A Concord Pastor Comments: Monday Morning Offering: SEPTEMBER 16

Image: George Mendoza

Audio for today's Monday Morning Offering

Good morning, good God!

Over the summer, Lord,
I've been watching the vine you've been growing
outside my second floor window,
just over the roof of my garage...

It's a plain vine, in several strands:
it traces across my window screen,
edging from one side to the other
and on sunny afternoons
it casts a leafy pattern on my window sill...

So tiny the tendrils, Lord, threading the mesh,
tacking the vine to the screen:
holding and holding on...

I remember times, Lord, when tendrils of trust
reached, stretched and threaded my life:
to the hope that you were there
when I could not see you;
to the promise that you would lead me,
when I didn't know the way;
to the conviction that you would catch me
when I was in free fall...

Tendrils of trust, Lord:
sometimes a word, often a prayer,
the help of a friend, the grace of Communion,
the breath of your Spirit, the words of a song,
the rhyme of a poem, the light of your Word...

Tiny tendrils reaching, stretching, threading,
meshing my life to yours,
helping me hold on,
helping me trust that you were holding me...

This morning I offer you, Lord,
the gift of the vine you're growing
outside my second floor window,
just over the roof of my garage...

Let the pattern of its leafy beauty dance
across my window sill
and across my day...

Let every tendril of my faith and hope
meet the reach of your arms
holding me when I need to hold on,
embracing me when I need to be held...

Help me meet the reach of those
whose paths cross mine today:
help me mesh and thread my life with theirs
that on your vine we all be one in you...

Amen.