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| Image: George Mendoza |
Good morning, good God!
I pray today, Lord, that you take from my heart whatever might keep me from welcoming you with joy this Christmas...
That's my hope and prayer, Lord, so I offer for your mending and healing those things that stand between me and the joy of this season...
In this season of giving, my selfishness holds me back, Lord - my desire to keep things for myself when I already have so much - so I offer you my heart to open with your healing...
I offer you the impulse, to buy and buy some more - and have and still want more - while others, in the millions, have little or have nothing...
Help me, Lord, to deem the needs of others as more important than my own - so to welcome you with joy as Christmas day draws near...
I offer you my grudges and resentments, Lord, because they keep me from reaching out and loving - so I offer them to you for your gentle, healing touch...
I offer you the backpack of stale arguments, old disagreements and tired arrogance that weighs me down and keeps me from running to greet you, to meet you at the stable in Bethlehem …
And there are fantasies and daydreams, Lord, that keep me from receiving you with a joyful, pure, unsullied heart: cleanse and heal my thoughts and my imagination...
And my grief, Lord, my loss and disappointment: my grief clouds my mind and drains my spirits - so I offer you my soul to anoint with healing peace, to free me for the peace and joy
your holy birth affords me...
There are so many circumstances, Lord, that might keep me from the joy that comes my way this Christmas:
my worry about keeping my job,
finding a job, needing a second job;
my worry about keeping my job,
finding a job, needing a second job;
my limbs grown weak, my fingers feeble fingers
and my heartbeat now too fast,
and my heartbeat now too fast,
and my movement oh-so-slow;
my maxed out credit
my maxed out credit
and the bills all marked past due;
my family’s troubles;
my failing will power;
and then of course, there's this, Lord:
my family’s troubles;
my failing will power;
and then of course, there's this, Lord:
_________________________
So I offer you this morning, Lord, the unsure, broken pieces of my everyday existence...
I offer you my failed past efforts - and my recent halting steps - as I try to make things better...
I offer you the dull and empty feeling that I've nothing left to offer…
Be with me in my troubles, Lord, and help me trust and know you’re there, right there by my side...
Help me lean on others for support and accept the help they offer as your gracious gift to me
sent through their living hands...
Heal and mend me, Lord, and give me peace of mind and heart that I might welcome you with joy as Christmas day draws near...
I offer you all the hope and faith and trust I have, Lord - especially in those moments when they're all in short supply...
But what I have I offer, Lord, and pray you make of that, by your power and your grace, all I need to warmly welcome you with joy - when Christmas comes...
Amen.
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