Tag Archives: God’s image

An Ash Wednesday Prayer

14 Wednesday Feb 2018

Posted by in Prayers

≈ 6 Comments

Tags

, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

God of all creation,
you are gracious and merciful, slow to anger,
and you abound in steadfast love.

Today as I enter the closet of my heart,
I discover a lifetime of memories stored there –
some I would prefer to forget and leave behind,
others that remind me how truly blessed I am.

Today I hear again your invitation to renewal –
I hear it with every fiber of my being,
having been created in your image,
formed of the dust of your earth,
enlivened by the breath of your spirit,
established in the strength of your grace!

In these forty days of Lent, it is my heart’s desire
to surrender old harmful habits that yield nothing,
and to take up new holy habits that lead to life.

May this Lenten journey return me to a place of trust,
where my fear is conquered by your holy unshakable love,
where I am healed and made whole in the aliveness of life,
where doing justice,
and loving mercy,
and walking humbly with you,
are the ways of being that matter most.

 Hands2a

Copyright (c) 2012 Mark Lloyd Richardson

God of pelicans and emus

06 Tuesday Mar 2012

Posted by in Prayers

≈ 12 Comments

Tags

, , , , , , , , , , , ,

God of pelicans and emus,
God of wetlands and deserts,
God of strangers, neighbors and friends,
yours is a world of astonishing grace.

When the morning sun creeps silently over the hills,
and the day begins to hum with activity,
we remind ourselves that this day too belongs to you.
Our lives are wrapped in the movement of time
stretching all the way back
to the day you first called forth light.

With an Artist’s hand you drew the contours
of land and sea, hillside and valley,
and a sky that stretches beyond human imagining.
Yet you left room for other artists, made in your image,
to add their interpretive strokes of shadow and light.

You encourage us to observe the beauty in and around us,
so that we too can create places where hope shines through.
Yet some days we grow tired
and our partnership with you seems like mere duty.
Some days our eyes grow weary
and we cannot see the world in hopeful ways.

Grant us your vision,
God who is Spirit,
God who is Artist,
God who breathes life into our lives.

Help us to see anew the possibilities before us—
to welcome the stranger in our midst,
to welcome the beauty of this day,
to welcome the grace that is life with you and one another.

Photos taken by Dallis Richardson at Montana de Oro State Park near Los Osos, California. Words by Mark Richardson.

An Ash Wednesday Prayer

22 Wednesday Feb 2012

Posted by in Prayers

≈ 10 Comments

Tags

, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

God of all creation,
you are gracious and merciful, slow to anger,
and you abound in steadfast love.

Today as I enter the closet of my heart,
I discover a lifetime of memories stored there –
some I would prefer to forget and leave behind,
others that remind me how truly blessed I am.

Today I hear again your invitation to renewal –
I hear it with every fiber of my being,
having been created in your image,
formed of the dust of your earth,
enlivened by the breath of your spirit,
established in the strength of your grace!

In these forty days of Lent, it is my heart’s desire
to surrender old harmful habits that yield nothing,
and to take up new holy habits that lead to life.

May this Lenten journey return me to a place of trust,
where my fear is conquered by your holy unshakable love,
where I am healed and made whole in the aliveness of life,
where doing justice,
and loving mercy,
and walking humbly with you,
are the ways of being that matter most.