Friday's Prayer.
Lord of the brokenhearted,
the sad, the shamed and the cast down
draw us nearer
as we draw near to you.
may our hope
not be in vain
or our trust disappointed.
Let our failing hearts
be comforted
and our troubled minds reassured.
posted by Unknown at 11:12 am
4 Comments:
These words have been on my mind a lot lately as I facilitate a group of women through a study on Philippians.
'There has never been the slightest doubt in my mind that the God who started this great work in you would keep at it and bring it to a flourishing finish on the very day Christ Jesus appears.' 1:6 The Message.
We are a work in progress.
But you knew dat. :-)
Thanks Yeggy, sometimes knowing something in your head is hard to translate to believing something in your heart.
Ah, Geoff, how deeply your poetry expresses the place your heart is and how you long to always be in the light and thus be whole.
I’ve been to that dark place, and from time to time it almost re-engulfs me. I’ve pretty much had to work it out alone – OK, not alone but without the benefit of help from my peers. Writing, prose mostly but some poetry, has been my way of seeing into myself and thus out of myself.
Forgive me if I sound patronizing, I don’t mean to. Your pain is real and a bible verse, or a pious platitude is not a band aid. I just what to clarify the Philippians verse I quoted: You don’t have to believe that you are being bought to perfection in your heart or your head. It is the case. Just as much as Christ dying for us when we had no idea how bad we were is true. And even when we doubt this, it is true. And even when we question it, it is true.
I hope these words I’ve quoted below from Velvet Elvis by Rob Bell the pastor of a super church (and musician) who had to learn how not to be a super pastor, will be of some comfort to you. They have been and are to me, and express things a lot better than I could.
P113
‘It’s only when the something deep within us snaps that we are ready to start over and get help.
We have to let the game stop.’
(Yeggy’s comment: I understand you have done this. I had to let go being a super wife, super teacher (Christian School) and super mum, housewife, gardener, dog owner…. OK I admit it, I was an A type personality.)
‘I realize that this is not groundbreaking news, but when we get desperate and realize we cannot keep living this way, then we have to change. We have no other option. Which is why we only change when we hit the abyss, Anything else is like window shopping; we may look for a moment, or even try it on, but we aren’t taking anything home with us.’
Pg151
‘Trust that through dying in the old, the new can give birth.’
I’m throwing this in because it’s my absolute favourite and so very true: pg 170 ‘I am learning that the church has nothing to say to the world until it throws more parties.’
Here endeth the sermon for today. :-) I’m off to party…..
BTW I forgot to say I particularly love/admire the raw honesty of this poem.
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