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| Morning Coffee by George Mendoza |
Good morning, good God!
I’ve been wondering, Lord:
what do you do with it all?
What do you do with all the stuff I offer you
on Monday mornings?
And not just my stuff:
other folks make morning offerings, too,
and sometimes seven days a week...
Lord, what do you do
with everything we offer you?
Like steam from millions of cups
of coffee and tea and hot chocolate,
our prayers rise up to you:
a morning offering of incense
ground from our beings,
steeped in our sorrow,
sweetened by our joy…
What do you do
with everything we offer you?
I know you hear our prayers
(every single one of them!)
and I believe you cherish our “asking” prayers
just as much as our “praising” prayers…
I believe you’re pleased just to hear from us -
no matter what we say, pray, ask or plead…
And I believe you listen, carefully,
even when we don’t know what to say:
our silence, too, rises like a sweet fragrance -
be the cups of our hearts empty or full…
Lord, what do you do
with everything we offer you?
We offer you prayers, petitions and praise…
We offer dreams and schemes
for you to bless with success…
We offer you our hopes and pray we'll cope
when you take so long, too long it seems,
to answer when we call...
We offer you our work
or pray to find some work to do…
We offer you our weakness
and beg for your strength…
We offer you our hearts for healing,
our hurts for soothing,
our bodies for mending,
our problems for fixing
and our relationships for repair…
What do you do, Lord,
with everything we offer you?
You store it up
-- of course, you do!
You keep all we offer
in the infinite depths of your heart
where beats the heart
of every one, ever born,
of all of us here now
and of those whose hearts
have yet begun to beat…
In your heart our every prayer is heard,
treasured and measured for eternal keeping,
like ribbon-tied love letters,
or valentines from children…
Lord, what do you do
with everything we offer you?
You remember everything we offer you,
even the many prayers we've forgotten,
prayers that once seemed so urgent…
Every one of our prayers echoes in your heart,
forever…
So I come once again, Lord,
and offer you my Monday and the week ahead…
I offer you my needs
and pray you make me generous
because, already,
I have more than I need…
I offer you my troubles
and pray for your peace…
I offer you my fears
and pray for your strength…
I offer you my silence
and trust you hear the words I cannot say…
I offer you my words and deeds this day, Lord,
and pray they help and bless
all those whose paths cross mine…
Like the steam from my coffee, Lord,
let my morning offering rise to you
and live forever
in the depths of your loving, sacred heart...
Amen.
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