groaning, day 7

Come to Stillness: Take a few minutes to allow your mind and heart to be still before God.

Opening Prayer:
Lord, I was ever greedy of life, my attention always straining toward the parts of it that had not yet come…toward what was about to be, or might be, or hopefully would be, and especially toward those things that, by Your mercy, might turn out not to be after all.
I panted with longing to suck each segment of life dry of its pleasures. I plotted, with myself but despite myself, about tomorrow…about the “later” that was constantly morphing into now. You know how I worked, Lord, recklessly but prayerfully, to set time’s courses and, in Your name, to sculpt them to my intention, to my definition of good.
But I am old now, Lord, and my prayers grown old as well. So it is that daily I am drawn, as here, to pray, “Deliver me, My Lord, from this my great sin, and take me, free of doubt and other longings, into Your good plan.” (Prayer by Phyllis Tickle, Weavings, Volume XXV, Number 4)

Psalm for the Week: Psalm 31

Scripture for the Day: Psalm 42:1-11

Reading for Reflection:

     groaning  by Jim Branch

o groaning

you wear many faces

today you are loneliness

yesterday you were longing

last week insecurity and inadequacy

and before that struggle, sadness, and  hurt

you are a constant companion

always present in some form or another

at times visible and recognizable

and at times hidden and buried deep within

so that i can hardly tell you are there

you walk with a purpose

opening up something deep inside me

creating fertile soil in my vulnerable heart

you expand my soul

hastening my becoming

you bring me low when i’m too high

make me smaller when i’m too big

you empty me of self when i’m full of it

and meet me tenderly when i’m bruised or broken

you open me up

making me receptive to true presence

you accomplish a purpose

that only a Dreamer could possibly dream up

sometimes i run from you

sometimes i ignore you…or try

and sometimes i embrace you as a long lost friend

which is exactly what you are

o groaning

you wear many faces

work your work in me

Reflection and Listening: silent and written

Prayer: for the church, for others, for myself

Song for the Week: O Heart Bereaved and Lonely

O heart bereaved and lonely,
Whose brightest dreams have fled
Whose hopes like summer roses,
Are withered crushed and dead
Though link by link be broken,
And tears unseen may fall
Look up amid thy sorrow,
To Him who knows it all

O cling to thy Redeemer,
Thy Savior, Brother, Friend
Believe and trust His promise,
To keep you till the end
O watch and wait with patience,
And question all you will
His arms of love and mercy,
Are round about thee still

Look up, the clouds are breaking,
The storm will soon be o'er
And thou shall reach the haven,
Where sorrows are no more
Look up, be not discouraged;
Trust on, whate'er befall
Remember, O remember,
Thy Savior knows it all

Closing Prayer
Loving God, the earth moans, in need of your healing. Help me be a peacemaker today—one who carries your vision and takes the small actions that contribute to healing for the world. Amen. (The Uncluttered Heart by Beth A. Richardson)