Need some comfort? Who doesn't!

I know I said I was taking a break, but... the first reading at mass this morning included some of my favorite words from scripture, "Comfort, give comfort to my people, says your God..."  And I recalled a prayer I began writing in 2008 and which has expanded over 16 years to this present version...

Comfort my soul, Lord:
   comfort my heart, my mind 
       and my imagination...

Comfort me in my dreams, 
   in my fears and my worries, 
      in my memories 
         and in my hopes...  

Speak comfortably, Lord, 
   in my family, 
among my friends and neighbors, 

 among my colleagues at work,
   - among all the peoples of the world...

Speak comfortably 
  to the young and the old, 
and in the lives of the lonely 
   and brokenhearted, 
and in the brokenness of lives undone,       
     unhinged, unloved... 

Speak a word of comfort, Lord,
   to those who are confused and confounded,
   to those who struggle to accept  
     the challenges and problems    
         weighing so heavy on their thoughts...

Speak a word of comfort, Lord, 
  to those who find it hard to hope, 
     those who flirt with despair,
  to those who need a sign from you    
    and from those around them
  to kindle the fire of hope 
     within their hearts...

Speak a word of comfort, Lord,
  to those who need work
 and who live in fear 
    of not finding it...

Speak a word of comfort to the lonely, Lord, 

   to free their hearts 

      to open up to and receive 

          the company of those around them...

 

Speak a word of comfort 
  to the sick, Lord,
  to those in chronic pain  

     in mind and limb;
  be the kind Physician of their souls 

     to encourage and to heal them    
        with your Spirit...

 

Speak a word of comfort to the dying, Lord,
   and refresh their trust and hope 
      in you and in the life you promise,   
         life for ever...

 

Speak a word of comfort, Lord,
  to the grieving,
  to those whose losses 
    darken sunny days,
  those whose hearts still mourn
     in the midst of others' joy...

 

Speak a word of comfort 
to those who've been abandoned
   by the world, by the government, 
      by their neighbors 

         - and by me...

 

Speak comfortably, Lord,
  to those who feel abandoned 
     by the church: 

let your word of comfort heal,    
    console, challenge, and strengthen those

       left out and cast aside, 

let them find a welcome
       by our side and in our hearts...

 

Speak comfortably to your people, Lord: 
   may your voice level 

      their mountains of anxiety and fear,
   may your truth make straight the paths 
      of those who've lost their way, 
   and may your word make smooth 
       the rough and tumble places 
           where we stumble and we fall...

In the quiet of my prayer, Lord, 
   speak comfortably 
     in my heart and mind and soul...

Speak your word of comfort, Lord,
   and, taking it to heart,

let me speak a word of comfort

   to all I know and all I meet...

Amen.

 

One of the most familiar numbers from Handel's Messiah is the tenor's  "Comfort Ye, My People."  Here are two versions: the first, a classical rendition and the second, more contemporary.

If two widgets don't appear below, click here!

Comfort ye by George Frideric Handel

 

 

Comfort ye by George Frideric Handel

    arranged by Ron Huff and David Hamilton

 

 

Comfort ye my people, saith your God.  
Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem, 
and cry unto her, 

that her warfare is accomplished,  
that her iniquity is pardoned. 
The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness,  
Prepare ye the way of the LORD, 
make straight in the desert 

a highway for our God.  

 

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