kids need to be fed.Aging parents need to be cared for.Deadlines need to be met.Medicines need to be administered.Diapers always need to be changed.(They multiply if I sleep, after all.) Can you ease the burden of perfection? Free me from this fantasyof the better…
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