Pause for Prayer: SUNDAY 215

 

It's time for me to ponder, Lord,

    my plans for living Lent this year 

and more to the point, to wonder and ask:

    what are your plans for me?

What will you do in my life this Lent?

Will you heal the hurt I've carried for so long? 

 

Will you reconcile me with those I'm estranged from?

 

Will you give me the strength to break a bad habit?

 

Will you lift me up out of my grief?

 

Will you help me forgive the one who offended me?

 

Will you forgive in me what I can't forgive myself?

 

Will you give me courage to face my fears?

 

Will you deepen my faith in you and your love?

 

Will you open my heart to serve the poor? 

 

Will you help me to love the folks I don't like?

 

Will you make me more honest, fair and just?

 

Will you stand as a guard at the doors of my lips?

 

Will you give me wisdom to make better choices?

 

Will you move me beyond my self-imposed limits?

 

Will you open my heart to pray for my foes?

 

Will you fill my soul with your Spirit's gifts?

 

Will you bless me in ways I've not yet imagined?

 

You can and you could do all of this, Lord,

    so I pray for the grace to welcome you in...

 

And I pray for the grace to open myself 

    to the plans you have for me this Lent...

 

And I pray for the grace 

    to work with you as you work in me 

to bring to be

    what I have thought impossible;

and to bring to harvest

    what I thought  thought was all but lost;

and to mend and heal 

    all my broken parts;

and to draw me near

    where I've feared to go;

and to give me the courage

    to do what I must,

to become the person

    you made me to be...

 

It's time for me to ponder, Lord,

    my plans for living Lent this year 

and more to the point, to wonder and ask:

    what are your plans for me?

 

Amen. 

  

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Pope Leo's tip for Lent

In anticipation of Lent which begins with 

Ash Wednesday, February 18, 

Pope Leo has offered us this tip 

for our Lenten practice.

 

I'm especially struck by two of his phrases:

disarming our language

and

cultivating kindness and respect. 

 

Our words can indeed both

wound and tear us apart

and

heal and unite us.

 Leo's words are timely...

 

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NIGHT PRAYER: Saturday 2/14

Your love for me is always perfect, Lord,
    while my love for you too often falters,

        stalls and stumbles...

 

Though I hold back my gratitude,

    my devotion and affection,

you still love me freely, Lord,

    with patience and with mercy...
 
You created me for love:
    to love and to be loved;

to find in you, my heart of hearts,
    the peace for which I long...

My Valentine for you, Lord,

    is anything but perfect, 

it's smudged by my transgressions,
    torn by my rough edges,
        wrinkled by my carelessness
            - and late in being sent...

Still, it comes directly from my heart:
   signed by one who loves you,
       and sealed with my contrition,
    and delivered with my thanks
      for your always faithful, never ending,
          perfect love for me...

I know you hold a place for me

    in your eternal heart 

and so I pray: 

    receive the heart 

        I offer you tonight;

    be my love, my Valentine

        as I trust I am yours...
 
Protect me, Lord, while I'm awake,
    keep vigil while I sleep
that awake, I might keep watch with you
    and asleep, rest in your peace...

Amen. 

 

I love this simple song! And I love the faith, the hope and the love on the faces of those who are singing in this choir! 

 

My God Loves Me

    music by Jean Paul Egide Martini,

    lyrics by Sharon Wilson,

    sung by Harmonious Chorale

 

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My God loves me.
His love will never end.
He rests with - in my heart
For my God loves me.

His gentle hand
He stretches over me.
Though storm-clouds threaten the day
He will set me free.

He comes to me
In sharing bread and wine,
He brings me life that will reach
Past the end of time.

My God loves me,
His faithful love endures.
And I will live like a child
Held in love secure.

The joys of love
As offerings now we bring,
The pains of love will be lost
In the praise we sing.

  

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Pause for Prayer: VALENTINES DAY

Whether your mail box is full of hearts and lace today - or not - here's a Valentine for you addressed to your heart...

God's Valentine for You 

 ♥ No one has loved you longer than I have:
        I loved you before you were born, before you were conceived,
           before all time began... 

 ♥ No one holds you closer than I do:
         I'm right by your side 24/7/365
            - I'm truly your BFF...

 ♥ No one loves you more faithfully than I do:
         my love for you is unfailing,
            I love you with no strings attached...

 ♥ No one loves you more wisely than I do:
        I guide you through all of your troubles,
           my wisdom and counsel are my gifts to you...

 ♥ No one loves you more mercifully than I do:
        I freely forgive you and forgive you again,
           I'll always give you a new beginning ...

 ♥ No one loves you more deeply than I do:
        I dwell in your heart of hearts,
           I make my home in the depths of your soul...

 ♥ No one loves you more joyfully than I do,
        I delight in the person I made you to be,
           I love you more than you know or imagine...

 ♥ No one loves you more passionately than I do,
          I gave my Beloved out of love for you:
            now I call you my chosen, my child, my own...

 ♥ No one loves you more graciously than I do:
           I love you more than anyone has,
              ever can, ever could, ever will...
         
♥ No one loves you more fully than I do
         for indeed, I Am Love: I abide in you
           and you in me, for ever and ever.  Amen.  
 

For prayer today, you might want to ask yourself,

"Which of these ten Valentines from God
   did I most need to receive?"

"Which of these Valentines

    is most difficult for me to believe?"

"Which of these Valentines

    brings me the most peace in my heart?"

"For which of these Valentines

    am I most grateful?" 

 

I Have Loved You by Michael Joncas

 

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NIGHT PRAYER: Friday 2/13

On the eve of Valentines Day, Lord,

    I pray for a new heart, a clean heart... 

 

Beginning now, as I sit with you in prayer,

    wash my heart with your mercy: 

    wash away my sins and give me a clean slate, 

    a fresh start, a new beginning...

Give me a pure heart
   to put your law, your love and the needs of others
   ahead of my own will and wants and desires...

Give me a heart strong enough
   to say the truth when it's mine to speak,
   to do what's fair when I'm tempted to cheat,
   and to reach out generously and not hold back...

Give me a wise heart
   open to your counsel, thirsty for your grace
   and hungry for your word...

Give me a hope-filled heart
   open to what is good, to what can be,
   to all you have in store for me...

Give me a loving heart, Lord,
   that gives of itself, on its own
   and doesn't count the cost...

Embed in my new heart a steadfast spirit:
   faithful to you, faithful to prayer,
   faithful to those entrusted to my care,
   faithful to what's just and good and worthy
   of a heart fashioned by your hand..

As much as I desire this new heart, Lord,
   I know I'll yet resist your offering it to me:
my fears, my old ways,
   my grudges and resentments,
   my anxious holding on to what I know
   rather than surrendering to what I don't -
all this makes me slow, wary, even afraid
   to welcome even you
   into the chambers of my soul...

And so I pray your Spirit will move me
   to open what I keep closed,
   let go what I jealously cling to,
   empty my heart of all its clutter,
   and invite you in where you belong,
      where I belong to you...

A clean heart create for me, O God,
   and a steadfast spirit renew within me:
   and please, Lord, begin your work in me today...

In the stillness of my prayer,
   help me know that you are near, that you are here,
   that you are God:
   Lord of my heart, Lord of all my days...

Create in me a clean heart, O God,
   and put a new and steadfast spirit in my soul...

Protect me, Lord, while I'm awake

    and watch over me while I sleep

that awake, I might keep watch with you

    and asleep rest in your peace...

 

Amen. 

 

A Heart Like Yours by  Cedric Caldwell

 

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I tried to reach out for You but I fall 

Sometimes You seem so close and yet so far 

Oh I need another chance, I need to know 

Your mercy Just give me the strength, 

To change within 

 

I know I'm not all that I can be 

My weakness seems to get the best of me 

But as long as You are here 

I know that I will make it 

Every step along the way 

Please hear my prayer 

 

A heart like Yours,is my desire 

A heart like Yours,

Is what I'm searching for 

Full of compassion 

Nothing wrong within 

Please hear me, Lord 

Give me a heart like Yours 

 

So much grace, so much kindness 

So much faith, forever true 

Strong as the wind, soft as the shadows 

If just once, I could be like You 

 

Chorus 

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Pause for Prayer: FRIDAY 2/13

 

The approach of Valentine's Day tomorrow  is exciting and promising for many - but difficult and lonely for others: those who bring heartbreak... loss...  grief...  or disappointment... to Valentines Day. If that's you - or someone you know - this post might be helpful.   Today's Pause for Prayer is Jan Richardson's blessing for the brokenhearted...

A Blessing for the Brokenhearted
There is no remedy for love but to love more.
– Henry David Thoreau

Let us agree
for now
that we will not say
the breaking
makes us stronger
or that it is better
to have this pain
than to have done
without this love.

Let us promise
we will not
tell ourselves
time will heal
the wound
when every day
our waking
opens it anew.

Perhaps for now
it can be enough
to simply marvel
at the mystery
of how a heart
so broken
can go on beating,
as if it were made
for precisely this—

as if it knows
the only cure for love
is more of it

as if it sees
the heart’s sole remedy
for breaking
is to love still

as if it trusts
that its own stubborn
and persistent pulse
is the rhythm
of a blessing
we cannot
begin to fathom
but will save us
nonetheless.

– Jan Richardson 

     in The Painted Prayerbook

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NIGHT PRAYER: Thursday 2/12

I didn't watch the Super Bowl half-time show - so this post is not a comment on Bad Bunny or his music.  I did, however, hear Charlie Puth's rendition of the national anthem - and Kenny G's jazzy cameo - so that may have an influence in tonight's post.  But more than all that, today is the 102nd anniversary of the debut of George Gershin's Rhapsody in Blue...

The psalmist tells us, Lord, to praise you

    with the sound of the trumpet,

    with harp and lyre,

    with timbrel and dancing,

    with strings and pipe

    with the clash of cymbals

    - with resounding cymbals!  

 

It seems that all kinds of instruments

    might render you fitting praise,

that all manner of music  

    might give the glory 

        that's due your holy name!

 

Perhaps, then, Lord - a clarinet, too!

A licorice stick of sensuous sound,

    dark and woody in its soulful depths,

    bright and clear in its highest range,

    a vox humana singing out

    as though possessed of its very own soul...

 

All sounds praise you, Lord!

All sounds voice the wisdom of your Word:

    echoing through your universe,

    age after age upon age,

    in ripples gently reaching

    to the depths of every human heart... 

 

For instruments, then, of every kind,

    all genres, be they old or new;

for nature's grand orchestral score

    conducted by your Spirit;

for the song that sings

    within my soul,

I thank you, Lord, and lift my voice

    to glorify your name!

Protect me, Lord while I'm awake

    and watch over  me while we sleep

that awake, I might keep watch with you

    and asleep, rest in your peace...

Amen. 

 

Here's one musician's take on Gershwin's piece - I'm a big fan of Charles Cornell! And here's what some believe to be the best performance ever: Earl Wild at the piano with the Boston Pops Orchestra, Arthur Fiedler conducting (1959). Let everything that has breath praise the Lord!

 

Rhapsody in Blue by George Gershin

 

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Pause for Prayer: THURSDAY 2/12

No day passes without a word from you, Lord:
    in prayer, in silence, in nature,
      in the words of those around me...

I wonder what you'll say to me today,

    what word you have for me today? 

And will I be listening?  

And will I hear you?

Slow me down, Lord:
    open my ears, my eyes and my heart...

I don't want to miss a word!

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NIGHT PRAYER: Wednesday 2/11

Is there anyone among us 

    who doesn't long

        for peaceful days and restful nights?

Anyone who doesn't hope
    for just one carefree day,
        an evening filled with peace?

Anyone who doesn't ache
    to be accepted, known and loved
        - no strings attached?

We're more the same than different:

    our similarities 

        outnumber our disparities...

 

From the same place deep within

    we all want, need and hunger

       for  the same bread of love

and only those who hunger so

    can feed another's heart...

 

Good God,
    help me to see, to know and nourish
        the hearts of those around me

and open wide my heart to all

    who'd love and feed and nourish me....

 

Protect me, Lord, while I'm awake

    and watch over me while I sleep

that awake, I might keep watch with you

    and asleep rest in your peace...

 

Amen. 

 

Teach Me to Love You by Chinedu Egbulefu 

 

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