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O Lord,
Extend our vision,
Our clearness of sight.
Open our eyes to see
Beyond the obvious,
To perceive that this is your world.
You are in it,
You invade it,
You pervade it,
You enfold it,
It is immersed in you.
Here we encounter you,
Here we meet you,
Here you come to us,
Here your presence waits to be revealed.
O Lord,
Extend our vision,
Our clearness of sight.
Open our eyes to see
In the depth of reality,
Your grace,
Your goodness,
Your glory,
To see that we dwell in you,
That you are in us,
That you are with us always.
Here you offer us your kingdom.
~David Adam (Lindisfarne)
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I who live by words, am wordless when
I try my words in prayer. All language turns
To silence. Prayer will take my words and then
Reveal their emptiness. The stilled voice learns
To hold its peace, to listen with the heart
To silence that is joy, is adoration.
The self is shattered, all words torn apart
In this strange patterned time of contemplation
That, in time, breaks time, breaks words, breaks me,
And then, in silence, leaves me healed and mended.
I leave, returned to language, for I see
Through words, even when all words are ended.
I, who live by words, am wordless when
I turn me to the Word to pray. Amen.
~Madeleine L'Engle
I want to love you without clutching,
Appreciate you without judging
Join you without invading,
Invite you without demanding,
Leave you without guilt,
Criticize you without blaming,
And help you without insulting.
If I can have the same from you,
Then we can truly enrich each other.
~Virginia Satir
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In Memoriam (LV)
-Lord Alfred Tennyson
I falter where I firmly trod,
And falling with my weight of cares
Upon the great world's alter-stairs
That slope throu' darkness up to God,
I stretch lame hands of faith, and grope,
And gather dust and chaff, and call
To what I feel is Lord of all,
And faintly trust the larger hope.
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RELINQUISHING
the road looks all too familiar, all too plain
like i've traversed it before, worn and inane
i feel progressive and mature, beyond this holy place
but here i am nevertheless, face to face
i'm sick of this endeavor, completely stuck
having gone deep enough into my muck
i feel progressive and mature, past my good rep
but not knowing where to go, step by step
i want more than i'm given, yet i'm given none
the lull of the stroll is boring, i want to run
i feel progressive and mature, ready to race
but i can't give as he gives, grace upon grace
the openness is numbing, i want control
my raw and weak and humble is taking its toll
i feel progressive and mature, aiming to build my own plans
but my brokenness guides me, man to man
so this is what he gives, something beautiful
somehow freeing, somehow wise, somehow eventful
i feel progressive and mature, being where i am
learning the contours of the journey slowly, hand in hand
i want to learn that the road God's given me is for me and nobody else. i don't want to speed it up or slow it down or envy someone else's, but simply go where He leads, opening to Him all the more and letting Him consume. my desire to control my own journey is so strong. i feel so stuck and want to go to places where i think i should go or be at. it's crazy to think that this is where He wants me. open my eyes.
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