NIGHT PRAYER: Monday 5/15

 

Approaching the back door at the rectory today,  I caught the scent of lilacs in the air. And sure enough, just around the corner, there they were!  The moment reminded me of a poem and led me to prayer...

Four Kinds of Lilacs

"Why don't you turn at the next corner,"
she said, "and take another road home.
Let's go past that farm with all the
different colored lilacs."

"That's seven miles out of the way,"
he said. "I wanted to plant the rest
of the corn before evening. We
can look at lilacs some other time."

"It'll take only a few minutes"
she said. "You know that lilacs
aren't in bloom for long—if we
don't go now, it will be too late."

"We drove past there last year,"
he said. "They're like any other lilacs
except for the different colors. The rest
of the year, they're all just bushes."

"They're lilac, purple, white, and pink,"
she said. "And today, with no breeze,
the scent will hang in the air—no flowers
smell as good as lilacs in the spring."

"I thought of planting lilacs once,"
he said, "for a windbreak in the grove.
The good smell lasts only a few days.
I suppose we can go, if we hurry."

"Now slow up," she said.
"Last year, you drove by so fast
we couldn't even get a good look.
It wouldn't hurt to take it easy."

"Well, there they are," he said,
"and looking pretty scraggly—past
full bloom already. You should
have thought of doing this sooner."

- Leo Dengel, in Home from the Field

There are two people in the poem, Lord
and both their voices live in my heart:
    one following your Spirit's lead
        to seek and savor your beauty,
    the other cautious and practical,

        looking only to save some time...

Too often, Lord, 
it's the second voice that wins my day
while I lose moments of joy:
    blessings from you

        on the spur of a moment;
    gifts with a shelf life, 

        a season at best;

    joyful epiphanies

        telling your glory;

    the scent of divinity

        here at my door,

    paying a visit 

         my heart and soul...

Lord, quicken my senses

    to find you present

in all I see, in all I hear,

    in all I taste and touch and smell;
turn my heart where your Spirit leads
     and open my soul to your beauty...

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.

 

The Fragrance of Christ by Charles Billingsley

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Sweet aroma fill this place
Let us feel your warm embrace
Touch us with your healing grace
Let us see your holy face

Hold us so close by your side
Let us see your loving eyes
Take our wrongs and make them right
Breathe on us the breath of life

The fragrance of Christ
It breaks apart the strongholds of pride
and the hardest of hearts
It makes all the wounded whole and then starts
to open the senses to your goodness
It's the fragrance of Christ

At the start of every day
Fill my heart with perfect praise
with this offering i raise
A holy tribute to your name

Take my feet and lead me to
All the world or just a few
With everything I say and do
May the glory go to you
 

Chorus

Fresh anointing cover me
With a balm of purity
Make me a bouquet of honesty

I will hold your name up high
By the way I live my life
Let me be the fragrance of Christ

 

Chorus

 

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