Monday Morning Offering - 43

Image: George Mendoza

Good morning, good God!

Yesterday was a great day, Lord!

Yes, all the usual Sunday doings,
but among the Easter lilies
we welcomed children to the Eucharist
for the first time -
a moment of grace for the parish,
for the children and for their families....

Many visitors in the assembly and some, I'll guess,
have not come recently or often to your table, Lord...

I hope, I pray, I trust that this home-coming
might have been a moment of special grace
sparking in the hearts of the strayed
a taste for prayer, a thirst for you,
a desire to come again...

Was it the Easter season or the weather,
the scriptures, the children's faces,
or the grace of the song we lifted to your name
that opened my eyes, my ears, my mind,
my heart to you and your presence?

Perhaps it was all those things - and more,
more than I can know or count -
that opened my soul to your walking among us
and with us and with me
through a day of grace...

So I offer you this Monday morning, Lord,
the moments when your Spirit opens me
to your life around me, within me,
above, before, behind and below me...

I know there is not a moment of any day or night
when you are not by my side, Lord:
you are always there, without fail...

But I often fail to see, to hear, to sense you,
to feel your touch upon my shoulder gently guiding
or purposefully pushing me to reclaim the path
you have marked out for my steps...

I offer you my desire to be open,
to recognize, to know the moments of grace
that come my way every day, every night...

I offer you my need to trust that you are with me,
especially when I fear you have left me...

I offer you my hope to find you in some special way
every day of my life,
to discover your presence and your peace
settling in around me and within me
in ways that only you would know I need...

I offer you my hunger
for the warmth of your embrace,
the light of your wisdom,
the peace of your grace...

And I offer you my prayer that in some way
my life will be a moment of grace
for all whose lives and paths meet mine this day...

I offer you my heart, Lord,
a cup yearning to be filled to overflowing
with the gifts you have in store for me
this Monday morning and in the week ahead...

Amen.

-ConcordPastor