Pause for Prayer: FRIDAY 1/25

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Oh, God -
I'm living in rooms filled with boxes!

I've giving away or trashing about a third
of my worldly possessions
- and most of the rest is now packed, boxed and bagged,
ready to move to a different rectory
as the gutting of my present home is about to begin...

Oh, how much I've found that I just don't need,
that others can put to much better use than I...

So much stuff, too much stuff
and lots of useless even foolish stuff
has cluttered my home and, by domiciled extension,
my mind and heart, my soul, my life...

So much stuff, Lord,
stuff that once I thought I really needed,
really wanted,
couldn't do without,
- but now I see it's just stuff,
nothing more and nothing less that
stuff...

Will I learn this time 'round, Lord?
Will I learn the difference between stuff
and all that truly matters, counts,
makes a difference and improves
rather than clutters my life?

Will I learn this time 'round that the rule,
"Simplify, simplify, simplify"
is better observed before rather than after
buying, acquiring, collecting, hoarding
stuff - and then more stuff on top of stuff?

Help me see, Lord,
that's what's most important
is the mystery of this place, my home for 14 years,
a mystery I can't pack up and take with me,
a mystery I can't give away to others:
the mystery of calling this place home;
the mystery of having a refuge, a haven,
a retreat from each day's worries and burdens...

In the mystery of this place, Lord,
I've lived with you and talked to you,
in my house chapel, on my beloved side porch
and sometimes sitting in my recliner
watching the rain pour down,
the snow drift and blow about
and the leaves on trees turn color every fall...

Make me grateful, Lord,
for the mystery I'm leaving behind
and help me find a refuge, a haven
filled with the mystery of you and your presence
in the new place I'll call home...

Amen.


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