NIGHT PRAYER: Thursday 8/12

Inspired by this photo by Mark Penta, I first posted this prayer 8 years ago.  I've done some more work on it and it seems an apt post for this evening, the last full day of my vacation on the Cape...

 

Photo by Mark Penta

 
A Scallop Shell's Prayer

Shell collectors pass me by, Lord,
and if by some mistake they pick me up
they soon toss me aside, back into the sea...

And you know why, Lord:  

    I'm imperfect, I'm uneven
    - asymmetrical is what I am...

 
I'm broken, no longer whole the way I was 

before the wear and tear of tides
chipped away, by bits and pieces,

parts of me now lost in currents

much too strong for me to challenge...

And so, for years, I've lived on Falmouth's shores:
I've been beached more times than I can count
but then a wave will wash me back,
and back and forth I've gone until 
the water, sand and rocks 
have smoothed my jagged edges
and rounded my rough side...

 

And therein lies my beauty, Lord,

uneven and imperfect, asymmetrical:

I am the shell I am,
the shell you've mended, buffed and polished  

'til what's gone and what's been healed
are now as one and wholly part of who I am...

 

And though I miss what I have lost

I am yet pleasing in your eyes

for you see the one you've made,

you see the one you've saved, 

the one made whole and even holy

by your mercy, in your love...

I see what's there, still there, Lord, 

and I thank you 

for the colors of my fan-spread ribs, 

my beauty and my strength

in your brush strokes, tracing hints
of your abiding, patient presence...

 

I am the shell I am, Lord,

the shell you've made, 

the one you've saved

and in your sight,

I am wonderfully made:

    no more, no less am I 

    than the work of your own hands...

Shell collectors pass me by

and if by some mistake they pick me up
I'm tossed aside or back into the sea
but you, Lord, you have saved me, 

you have kept me 

and for this I give you praise:
my imperfect, asymmetrical, uneven 

heartfelt praise and thanks...

 

In your sight, Lord,

I am wonderfully made:

    no more, no less am I 

    than the work of your own hands...

 

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.

 

If the video doesn't appear below, click here!

 

Wonderfully Made by Paul Tirol 

 

 

 

 

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