Come Thou Fount (A Prayer)

Come, Thou Fount of every blessing,

All good things pour forth from you and they become blessings in their own good time. The forces that oppose you disguise their work as your goodness, but their efforts crumble under your mercy and eternal love. You are the source of joy, the mouth of the river of life, the wellspring of the everlasting hope.

Tune my heart to sing Thy grace;

I long for my soul to dance to your music, to be harmonized with you at a cellular level. Your beat, O God, is the rhythm of the desert stillness and the rush of wind through swamp reeds. Bring me into calibration with your wild cacophony and make me euphonious with your creation.

Streams of mercy, never ceasing,

The flow of your grace creates the geography of my life- the high banks, the refreshing pools, the place of reorientation when I am lost. I can perceive the edge of your plans for me, by meandering by the winding gurgling of the Water of Life.

Call for songs of loudest praise.

Amen! Amen! Amen! Lord, to whom should we go? You have the words of eternal life. There is no song that I would like to sing but Yours. I confess that my head turns at the strains of other notes, but they prove false every time. I rejoice in giving thanks and praise to You alone.

Teach me some melodious sonnet,

Shaping Spirit, I am afraid of you. I welcome you. I open myself to you through your own bidding and shaping. Make me receptive to your teaching, your tuning, your guidance, your glimpses. I wish to be part of the hymnody through which you bring freedom and restoration to the world.

Sung by flaming tongues above.

O glorious saints, you who pray for us and whose lives are now beyond our comprehension- do not cease! Your cloud of witness is a buffering reality for our souls. O angelic chorus, you who are created beings, too- knowing the pleasure of being at the service of the Holy Mystery- sing! Sing!

Praise the mount, I'm fixed upon it,

I have not come to this place through my own efforts. Please, let it be that I do not leave it ever.

Mount of Thy unchanging love.

Thank You. Thank You. Thank You.

Amen.

Crossed posted at RevGalBlogPals.org

Comments

What is Best (Sermon)

Pentecost 15 (Year A) Deuteronomy 4:1-2, 6-9; Psalm 15; James 1:17-27; Mark 7:1-8, 14-15, 21-23 I recently read a novel set in a post-pandemic, apocalyptic world. In the book, people were working to re-establish pockets of society. A traveling symphony moved from town to town in caravans- performing music and works of Shakespeare. Early in their travels, they had tried other plays, but people only wanted to see Shakespearean works. One of the symphony members commented on the desire for Shakespeare, "People want what was best about the world." As I read and since I finished the book, I kept thinking about that phrase. People want what was best about the world. People want what was best about the world. That is true even when we’re not in a cataclysmic re-working of what we’ve always known. The very idea of nostalgia, of longing for what once was, is about wanting what was best about the world or what seemed like the best to us. One of the massive tension...

The Reign of Christ and the Long Defeat

At one point in The Lord of the Rings, the royal elf Galadriel describes her life and experience and says, “… we have fought the long defeat.” Galadriel, like other elves and the Hobbits and many others, is depicted as being on the right side of things in the books. The Company of the Ring (the Fellowship) wins and defeats the forces of evil. Why would she consider this a “long defeat”? Furthermore, why would J.R.R. Tolkien, the author, apply the same term to himself. He wrote in a letter, “Actually, I am a Christian, and indeed a Roman Catholic, so that I do not expect ‘history’ to be anything but a 'long defeat’ – though it contains (and in a legend may contain more clearly and movingly) some samples or glimpses of final victory.” (Letter #195) Tolkien, a Brit, fought in World War 1. Though he was on the side that “won”, he saw the devastation following the war on all sides- how the “winners” struggled with what they had seen and done and how the “losers” were galvanized to see ...

I'm In

A few weeks ago , I was using voice-to-text to compose some prayers. After I was finished speaking the whole list, I was proof-reading the document and realized that everywhere I said “Amen”, the voice-to-text wrote “I’m in”. “Amen” essentially means “may it be so”, but what would it look like to end our prayers with “I’m in”. What would change if we rose from our knees, left our prayer closets, closed our devotionals, and moved with purpose toward the goals for which we had just prayed. Lord, in your mercy: Grant justice to the oppressed and disenfranchised (I’m in) Cast down the mighty from their thrones (I’m in) Console the grieving and welcome the prodigal (I’m in) Welcome strangers and attend to the marginalized (I’m in) Grant the space for the silenced to speak… and listen (I’m in) Fill the hungry with good things and send the rich away empty (I’m in) Forgive others as I am forgiven (I’m in) Be merciful as God in h...

Faith, Grace, and Hope

Search This Blog