Prayers and Poems

To be enlightened, by Robert Lax

12/4/2022

to be <<enlightened>> is not to shine; nor to bring
multitudes to the hill where one sits cross-
legged, to listen.
it is rather to know what one is doing (& even,
perhaps, to enjoy it).
thus i am glad that they say i am <<isichos>>
& not that they say i am rich (which I’m not).
they’ve discerned a direction i’ve taken, and one
which i hope i shall keep to.
Sometimes i’ve tried to see more than i saw (and
have tried to forget what I’ve seen).
& sometimes I’ve tried to see less than I saw (&
have tried to forget what I’ve seen).
but the world here is whole: whole & large &
patient. the longer I stay, the more patiently i
seek, the more, i believe, i shall learn.
here comes the shepherd
& his flock
(out of the shadow
of the rock)

Robert Lax (1915-2000)

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Celtic Encircling Prayer

11/17/2022

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Celtic Encircling Prayer
God of light and hope
God whose love is the circle
Whose centre is anywhere
And whose circumference is nowhere
We place our lives in your circle
That we may know the wonder of your love
And the security of your protection.
St Bonaventure

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Praying, by Mary Oliver

8/5/2022

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It doesn't have to be
the blue iris, it could be
weeds in a vacant lot, or a few
small stones; just
pay attention, then patch
a few words together and don't try
to make them elaborate, this isn't
a contest but the doorway
into thanks, and a silence in which
another voice may speak.

Mary Oliver

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Prayer by John Wesley

1/1/2022

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Lord I am no longer my own but thine.
Put me to what thou wilt, rank me with whom thou wilt.
Put me to doing, put me to suffering.
Let me be employed by thee, or laid aside for thee, exalted for thee or brought low for thee.
Let me be full, let me be empty.
Let me have all things, let me have nothing.
I freely and heartily yield all things to thy pleasure and service.
And now O glorious and blessed God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, thou art mine and I am thine. So be it.

John Wesley

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Come by Way, by George Herbert

3/12/2021

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George Herbert (1593–1633)

Come, my Way, my Truth, my Life:
Such a way as gives us breath;
Such a truth as ends all strife,
Such a life as killeth death.
Come, my Light, my Feast, my Strength:
Such a light as shows a feast,
Such a feast as mends in length,
Such a strength as makes his guest.
Come, my Joy, my Love, my Heart:
Such a joy as none can move,
Such a love as none can part,
Such a heart as joys in love.

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A Prayer for the Word Rabbi Harold S. Kushner

2/17/2021

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Let the sun come down and wash away the ancient grudges, the bitter hatreds held and nurtured over generations. Let the rain wash away the memory of the hurt, the neglect.
Then let the sun come out and fill the sky with rainbows.
Let the warmth of the sun heal us wherever we are broken.
Let it burn away the fog so that so that we can see each other clearly.
So that we can see beyond labels, beyond accents, gender or skin color.
Let the warmth and brightness of the sun melt our selfishness,
So that we can share the joys and feel the sorrows of our neighbors. And let the light of the sun be so strong that we will see all people as our neighbors. Let the earth nourished by rain, bring forth flowers to surround us with beauty. And let the mountains teach our hearts to reach upward to heaven.
Amen

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A Green Heart, by Kate MacIlhagga

2/9/2021

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A Green Heart
Into a dark world
a snowdrop comes,
a benison
of hope and peace,
carrying within it
a green heart,
symbol; of God’s renewing love.
Come to inhabit our darkness Lord Christ,
for dark and night
are alike to you.
May nature’s white candles of hope remind us of your birth
and light our journey
through Lent and beyond.
Kate MacIlhagga from: The Green Heart of the Snowdrop.

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Simeon the New Theologian

12/25/2020

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We awaken in Christ’s body
as Christ awakens our bodies,
and my poor hand is Christ, He enters
my foot, and is infinitely me.
I move my hand, and wonderfully
my hand becomes Christ, becomes all of Him
(for God is indivisibly
whole, seamless in His Godhood).
I move my foot, and at once
He appears like a flash of lightning.
Do my words seem blasphemous?—Then
open your heart to Him
and let yourself receive the one
who is opening to you so deeply.
For if we genuinely love Him,
We wake up inside Christ’s body
where all our body, all over,
every most hidden part of it,
is realized in joy as Him,
and He makes us, utterly, real,
and everything that is hurt, everything
that seemed to us dark, harsh, shameful,
maimed, ugly, irreparably
damaged, is in Him transformed
and recognized as whole, as lovely,
and radiant in His light
we awaken as the Beloved
in every last part of our body.

Symeon the New Theologian, “Hymn 15,” from The Enlightened Heart: An Anthology of Sacred Poetry, ed. Stephen Mitchell (Harper Perennial: 1993), 38–39.

Meditations@cac.org

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Stillness, by Thomas Keating

10/28/2020

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Our true nature is stillness,
The Source from which we come.
. . . .
The deep listening of pure contemplation
Is the path to stillness.
All words disappear into It,
And all creation awakens to the delight of
Just Being.
—Thomas Keating, “Stillness”

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Hildegard of Bingen

3/4/2020

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Holy Spirit
giving life to all life,
moving all creatures,
root of all things,
washing them clean,
wiping out their mistakes,
healing their wounds,
you are our true life,
luminous, wonderful,
awakening the heart
from its sleep.

Hildegard of Bingen

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Prayers and Poems

7/7/19 To those at our borders.
4/1/19 This is for serious surrender.
5/12/16 Praying the news.
2/28/14 Merton always speaks to me.
1/2/14 Starting the year with honesty.
2/27/13 Prayer of comfort.
7/9/12 Wonderful way to start and end the day.
6/6/12 Worth reading and trying to live by.
2/1/12 St. Brigid's Day
10/10/11 Said at Mom's committal service.
10/10/11 I added the 4th segment
10/7/11 A prayer from my mom's church papers.
8/17/11 A prayer of hope. Worth printing out.
7/21/11 I took the photo in Ireland this spring.
5/16/11 I sent this prayer to my mom today. She can't hear but she can read and she can pray.
4/28/11 A prayer of rebirth and hope
4/16/11 Prayer to Goddess Brigit and to St. Brigid
4/5/11 An evening poem
3/28/11 Poem of praise sent by a friend
3/18 Prayer of hope
3/10/11 Healing prayer from Iona
3/1/11 Parable from the Upanishads

To be enlightened, by Robert Lax

Celtic Encircling Prayer

Praying, by Mary Oliver

Prayer by John Wesley

Come by Way, by George Herbert

A Prayer for the Word Rabbi Harold S. Kushner

A Green Heart, by Kate MacIlhagga

Simeon the New Theologian

Stillness, by Thomas Keating

Hildegard of Bingen

Prayers and Poems

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