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dreamprayact

~ Reflections of a preacher, poet, and contemplative activist

dreamprayact

Tag Archives: comfort

When memories won’t do

08 Monday Feb 2021

Posted by mark lloyd richardson in grief, Reflections

≈ 4 Comments

Tags

absence, comfort, faith, grief, memories

This is the hardest day yet.
I am worth nothing today.
The grief has gotten hold of me
and won’t let go.
There is an empty void
nothing and no one is able to fill.
It follows me around.
I want to go back to sleep
and wake up in the past.

My grief is complicated
by the fact that in my line of work
our lives are set forth as examples
of faith being lived out
in good times and in bad.
What if my faith isn’t holding up that well today?
What if I’m more than a little pissed with God?
What then?

As I hear from good people
trying to offer me solace
they don’t realize there is none to be found.
All the greeting card talk
of being comforted by memories
leaves me feeling comfortless
in these moments when it’s not memories I want.

I want her to peek around the corner and smile.
I want her hug that lingers and won’t let me go.
I want to hear her voice again calling me.
I want her laugh, unique and contagious.
I want her …
not memories of her …
but her.

This is where I am in this moment …
for better or for worse …
with tear-flooded eyes!
Dallis, my heart aches for you.

~ Mark Lloyd Richardson

God of Earth and Sky and Sea

04 Thursday Dec 2014

Posted by mark lloyd richardson in Prayers, Worship Liturgy

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

comfort, compassion, creation, faith, forgiveness, healing, hope, prayer, Prophet Isaiah, reconciliation, season of Advent, Shepherding God

DSCN0779

A Prayer for the Second Sunday of Advent:

God of earth and sky and sea,
God of rich and poor and in-between,
God of lost and God of found,
God who is like a shepherd to us,
we walk the path of Advent awakenings,
mindful of your call to repentance and change,
thankful for your offer of mercy and grace.
You are ever before and behind us.
You are the one constant amid a sea of change.
You are the shepherd who feeds his flock,
the one who gathers the lambs in his arms (Isa 40:11).
You long for us to receive your word of comfort.
You announce that our penalty is paid,
that we are free to live with godlike compassion,
that we are empowered to bring comfort to the world.
Still we turn away,
and walk in paths that suit our own interests,
and fail to welcome the one who is different,
and justify our prejudices with Scripture verses.
Forgive us our sins, and change our hearts, O God.
In this time of waiting and watching,
we pray for all who need the comfort of your presence,
for all who need the comfort of your Church.
To those who are sick or in pain, bring wholeness.
To the lonely and discouraged, renew hope.
To the grieving and troubled, speak comfort.
To any who struggle with self-judgment, extend your grace.
To any who are exiled from your Church, awaken their faith.
(We silently bring our prayers for particular persons now.)
Make of us your forgiven and reconciling people.
Use us to welcome others into your kin-dom.
Stir up within us the faith to trust you with our blind spots,
our shortcomings, our very lives.
And even though our lives are transient like the flowers of the field,
feed us with your word that stands forever (Isa. 40:8).
In the name of the Christ who comes among us to heal and to save. Amen.

Words (c) 2014 Mark Lloyd Richardson

The Song of the Dove

15 Saturday Dec 2012

Posted by mark lloyd richardson in Peace with justice, Poems, Prayers

≈ 12 Comments

Tags

birth of Christ, Christmas, comfort, forgiveness, grief, hope, peace, prayer

white-dove

In this season when Christians await the coming of the Prince of Peace, and in light of another tragic shooting rampage in our country, this time ripping the lives of innocent young children from their families in Newtown, Connecticut, I share this prayer poem that I wrote six years ago. As we offer our prayers for God’s comfort for the grieving, I hope that we also offer our determination to collectively work as communities and as a nation toward preventing this kind of senseless violence in the future.

The dove is a symbol of peace – a peace we so desperately need in our lives, our communities, and our world! The dove is also a symbol of God’s promise that we are not alone; nor are we lacking the spiritual resources necessary to seek change in our hearts or in our world.

The Song of the Dove

In this season of crisp air,
billowy clouds,
and heightened senses,
I go in search of the place
where eternity lies peacefully in a manger.

I go in search of the place
where the humblest of God’s children
come with little more than adoration
to worship a newborn baby
whose name means “God saves.”
They come bearing unadorned gifts
of simple lives and trusting hearts,
and I see what is expected of me.

In this troubled world, this vengeful time,
with its endless supply of weapons,
its young all too ready to use them,
I hold stubbornly to life
with every ounce of hope within me,
and the prayer that forever forms in my soul
is a prayer for peace.

Forgive us, gentle Savior.
We, of all the earth’s people,
need to hear the song of the dove.

Words (c) 2006, Mark Lloyd Richardson

God of Seaside and Mountain

23 Monday Jul 2012

Posted by mark lloyd richardson in Prayers, Worship Liturgy

≈ 4 Comments

Tags

blessing, comfort, grace, hope, mercy, peace, prayer, spirituality, worship

Here’s a prayer for use in worship this coming Sunday or for your personal use anytime.

Invitation to Prayer

The miracle is that God made us for a divine purpose. We are chosen, blessed, called and equipped to be God’s ambassadors of grace and peace in this world. Such duty requires that we be people of prayer who regularly turn to the One who sustains us. In prayer, we seek God’s will and presence to guide our actions. Let us enter now into a time of prayer.

Prayer for One Voice

God of seaside and mountain,
God of Gentile and Jew,
God of miracle and mundane,
You enter our lives in the most ordinary places.
You meet us in our everyday needs and concerns.
You come to us in our waking and our sleeping.
You feed us in our deepest longings.
You guide us on the paths of righteousness.
You bless us with your steadfast love.
You grace us with your incarnational presence.
For all of these places of meeting, we give thanks.
We pray that you will continue to teach us
what it means to live whole and holy lives.
We pray that you will open our eyes to
the everyday miracles of grace in an ungracious world.
We pray that you will lead us into your peace
so that we become instruments of peace
among our sisters and brothers of all races and nations.
We also pray that in the abundance of your mercy,
you would bring comfort to the grieving this day,
peace of mind to the troubled,
encouragement to the hurting,
wholeness to the sick and dying,
hope to all the world’s people.
Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

Words (c) 2006 Mark Lloyd Richardson
Photo (c) 2011 Dallis Day Richardson (Monterey, CA)

Still I lie down

21 Wednesday Mar 2012

Posted by mark lloyd richardson in Poems

≈ 12 Comments

Tags

bluffs, bobcat, comfort, gratitude, light, Montana de Oro State Park, morning, Pacific Ocean, sorrows

Dallis and I followed up our annual eye appointments in Los Osos recently with a quick trip out to Montana de Oro State Park (about 5 miles from our eye doctor’s office) on the central coast of California. After hiking along a trail overlooking Spooner’s Cove, as we made our way back to our car, Dallis spotted this bobcat. While she snapped several great shots (this is my favorite), I fumbled around with my camera and got nothing!

However, I did write this poem, inspired in part by the environment we were in and in part by the look in this bobcat’s eyes!

I open my eyes to the morning,
To the sky bursting with light,
The massive ocean-seared rocks,

The rolling bluffs covered in scrub.
On this bright, enchanting day,
The earth spins in desperate want,

And I am awake to its sorrows.
Still I lie down in soft blades of comfort,
Grateful for all that is seen and unseen.

Words (c) 2012 Mark Lloyd Richardson
Photo (c) 2012 Dallis Day Richardson

Sadie’s Dream

23 Monday Jan 2012

Posted by mark lloyd richardson in Poems

≈ 9 Comments

Tags

comfort, cynthia rylant, Dogs, dreams, God, happiness, heaven, Pomeranian, Sadie

Thank you to all who have visited my blog in the last week and shared your thoughts either here, on Facebook, or through other means. We are blessed with many friends, both near and far away, who have gone out of their way to offer gentle comforting words to us.

Dallis and I have been taking lots of walks together, checking in regularly with each other during the day, and sharing how we feel about this suddenly quieter life. We laugh and we cry as we remember all the little ways that our Sadie became such a big presence in our lives.

I write poems, not so much for publication as to have an outlet for creative expression. Most of my poems remain in a file on my computer’s hard drive labeled “Poems in Process” ~ it’s a kind of purgatory where they go while they get their acts together and decide whether or not to behave themselves.

Anyway, I started writing a poem about Sadie last October and it landed in poem purgatory with all the rest. However, I pulled it out a few days ago and started playing with it. Here it is, along with a couple of Dal’s many beautiful photos of our little girl.

The poem is called simply “Sadie’s Dream,” at least as I imagine it!

Stretched out by a pillow on our bed ~

        eyes shut     ears alert     heart quickening

               your little legs begin to move ~

                           like those times you are set loose

                                                                                       and you run

        through newly mown grass

                                                         chasing the wind

                                                                                             getting lost           in the sky

and then

               the big finale ~

                  rolling this way then that

                           carefree       doglike

                           one of your own treasured kind

Romping through your private field of dreams

               a smile rises

                     a sly contented smile

Sadie girl ~ how I love seeing you dream happiness

In the mail the other day we received a children’s book from a dear friend titled DOG HEAVEN, written and illustrated by Cynthia Rylant. When we opened it up to the very first page, a smile (a sly one at that) came to my face as we read, “When dogs go to Heaven, they don’t need wings because God knows that dogs love running best.” We learned as we continued to read that God gives dogs “fields and fields and fields” in which to run.

Sadie didn’t have far to go to get to heaven.

She closed her eyes, and there she was!

(Thank you to my beautiful wife Dallis for taking so many wonderfully expressive photos of Sadie, who by the way was not in love with cameras.)

(If you enjoy reading my blog, you might consider “sharing” it or “liking” it or maybe even “following” it. Thanks for reading, until next time.)

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