Monday Morning Offering - 57

Image: George Mendoza

Good morning, good God!

I'm getting ready to go on vacation, Lord,
and there's a lot of things I need to get done,
well, that I'd like to get done,
that I should get done
before I leave...

You know what I mean, Lord:
loose ends needing to be neatly tied;
unfinished tasks begging for completion;
stacks of papers praying for blessed order;
correspondents waiting for correspondence...

And more than all that, Lord,
there's my unfinished business with you:
prayers half-prayed, needing an Amen;
prayers not even half-begun
so much in need of time with you;
prayers sent up from half a heart
when all my heart is always what you ask...

There's not a moment, Lord,
of any day or night
when you haven't time for me;
not a moment when you wouldn't put aside
whatever you're doing to be at my side
with all the time in the world
just to listen to me
and to speak to me
a word from heart to heart,
from yours to mine...

Why am I so often so busy,
too busy to spend some time with you?

In these finally-summer days, Lord,
slow me down
and give me time for nothing to do
but be with you, to know again
that you're with me...

Help me put the brakes on
my merry-go-round-go-nowhere pace...
Slow me down, stop me in my tracks,
hold me still
and hold me...

Let a doldrum summer lull, calm and call me
to a place of peace, of prayer,
of meeting you again --
like bumping into an old friend,
on the streets of my vacation...

Find and meet me, Lord,
in the days of rest ahead...

Keep me mindful and prayerful, Lord,
of those who know the rough edges
of my unfinished work:
refresh me in these days away
and bring me back a better servant
of all whose hearts and hopes meet mine...

Good God of Monday mornings,
hear my prayer this day
and every day of my vacation...

Amen.

-ConcordPastor