Haste, then, on from grace to glory,
Armed by faith and winged by prayer;
Heaven’s eternal day’s before thee,
God’s own hand shall guide thee there.
Soon shall close the earthly mission,
Swift shall pass thy pilgrim days,
Hope soon change to glad fruition,
Faith to sight, and prayer to praise.
-Henry Francis Lyte, Jesus, I My Cross Have Taken
My right hand—
when I cross myself—
patterns me with Presence
—Father, Son,
and Holy Ghost—
here in my head, my heart
(where I need it most),
my left side and my right.
Thus crossed before the cross,
I am signed both with
death and life,
the intersection of
darkness with light.
But with that crossing
in whatever holy place,
my dexterous right hallows
its sinister fellow.
Through Grace
rather than competing,
the agile blesses
the awkward part,
the strong (the one
that feeds me when I’m eating)
exalts the weak.
At Eucharist, or at table
for any sustaining meal,
the food I manage with
my right hands also feeds
the part less able
on its own to spoon, or speak
for its own needs.
So, here I kneel,
left hand cupped under right,
taking for both enough bread
for the journey,
for each, enough strength
for the week.
-Luci Shaw
May God give a blessing to this house.
God bless this house from roof to floor,
from wall to wall,
from end to end,
from its foundation and in its covering.
In the strong name of the triune God,
all disturbance cease,
captive spirits freed,
God’s Spirit alone
dwell within these walls.
We call up on the Sacred Three
to save, shield and surround
this house, this home,
this day, this night,
and every night.
Amen.
-Common Prayer: A Liturgy for Ordinary Radicals
Though the fig tree should not blossom,
nor fruit be on the vines,
the produce of the olive fail
and the fields yield no food,
the flock be cut off from the fold
and there be no herd in the stalls,
yet I will rejoice in the LORD;
I will take joy in the God of my salvation.
GOD, the Lord, is my strength;
he makes my feet like the deer’s;
he makes me tread on my high places.
-Habakkuk 3:17-19
Father who breathed into this daughter…
I pray for this girl being formed into eternity.
May the wind always be in her hair
May the sky always be wide with hope above her
And may all the hills be an exhilaration
the trials but a trail,
all the stones but stairs to God.
God, clothe this girl in a gown of grace
Grace,
the only dress that makes beautiful,
the style of Your spirit.
Nourish her on the comfort food of the Word,
Word, that makes her crave more of Christ,
have hunger pangs for Him.
Enclose her in communion with You
You,
Love who makes her love, who folds her heart
into a roof
that absorbs storms for souls,
that makes her tongue speak only the words that make souls stronger.
May her vocation in this world simply be translation.
Translating every enemy into esteemed guest
Translating every countenance into the face of Christ
Translating every burden into blessing
When it’s hard to be patient… make her willing to suffer
When it’s ridiculous to be thankful … make her see all is grace
When it’s radical to forgive … make her live the foundation of our faith
And when it’s time to work… make her a holy wonder.
May she be bread and feed many with her life and her laughter
May she be thread and mend brokeness and knit hearts
May she be dead to all ladders & never go higher,
only lower, to the lonely, the least & the longing
Her led of the Spirit to lead many to the Cross
that leads to the tomb wildly empty.
Oh, and raise me, Lord, from the deadness of my own sins
to love this beautiful girl like You do…
In the name of Christ who rose
and appeared first
to one of His daughters…
Amen.
-Ann Voskamp
-Andrei Rublev, Trinity Icon
I will not hurry through this day!
Lord, I will listen by the way,
To humming bees and singing birds,
To murmuring trees and friendly words;
And for the moments in between
Seek glimpses of Thy great Unseen.
I will not hurry through this day,
I will take time to think and pray;
I will look up into the sky
Where fleecy clouds and swallows fly;
And somewhere in the day, maybe,
I will catch whispers, Lord, from
Thee!
-Ralph Spaulding Cushman
IF
my attitude be one of fear, not faith,
about one who has disappointed
me;
If I say, “Just what I expected,” if a
fall occurs,
then I know nothing of Calvary love.
-Amy Carmichael, If
peacocks for pilgrims 