“And the end of all our exploring

Will be to arrive where we started

And know the place for the first time.”

T.S. Eliot

 

I gift you with a prayer this week that I hope when you close your eyes and listen can become your own. A silver lining of Corona is that we have been given the chance to remember again what truly matters. To recreate for ourselves, with God’s help, a life that is experienced as deep and holy.

Dear God,

Thank you for the invitation

to come home…

to myself

to my faith

to my purpose

to what truly matters

to You.

 

 

Thank you for the invitation

…to come home

to seeing again—anew

how ridiculously sacred

the whole of it is.

Your watermarks are everywhere.

Every square inch is hallowed.

 

 

Thank you for the invitation

…to come home

to the daily sacraments that make my life holy

Chopping vegetables, baking bread, gathering around the table

a walk through a forest of pines, planting parsley, mint and thyme

at the back door, listening to my seven-year old read Dr. Seuss

holding my husband’s hand, talking to my mom on the phone,

checking up on my neighbor, dancing in the kitchen, hearing Your voice in the scriptures, whispering a prayer, many.

 

 

Thank you for the invitation

…to come home

to forgiveness, Peter denied Jesus three times,

(I’ve long-since lost tally of mine)

And yet, every time I fall short in love,

You offer me another chance to do better.

No mistake, flaw, sin has the last word

Transformation is Your end game.

 

 

Thank you for the invitation

…to come home

to prayer, an opportunity to speak to You directly,

the One who

knew and loved me first, forever.

Truth-telling, without any judgment

Whispers, wails, salty tears, petitions, desperate S.O.S dispatches,

thank-you’s …perfect silence…

Every gesture tucks me closer under Your wing.

Safe-guarding me for another day.

 

 

Thank you for the invitation

…to come home

to hope, unyielding

no matter how broken or bleak

how deep and dark the hole,

heavy the cross

long the winter

resurrection is your signature

the joy will return in the morning

My soul will prevail,

You made her invincible.

 

 

Thank you for the invitation

…to come home

to love, my saving grace

it brings forth the best in me  

insures my life has gravitas

Truly loved,

I can do–survive

Anything.

My life’s work:

To learn how to love as You love 

…then, and only then…

Easter is my present and future.

A most grateful Amen.