Pause for Prayer: TUESDAY 11/9

`Image source

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I came across these words of Parker Palmer yesterday and found them to be a rich source of reflection and prayer as I begin my life as a senior priest.  As you'll see, they're words that call the reader forward, to activity, to an even richer, more abundant life... I also think they're words worthy of consideration by folks at any point in their lives...

 

Twenty years ago, as I began to deal with the realities of aging, 

I began asking myself two questions: 

    “What do I need to let go of? 

    What do I want to hang onto?”

 

I still ask the first question, 

but the second no longer works for me. 

 

As life constantly reminds us, 

we can’t “hang on” to what we love:

all of it will take its leave sooner or later, 

and so will we.

 

So I’m grateful that I was given a different question to ask: 

“What do I want to give myself to?”

 

Trying to hang on to what I treasure defies the law of life, 

and it’s a needy, clingy, scarcity-based way of being in the world. 

 

But asking what I want to give myself to 

directs me toward places where I can find meaning, energy, 

and a reminder of life’s abundance.

 

For me, at least, “What do I want to give myself to?” 

is a question that can open up a path with a heart...

Pause for Prayer

Send your Spirit to open my eyes and my ears,

my mind and my heart, my soul and my imagination

and all my days and nights

to where you lead me, Lord,

where you guide me, 

where you call me to new life,

to richer, more abundant life,

to life filled and blessed

with your mercy, your word, your grace

and your love...

Amen.

Tweet   

SUBSCRIBE HERE!