I am in the thick of exams at Vanderbilt Divinity School. For one of my classes, I am writing a paper on the immanence (intimacy) and transcendence (beyondness) of God. Remarkable how God is at once near, as close as my heartbeat and as near as my breath, listening to the secret “rambles” of my heart; regular confessions of missing the mark; and the never-ceasing litany of petitions (begging!)for a miracle for my dear friend Tallu; while also responsible for dreaming up the Great Oak, the octopus, the Teton Mountains, my mischievous five-year-old Finn. It’s the magnitude and the magnanimity of God that leaves me regularly speechless, but more, gives me hope. Following is a prayer I’m including as a creative response to my paper. I hope it resonates with you!

 

Have a blessed week!

Holy and loving God,

how is it that in the same breath,

You can feel too big to grasp,

too tender and intimate to ignore?

The creator and master of galaxies,

and the guardian of my beating heart.

Never a time or place or circumstance

that You are not working

in the cellular of all

things.

Always the love story is being written.

It’s up to me where I figure in the fine print.

Much courage is required to participate.

It will be the measure of me,

my willingness to submit to love’s agenda.

Only then will my life shine with meaning, and

I will be content in my skin.

Your love holds all the threads together –

holds me together.

The miracle never loses its luster.

It seems rather selfish of me not to share the Good News:

Easter is a daily reality.

Everyone is included under Your wing.

Who ever thought it could be any other way?

No suffering, not even death, has the final word

Even when I cannot see it, hope is persevering.

Love saves people, situations, dreams.

You are a savant of the impossible.

I can trust you in all things but must submit to divine timing.

Nothing is wasted, everything is redeemed.

Always, it is a journey of grace.

I’ll know I completed the mission when

I finally understand how to love,

and I see the world through Your kind eyes.

Amen.