How moving is a moment of silence
When above noisy thoughts, my inner ear
Hears a song playing over and over in my mind.
I listen to the lyrics and marvel,
For these are the very words I need
To be in harmony with the whole of my being,
To sing the song that is in my heart,
And play the music that is in my soul.
I pray that I'm a window
for the sun to sparkle through
even if others prefer
art glass of brilliant hue.
I would have God's love
shine through me
so everyone will say:
"I didn't even see the glass,
but what a perfect day!"
When I speak to friends,
God,
May it always be you they hear.
Teach me the gentle,
Loving and thoughtful act
That they may feel your presence.
Guide my hand in tenderness,
My heart in compassion,
My mind in merciful justice
Until I shine,
Shine, God, in your light,
Radiantly joyful to be
Your clear expression.
How often have I stood and knocked
Outside my father's door
So fearful I would find it locked
Though it never was before?
How often then did I recall
my father's loving care
When he gave to me the master key
The golden key of prayer?
I sleep in his peace,
I wake in his joy,
I walk in his light,
And am warmed by his love.
And all that I am and ever will be
Is all because he lives in me.
How wonderful,
how marvelous
I know it is
to be
one small
integral part
of God's
divinity.
Today,
I need no stained glass windows in a church.
Here on our roofless deck I lift my eyes,
This time not unto the hills
But to the eastern sky.
The emerald leaves of one tall branch
Form a mosaic
Against the breathless blue of heaven
Where here and there whisps of clouds,
Pink and lavender, peach and gold,
Reflected from the setting sun
Filter through with a quiet elegance
that brings from deep with a reverent sigh.
I watch in silence at the hallowed sight -
God's handiwork,
And long to share it with the world.
'Tis not a time to loudly sing a song of praise,
But rather to be still
and listen to the inner voice that whispers,
"God is truly in this place."
God,
let me not wait
'till the leaven burn the year
in glory
or the apples fill my shelves;
let me not wait for the corn to tassel
or the river to run full.
God,
let me not wait
to sing you the fullness
of day and season,
of kiss and happy laughter,
of the handclasps in parting.
God,
let me give thanks now
out of the fullness
of grace,
of joy,
of heartache
for the fullness
of life.
I thank God for the restless beauty of the sea,
And feel an inner restlessness in me.
Each day my awareness grows
As my mind expands.
My God-self knows
More certain that surf and sand and sun,
God and I --
we are one.
I feel him in the touch of wind
I hear his steps in rain
I see him when I view the hills
Or gaze on mountain plain.
His warmth smiles down by sun at day
His arms are of the tree
His calm I see in still of night
His beauty is the sea.
I see his love in birth of spring
In soil of land his claim
In splendor white of new cast snow
Lie imprints of his name.
His voice is of the rippling brook
His eyes the evening star
The moon his beaming light to me
To guide me from afar.
It seems that I am not alone
Nor shall I ever be
For as I walk this road of life
I know he is with me.
God is the star that guides us.
Faith charts the course we will follow.
Strength holds our hands to the tiller.
Wisdom navigates us through the waters.
Love makes us one with our ship.
Power gives commands to go forward.
Imagination sees what lies ahead.
Understanding fills our sails with wind.
Will carries out our directions.
Order keeps our ship running smoothly.
Zeal spurs us on, hour by hour.
Renunciation lets go of our worries.
Life is the energy we move by.
God is the port that we head toward.
God is the whole of our voyage.
