On Retreat: Monday 11/16

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I'm away on retreat so I won't be posting as often as usual, just once a day, in the evening.  Rather than offering a Pause for Prayer or Night Prayer, I'm inviting you to find some time and a place wherever you are this week to join me on retreat. I'll be writing in the first person singular and I hope you can make my words your prayer as you carve out a little retreat time for yourself each day this week.  Find a quiet place... find a quiet time...  light a candle...  take a few deep breaths... ask the Lord to help you pray...

 

Let me begin tonight by sharing with you part of my prayer

from my first visit to the chapel last night, here at Eastern Point.

From the moment I sat in that dimly lit sanctuary

I felt a wave of God's presence wash over me 

and, just for the record, let me remind you that 

this has nothing to do with any holiness on my part

and everything to do with the generous love of God...

So, part of my prayer from last night:

How graciously and warmly you welcome me back,

welcome me home, welcome me into your arms, 

welcome me into your heart, Lord...

 

Not a mention from you of so many yesterdays

I wish could be forgotten, I wish I could forget

and yet, it's you, Lord, who forgets them,

you who forgives them,

you who forgives me

when I struggle to forgive myself...

 

Your love holds me and enfolds me like a comforter, 

a thick, oversized, down filled comforter

long enough and wide enough to envelop me, 

wrapping me all around until, from inside out,

I'm warm with your love...

 

The wind lashes at the chapel windows,

battering this house on the ocean's edge

but I'm safe, protected from gusts and gales:

I'm sheltered by your love,

sheltered in your love, 

sheltered in this place where, so graciously, Lord,

you've welcomed me back,

welcomed me home to your heart

in prayer...

Have you been away from the Lord?

Are there "yesterdays" you want to forget?

Is there a chill in the air, in your soul,

in need of a comforter to wrap you in God's warmth? 

Do you need shelter from gale force winds battering your heart ?

Do you need to be graciously welcomed home by God?

Be sure of this:

long before our hearts left home,

before our regret over yesterday's stories,

before the frost first appeared,

before the winds lashed and battered our souls

- Jesus was there, 

dogging our steps, seeking a home in our hearts,

carrying thick, oversized, down filled comforters

long enough and wide enough to envelop us, 

to wrap all around us, to hold and enfold us until, 

from the inside out, we'd be warmed by his love

and graciously welcomed home to his heart,

in prayer...

 

Find a quiet place and a quiet time

and let the Lord do the work:

let him wash over you with his presence,

wrap and warm you in the comforter of his love

shelter you from any storm outside your window

and graciously welcome you home to his heart,

in prayer...

 

Amen. 

He Who Began A Good Work in You by Steve Green

 

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