“May the Lord direct your hearts
to the
love of God
and to the
steadfastness of Christ.”
-2 Thess. 3:5
come down, o love, divine
Come down, O love divine, seek Thou this soul of mine,
And visit it with Thine own ardor glowing.
O Comforter, draw near, within my heart appear,
And kindle it, Thy holy flame bestowing.
O let it freely burn, til earthly passions turn
To dust and ashes in its heat consuming;
And let Thy glorious light shine ever on my sight,
And clothe me round, the while my path illuming.
Let holy charity mine outward vesture be,
And lowliness become mine inner clothing;
True lowliness of heart, which takes the humbler part,
And o’er its own shortcomings weeps with loathing.
And so the yearning strong, with which the soul will long,
Shall far outpass the power of human telling;
For none can guess its grace, till he become the place
Wherein the Holy Spirit makes His dwelling.
-Bianco of Siena, Come Down, O Love Divine
come, Holy Spirit, come
…
‘Come with the gift to heal
the wounds of guilt and fear,
And to oppression’s face reveal
The kingdom drawing near.
Where chaos longs to reign,
Descend, O holy Dove,
And free us all to work again
The miracles of love.
Spirit of truth, arise:
Inspire the prophet’s voice:
Expose to scorn the tyrant’s lies,
And bid the poor rejoice.
O Spirit, clear our sight,
All prejudice remove,
And help us to discern the right,
And covet only love.’
…
-Michael Forster, Come Holy Spirit, Come
the rhythm of our thoughts
“Do not forget Him!
Think of Him often:
adore Him ceaselessly:
live and die with Him.
That is the real business of a Christian; in a word, it is our profession. If we do not know it we must learn it.”
-Brother Lawrence
calm the sea
God Almighty,
The world is a tempest, raging,
tossing the nations about,
like a ship adrift, far from shore.
In your power, calm the waters,
and hear the call of your people.
Transform the world with your goodness,
and heal the world with your steadfast love.
Let all the rocks cry out, for you are King.
There is no other.
Amen
-Thom Turner at Everyday Liturgy
parenthood breath prayer
‘Teach me to do your will,
for you are my GOD.
Let your good Spirit
lead me to level ground.“
-Psalm 143:10
choosing joy
“For me it is amazing to experience daily the radical difference between cynicism and joy. Cynics seek darkness wherever they go. They point always to approaching dangers, impure motives, and hidden schemes. They call trust naive, care romantic, and forgiveness sentimental. They sneer at enthusiasm, ridicule spiritual fervor, and despise charismatic behavior. They consider themselves realists who see reality for what it truly is and who are not deceived by “escapist emotions.” But in belittling God’s joy, their darkness only calls forth more darkness.
People who have come to know the joy of God do not deny the darkness, but they choose not to live in it. They claim that the light that shines in the darkness can be trusted more than the darkness itself and that a little bit of light can dispel a lot of darkness. They point each other to flashes of light here and there, and remind each other that they reveal the hidden but real presence of God. They discover that there are people who heal each other’s wounds, forgive each other’s offenses, share their possessions, foster the spirit of community, celebrate the gifts they have received, and live in constant anticipation of the full manifestation of God’s glory.”
-Henri Nouwen, Return of the Prodigal
hope heals
motherhood
“The deal is — Motherhood isn’t sainthood and we’re all a bunch of sinners here and don’t let anyone tell you any different — pushing something out of your womb doesn’t make you a better woman. Real Womanhood isn’t a function of becoming a great mother, but of being loved by your Great Father. Someone write that on a card with a bouquet of flowers. We all need that.
We all need that for the days that we hated our mothers — or hated being a mother.
When no room was big enough to find peace and no clock could tick fast enough to just get the day over with, and the truth is, facades only end up suffocating us all and it’s only telling the truth that lets you breathe –
and there really were days that felt pretty bad and looked pretty ugly.
And maybe that’s what it really was — maybe the days were pretty and ugly. Pretty…Ugly.
The ugly beautiful of reality and love and humanity and what it means to become real.
That was what was happening: the stacks of dishes and everests of laundry and the tantrums of toddlers and teenagers and tired mamas and all the scuffed up walls down the hall and through the heart, they were all wearing down the plastic of pride, wearing us down to the real wood of grace and the Cross. It really is okay.
To lose it and be found, to be rubbed the wrong way to be come the rightest way, to let all the hard times rub you down to real.”
