A Concord Pastor Comments: Pause for Prayer: TUESDAY 7/24

I spend a couple hours today
working through the piles of paper on my desk:
sorting, filing, trashing...

I filled nearly a whole extra-large trash barrel, Lord,
from the heaps of I-don't-know-why-I kept-this stuff
and finding, here and there, something important,
something of value, something to the saved,
something needed - and even treasured...

When I got ready to leave the office
I just stood at my desk,
taking in all the order,
the arrangement of what remained,
the design of what I'd kept and saved
- and I saw that it was good!

And I thought:
that's what you said, Lord,
when you gazed upon the created world:
you saw that it was good,
that it's order, arrangement and design
were very good, indeed...

Help me order the rest of my life
as well as I ordered my desk, Lord...

Help me trash what I don't need,
what weighs me down,
what keeps me back,
what confuses my good order
and leaves me contemplating the trivial
while holding me down under the weight
of things I truly do not need...

Help me arrange the parts of my life, Lord,
to keep me balanced, to help me do my work,
to help me see what I truly need
and what I truly need to let go...

Help me find and keep order in my day,
in my week, in my pace, in my efforts,
in my relationships and in my prayer...

Help me find and keep neat those things
I cannot afford to mess up,
the ideals, the values, the hopes
that define me and work to shape me
as the person you created me to be...

Help me sort through my life, Lord,
and dispose of the unneeded clutter
that burdens me and stalls me
in growing in your love...

Help me see, find and hold on to
what's important and of value,
what I need to keep and save,
what I need to treasure...

And help me discover, again,
what I need to sort through
and the help I need to do so
and help me cling to and treasure
all that brings me faith, hope, love
and the peace that only you can give...

Amen.