Pause for Prayer: SUNDAY 7/15

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I was out walking when I saw him, Lord:
tall and lanky, his work clothes covered in the dust
of the construction site just behind him,
talking on his cell phone...

I think I was invisible to him,
that he never saw me,
though I passed him by a distance of just a yard or less...

He was busy on his cell phone
and though I heard nothing of his conversation
I read on his face a story of pain
or was it fear
or perhaps it was anxiety...

A half hour later, coming back down Main Street
I saw him again, on the phone once more
- or maybe still on the phone...

Now his face, his eyes, were bright
and I wondered:
what had happened to change him...

Was a problem solved?  his pain healed?
What grace had spirited him away and back,
his face now clear of any trace of fear?

Who knows what blessings you offered him
since I had first walked by?

Who knows what grace had changed his face,
his thoughts, his mind?

Who knows what other troubled tales
might fill his thoughts this day?
what fears might cloud his soul?
what knots of memory bind his heart
a captive, waiting, waiting long
til someone come and set him free?

Who knows what burdens weigh
on anyone I pass this day?

Who knows what secret fears
might steal the smiles, the joys
of those whose paths cross mine?

Make me mindful, Lord,
of the troubles others carry
on the shoulders of their hearts,
in the pockets of their souls...

And if I might be of help,
if I might lend a hand,
if I might share their burden,
show me how, Lord,
show me how...

Amen.


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