16 February, 2025

7:01 AM; At the end of the hall with tea that is cooling to a sippable temperature.  Oh!  I just looked out the window and the show is starting…It’s a beauty.  Thank you for the ways you remind creation that there is always hope. Especially now.  With the everything-everywhere-all at once-ness state of being globally—and specifically in the United States, though little happens there in isolation.  I was part of a conversation that included a comment about prayer being used to mask or escape from what is happening.  I was surprised, in some ways, about how that can happen—unless it is about prayer that removes human agency and assumes you will simply take care of things?  Or that the world gets lost in a focus on one’s personal relationship with you?  Maybe.  I didn’t have a chance to ask about the comment… But it does get me thinking more about the prayer that has begun my days these last number of weeks…a prayer I have come to sink into in the best possible way.  It’s not new…according to a friend, it’s been in every Anglican prayer book since 1662!

Almighty God,
to you all hearts are open,
all desires known,
and from you, no secrets are hid.
Cleanse the thoughts of my heart
through the inspiration of your Holy Spirit
that I may perfectly love you
and worthily magnify your Holy Name.
Through Christ our Lord.

Part of the reason this has moved me is how it situates oneself, one’s desires, and one’s actions, relative to you.

We are All known to you—To you all hearts are open; You know our heart’s orientation—All desires are known; And nothing remains a secret, tucked away unknown to you—From you no secrets are hid; To maintain this clarity, this flow of right relationship, your help is needed—cleanse the thoughts of my heart through the inspiration of your Holy Spirit; so that my Actions make manifest this relationship of Love, Mercy, Compassion, Welcome, Dignity, Inclusion, Respect—that I might perfectly love you and worthily magnify your Holy Name.  Because isn’t that what happens when my actions reflect our relationship?  YES, petition for change, work for change, within systems so that systems reflect these values of love, mercy, compassion, justice, etc…while also recognizing my own place and influence on ‘the system’ too.  Me, I can control, I can orient—with and through your grace and help, your patience, love, and care.  

For that, I am ever grateful.  Without that, without an abiding awareness of your intimate love, your covenant of presence and belonging…Honestly, I don’t know where I’d be.  Especially now, these days…

As another friend posted, “Don’t judge each day by the harvest you reap, but by the seeds that you plant.” (Robert Louis Stevenson)

Indeed.  That I feel like I can wrap my head around… Help me plant seeds that reflect your welcome, your steadfast solidarity of a Love that knows no bounds.  Let this be the thought and desire of my heart, my active way of loving you and revealing your name, your nearness, your poetry of hope. Amen.