Pause for Prayer: FRIDAY 3/21

Photo by John Webster Nickols

A FaceBook friend posted the photo above with this caption:

This little bean was given to me, and spent most of the winter (unloved) in my car's trunk. Discovered, it was stashed away in my pants pocket, where it survived a journey through the washing machine and dryer, before falling out to the floor. Expecting little, I planted it with another plant to keep it company. And now this proud little plant flourishes, basking in the afternoon sun, awaiting my garden, and a good crop of beans...

The image and the story prompted my writing today's Pause for Prayer...

How many seeds have you planted
deep in my mind and heart, Lord?

With what gifts, abilities and talents
have you seeded my soul?

For how long have I left them,
unloved,
in places unknown to any
but you and me?

How often have I looked upon those seeds
and wondered why you gave them,
pondered what their yield might be
were I to tend and grow them...

How poorly have I cared for them
and sometimes thought them gone
until they reappeared, in my pocket,
as if they'd always been there...

What a beating have these seeds endured
in my rough and careless keeping
but the life within them kept a vigil
for the day when I might finally tend them...

They needed but a little care and gentle rooting
in the soil of thanksgiving
for all the gifts, abilities and talents
you've seeded in my soul...

And now with water and the sun
(again, gifts come from your own hand)
they've begun to sprout the life
you planted long ago...

Make me a faithful gardener, Lord,
and bring to harvest every seed
you've dropped into my heart, hidden in my pockets
and planted in the furrows of my soul...

Lord, come and reap
what you've entrusted to my care
and help me gather in and share
the yield, the fruit of all your gifts...

 

     
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