A Concord Pastor Comments: Monday Morning Offering: 183

Coffee in the Morning by George Mendoza

Good morning, good God!

I want, I pray to grow closer to you this Lent, Lord --
but then I remember that you are always beside me,
always before me, behind me, above and below me --
how much closer might I come
to One who is always so close to me?

And yet, I have ways, don’t I, Lord,
of distancing myself from you who made me,
you who live within my mind and heart and soul…

In the blink of an eye I can pretend
for a moment (or for days or weeks on end)
that I don't see you or that somehow
you’ve lost sight of me,
that I’ve slipped beyond your gaze…

Like a child blocking his ears
with small hands pressed hard,
I stop listening for you
and miss what your Spirit whispers:
my inattentive heart muffles the voice of your word
alive within me…

When my soul chills in selfishness,
my fingers grow numb
and I lose the warmth, the touch of your presence
pulsing in the wonders of the world around me,
in the people whose fingerprints are
warm upon my life…

I know so many ways
to take my leave of you,
to keep my distance,
to walk away from you,
the only One
who never leaves my side…

I want to grow closer to you this Lent, Lord,
and then I remember that you are always beside me,
always before me, behind me, above and below me…

How much closer might I come
to One who is always so close to me?

So, I offer you this morning my desire
to open wide my eyes:
to see you, Lord, in all who cross my path
and in all the circumstances of this day;
to see the way you guide my steps
and watch with care the path I walk;
to see how you never fail to keep me
as the apple of your eye…

I offer you this morning my desire
to open my mind and soul
to hear, Lord, every word you speak
from your heart to mine:
help me hear you in the scriptures,
in my thoughts and prayer,
in the words of others,
especially in the silence
and in every breath I take…

I offer you my hope
you'll thaw the chill of my self-interest
and let the warmth of your love melt
my fears, my worries, my guilt and shame,
that I might freely touch again
the truth and beauty of your presence
all around me,
morning, noon and night…

Draw me close to you, Lord,
especially when I look away and fail to see you,
when I avoid the quiet where I might hear you,
when I turn from grace where you might touch me…

Help me to find
what I trust is already the truth of my life:
that you are with me, Lord,
always beside me, always before me,
behind me, above and below me...

Draw me even closer to your side, Lord,
and never let me be parted from you…

Amen.

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