To the God of many names

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

Sunlit Grace

04 Tuesday Jul 2017

Posted by mark lloyd richardson in Poems, Prayers

≈ 13 Comments

Tags

artists, blessing, Community, grace, hope, journalists, love of God, love of neighbor, peace, poets, prayer, religious communities, truth

Church on Red Bluff Road, south of Quesnel, British Columbia, Photo credit: blog Cruising Canuckistan

Bless the people
who labor for a better life
a better neighborhood
a better country
a better world,
who love family
create community
and give of themselves
so that seeds of hope
planted in places of despair
may be watered
and grow
and emerge as new life!

Bless the artists and poets
who see what might be
with a piercing clarity
of what now is.

Bless the journalists
who ask uncomfortable questions
and expose inconvenient mistruths
in their dogged pursuit of truth.

Bless the churches and mosques and synagogues
that dot the prairies, hills and valleys
of this precious landscape,
breathing a spirit of prayer and goodness
into the shared life of their communities.

Bless truck driver, crop picker, waiter and cook.
Bless coal miner, windmill farmer, and solar installer.
Bless single mother, newly married, aging couple, and widowed.
Bless teacher, student, leader, and follower.
Bless dreamer, shaper, thinker, and friend.

Bless the fraying edges of relationships,
the absences and separations,
the losses and heartaches,
the holy disruptions,
the sacred silences of peace.

Bless it all, Creation’s Lord.

Let the sunlight of your grace
shine upon poor and rich alike
exposing the treasures nearest each beating heart –
love of neighbor,
love of God.
Bless the whole world, we pray –
no exceptions.

Christ of the Lakeshore

10 Wednesday May 2017

Posted by mark lloyd richardson in Poems, Prayers, Reflections

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

creation, glory of God, hope, Jesus Christ, Lake Tahoe, nature, prayer, Waters of life, world's suffering

Zephyr Point Presbyterian Conference Center, Lake Tahoe

Christ of the lakeshore,
come beside me this day
as my eyes soak in
the blueness spread before me
geese gliding effortlessly
inches above placid waters
slender pencils of pine
garbed in glorious green
a light blanket of snow
draped over neighboring peaks.

Christ of the lakeshore,
come beside me this day
as my ears take in
the songs of the birds
the lapping of the surf
the laughter and crying of a child
the soft whispering breeze.

Christ of the lakeshore,
come beside me this day
as my heart lets in
the pain of the world
of immigrant and refugee
the poor
the houseless
the lonely
the pushed aside
the wounded
the broken-hearted.

Christ of the lakeshore,
come beside me this day
that my praying
my dreaming
my hoping
my longing
may be in conversation
with yours.

In the Garden

14 Friday Apr 2017

Posted by mark lloyd richardson in Poems, Prayers, Reflections

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

Disciples, Garden of Gethsemane, Good Friday, Holy Thursday, Holy Week, Jesus, Passion of Jesus, prayer, silence, suffering

Photo credit: Joel Olives, “Through the Trees,” Flickr.com Creative Commons, May 6, 2008.

And Jesus said, “Sit here, while I pray.”

All we must do is sit.
All we must do is recognize this as a time of prayer.
All we must do is stay awake to the present danger.
All we must do is not walk away from the suffering.
All we must do is listen in the stillness of the garden.

Some leaves rustle as a small animal stirs nearby.
A breeze disturbs the branches of an olive tree.
A fellow disciple quietly coughs in the cooling air.
Our own breathing is labored from the hasty night walk.
The fluted song of an owl floats down from the hillside.

All we must do is sit.

An Advent Prayer for All God’s Children

27 Sunday Nov 2016

Posted by mark lloyd richardson in Prayers, Worship Liturgy

≈ 3 Comments

Tags

Advent season, Bethlehem, birth of Christ, earth stewardship, hope, human dignity, incarnation, light of Christ, prayer, suffering, Word made flesh

children-photo-by-susan-barrett-price-creative-commons

Photo by Susan Barrett Price on Flickr Creative Commons

God of all the seasons of life,
here we are in Advent –
a season of expectant watching and waiting –
and we are aware of the grand struggles
playing out on this earth …
… struggles for human dignity
… for freedom from oppression
… for sustainable living
… for responsible stewardship of this precious earth.

Holy and mighty God,
you speak of a day when we will know
that Christ is near, even at the door.
You warn us to keep awake
and not succumb to the sleepiness
of casual accumulation and comfort.
There is so much need around us
our eyes and hearts cannot contain it.
So many of the world’s children
whom you love
suffering
through no fault of their own.

In this holy season,
while the world dances transfixed
before the dazzling lights of commerce,
we are invited
to sit in wonder beneath a brilliant nighttime star,
to seek the true light that shines in the darkness,
to follow where the child of Bethlehem leads,
to listen anew to the Word made flesh.

Draw us up short, Lord,
from any pretensions of piety we may have,
and surprise us again by the miracle of hope,
that this child who is to be born
may remind us of all the world’s children
who carry within them your image
your life
your love
your light!
Amen.

Let us not grow weary

10 Thursday Nov 2016

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

≈ 8 Comments

Tags

better angels, faith as a mustard seed, God's promise, grace, hope, justice, Listening, newness, peace, prayer, reconciliation, welcome

flame

When our days feel precarious,
and our hearts are worn down
with the fatigue of worry,
the unsettledness of concern,
your promise, O God, remains with us.
Indeed it resides within us,
burning at the center of our beings,
a flame of hope that will not be extinguished.

You are always leading us into the new.
You are continually remaking us
into a people formed in your love.
You invite us each morning to yield our hearts
to the work of justice, peace, and reconciliation.
In all times, you call forth our better angels.

Give us, we pray, the grace we need for this day
as we rise to meet the challenges before us.
May we live today from our deepest humanity,
granting to a neighbor the gift of humble listening,
extending to a stranger a smile of recognition,
offering to the other a gesture of welcome,
being gentle with ourselves and those near to us.

The little things are the big things in your realm.
The least are not forgotten,
the last become first,
the lost are surely found.
So help us believe that even the mustard seed
of our small faith makes a difference.
Let us not grow weary in doing good.
Let us rise to meet this day knowing
that your promise remains with us and within us,
indeed it burns with a hope that will not go out.

In your holy love we pray. Amen.

Breath Prayer

05 Saturday Mar 2016

Posted by mark lloyd richardson in Poems, Prayers

≈ 4 Comments

Tags

breath prayer, Breathing, creation, God's glory, grace, prayer, sacredness

Alice Keck Park Memorial Gardens, Santa Barbara, California

On this lovely day
with a heart that is restless and unsure
I am gladdened by glory’s simple display
and grateful for sun-warmed sacred moments
as color catches the corner of my eye
while I walk in the park
with no purpose or intention
other than

to breathe in
the life around me

and breathe out
the troubles of the day.

Cathedral of Earth, Sea, and Sky

30 Monday Nov 2015

Posted by mark lloyd richardson in Poems, Reflections

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

awe, communion with God, cosmology, God's creation, Montana de Oro State Park, mysticism, nature, panentheism, prayer, source of life, wonder

Montaña de Oro State Park, CA

All that we see,
all that we breathe,
all the places we walk or swim or fly,
all that is distant,
all that is near,
all that is empty,
all that is full,
all that comforts us with familiarity,
all that invites us into newness,
all that opens us to challenges,
all that surprises us with wonder,
all that humbles us in awe,
all things now living,
all ancestors, loved ones, friends,
all whom we hold in our remembrance,
all ancient trees,
all tundras, savannas and prairies,
all deserts, everglades and forests,
all morning brightened mountains,
all shimmering vibrant seas,
all cloud dotted skies,
all of these sing of one source,
all of these move to one timeless rhythm,
in all ways that matter.

From the rising of the sun to its setting

05 Wednesday Aug 2015

Posted by mark lloyd richardson in Poems, Reflections

≈ 4 Comments

Tags

giving thanks, hope, justice, peace, praise, prayer, Santa Barbara

Knapp’s Castle, Santa Barbara, CA

From the rising of the sun to its setting
the name of the Lord is to be praised.
~ Psalm 113:3

The posture of praise
begins with eyes turned toward the sun.

This glimmering star was there
the day the world was born.
It was there as our first parents walked in the garden
as creatures of all variety came into existence
as nations and peoples were formed.

This star warms us
guides us
keeps us
like the one who placed it there.

From the rising of the sun to its setting
the name of the Lord is to be praised.

Morning praise
awakens us to life’s sweetness
celebrates the gift of being
honors deep relationship.

Noontime praise
walks in the light of love
seeks justice
longs for peace.

Evening praise
gives thanks for a day made holy
surrenders to life’s brief tenderness
drinks from the wellspring of hope that never runs dry.

From the rising of the sun to its setting
the name of the Lord is to be praised.

Words (c) 2015 Mark Lloyd Richardson
Photo credit: Dallis Day Richardson

dreamprayact

~ Reflections of a preacher, poet, and contemplative activist

Tag Archives: prayer

To the God of many names

An Ash Wednesday Prayer

Sunlit Grace

Christ of the Lakeshore

In the Garden

An Advent Prayer for All God’s Children

Let us not grow weary

Breath Prayer

Cathedral of Earth, Sea, and Sky

From the rising of the sun to its setting