NIGHT PRAYER: Tuesday 2/18

Yesterday morning, Lord,

leaving the house for the 9:00 mass,

I found the path from my back door

and across the parking lot to the church

to be a sheet of glistening ice,

hemmed in by banks of frigid snow... 

The few steps I took

were slow, unsure and scary...

 

Near the end of the walk way I could see

a giant, glistening, frozen puddle 

blocking any further progress,

stopping me in my tracks...

 

I waved over a parishioner driving into the lot

but she couldn't pull her car close enough

for me to safely make my way

over the ice and snow and into her front seat...

 

I had my walking stick with me,

a souvenir of my time in Colorado,

but it wasn't enough to guarantee my safety

over what lie underfoot...

 

Unable to get from here to there,

I sadly had to tell the folks 

there'd be no mass that day...

 

Ice, Lord!

Ice - and the limitation of unsteady legs

that have walked me through ice and snow

for close to eight decades...

 

Ice, Lord!

And the limits aging weighs

on heavy, tired, unsteady legs...

 

Well, Lord, 

I didn't learn much about ice yesterday

but I learned a lot about limitations:

about how things slowly

slow you down,

sap your energy, 

check your pace

and circumscribe  

the world in which you move...

 

So, help me, Lord,

help me find you in my limitations:

    make me grateful for the peace that comes

        when life and time slow down;

    with your perfect sense of balance,

        guide my halting, unsure steps;

    in my weakness help me feel your strength,

        your strong arms there to hold me;

    let me find you always by my side,

       walking at the pace I set;

    with your Spirit's grace and power,

        open wide my heart to all the ways

            you bring me peace and joy... 

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.

 

 Even In My Old Age (Ps. 71)

    by Aaron Shust

 

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