Lord, in the years that are left to me ….

I recently came across this reflective poem by “Unknown Author”  Curious, I googled and found it is attributed to Martha Snell Nicholson. who has written many beautiful poems on Christ and salvation.   Sharing this one which is my prayer too. 

 His Plan for Me

When I stand at the Judgement Seat of Christ

And He shows His plan for me,

The plan of my life as it might have been

Had He had His way – and I see

How I blocked Him here, and checked Him there,

And I would not yield my will,

Will there be grief in my Savior’s eyes,

Grief though He loves me still?

Would He have me rich and I stand there poor,

Stripped of all but His grace,

While memory runs like a hunted thing,

Down the paths I cannot retrace.

Lord, of the years that are left to me

I give them to Thy hand

Take me and break me and mould me,

To the pattern that Thou hast planned!

Amen !!

Photo Credit : https://unsplash.com/s/photos/time

“Now do you have time for me?”

“… In the busy times of the months and the years that have preceded self-isolation and social distancing, many things have been tucked onto the back shelves of my consciousness, some of them neatly in filing boxes, and others less tidily, just kind of jammed into bags and tied shut.

I am finding some of those things are opening in the silence and stillness. Some of them are calling to be attended to now, asking the question:

“Now do you have time for me?”

Many of these things are me-and-Creator projects … they are not things a family member or friend or partner or therapist can help with. They are things that can only be attended to in divine presence. They are only manageable when I open them with an infinite, omniscient, omnipresence alongside me.

Sometimes the call of those back shelves things feels a little bit like madness. Like insanity and over-whelmation knocking at the doors of my consciousness.

But I trust that it is not.

And I trust that when these back shelf things are attended with, social distancing will not equate to emotional or psychological distancing … and perhaps we might all emerge able to be more of our authentic selves than we ever were before 🙂 At a safe distance apart, but more honest, more vulnerable, more self-loving, more self-compassionate than we ever were before.

It is not easy.

The distraction of trying to re-establish pre COVID norms using online means is a strong distraction. Also the distraction of numbing myself with food, Netflix or news binges.

But, at the end of the day, the voices of back shelf things will keep calling out in the night and the day …

“Now do you have time for me?”

I know Creator is ready … and I pray that I be equipped with the courage and honesty to spend some of this precious time with my back shelf things. I pray that you give me what I need to be kind to myself in this time of close proximity with back shelf things.

Amen.  “

Above is an FB  post by Janaki Bandara – the daughter of a friend  which really touched me.

Despite all the time that is now available to me … I am ashamed of how I would have to answer the question my Lord is posing.

Time to pull.into still waters and drop anchor🙏

God grant me a sense of humour …

I used to be careless and carefree … but now – I don’t know whether it is due to age or  the weather or even a condition of blood pressure – as my younger sister  who aspires to be a home doctor claims – I find myself getting all serious on things that I did not bother about before.  ‘Over thinking it‘ in the jargon of my nieces.

Thus I was happily surprised when I came across this article in Aleteia mentioning the  prayer by St. Thomas Moore which Pope Francis has been reciting daily for 40 years!!  It is surely a secret to his cheerfulness … and so I gladly share for any of my cranky friends out there. 😍

Extract from Aleteia article …

In a book-interview “God is Young,” the Holy Father reveals the prayer he’s been reciting for 40 years to not be taken too seriously and maintain a touch of humor.

“Grant me, O Lord, good digestion, and also something to digest.
Grant me a healthy body, and the necessary good humor to maintain it.
Grant me a simple soul that knows to treasure all that is good
and that doesn’t frighten easily at the sight of evil,
but rather finds the means to put things back in their place.
Give me a soul that knows not boredom, grumblings, sighs and laments,
nor excess of stress, because of that obstructing thing called “I.”
Grant me, O Lord, a sense of good humor.
Allow me the grace to be able to take a joke to discover in life a bit of joy,
and to be able to share it with others.”

St. Thomas More (1478-1535).

It reminds me of the words of Chesterton

Quote: G.K. Chesterton

which I had also quoted in a previous post Angels with only one wing along with other advice to myself .. which I have not quite taken heed of.  Or have I ??

Aww … what the heck… life is too short to wonder whether I have or  not.   😘 😘

 

 

 

Does your space influence your praying?

I’ve been waking up around 3.00 am these days, as my body adjusts to effects of a trans-Atlantic trip.  I have been going to bed late hoping  I would sleep right through.  However I find myself awake in a couple of hours, trying to figure out how to while away the time till the dawn.

So I wander around a bit, pet the dog, pick up a book and put it down again for my eyes are too tired to concentrate.  I switch on the TV.   More of the same stuff – Trump and his trip, Trump and

As the deer panteth …

Touching words extracted from a post Touching the Stars by Michelle Franckl-Donnay

We describe prayer as talking to God or listening to God. Yet both these images of prayer let me keep a bit of distance between God and me. I sit on the sofa, God next to me. I look up to the altar or to the heavens, God before me, God above me. But I’m starting to wonder if to pray is in reality to touch and be touched by God. To move toward God, reaching out, and at the same time, to be still, allowing God’s hand to rest upon me. To let go of my boundaries, to be uncertain where I end and God takes up. To be willing to risk letting God within me.

In Mere Christianity, C. S. Lewis urges us to get our hands into the mystery that is God and let it get into us: “If you want to get warm you must stand near the fire: if you want to be wet you must get into the water. If you want joy, power, peace, eternal life, you must get close to, or even into, the thing that has them.” We are called not just to walk with Christ but to be clothed in Christ, to wrap ourselves up in God.

…    And what do I desire, if not the infinite, invincible, ineffable God, come to dwell within my very ordinary life?

As the deer panteth

Letting God work on us

Prayer has far more to do with what God wants to do in us than with our trying to “reach” or “realize,” still less “entertain,” God in prayer.

This truth eliminates anxiety and concern as to the success or non-success of our prayer, for we can be quite certain that, if we want to pray and give the time to prayer, God is always successful and that is what matters.

What we think of as our search for God is, in reality, a response to the divine Lover drawing us to himself.  There is never a moment when divine Love is not at work.

This work is nothing other than a giving of the divine Self in love.

The logical consequence for us must surely be that our part is to

let ourselves be loved,

—let ourselves be given to,

let ourselves be worked upon by this great God

and made capable of total union with Him. “

This reflection extracted from Ruth Burrows Essence of Prayer  so closely resembles my Advent wish ‘Receive His Love’  from a different perspective that I thought I would share it as my Christmas post.

My wish for my Christian brothers and people of all faiths is that we will let God – whoever you conceive Him to be – to work on us this Christmas so there is peace on earth,  good will and love amongst men.

See more at: http://www.ignatianspirituality.com/ignatian-prayer/the-spiritual-exercises/an-ignatian-prayer-adventure/week-1/#sthash.4vWR0i0k.dpuf

Thinking with my heart!

Jesus living wisdom

Shorten the distance between my head and my heart.

Teach me how to THINK WITH MY HEART

so that all my thoughts are filled with love.

Show me that wisdom is truth tasted in all its beauty.

Walk with me as I learn from life how wisdom becomes my friend.

 

Mary, Wise woman, pray for me

that  I may receive the gift of wisdom

and the love which makes it possible.

Holy Spirit, your first gift is wisdom.

Breathe on me, breath of God, and immerse me in this gift.

Take away my fear and fill me with love.

Show me that courage is a heart that acts,

Which is a way of saying that WISDOM 

FLOWS FROM THE HEART

Opening prayer from A Retreat with John XXIII .

 

How should I pray?

The question has been on my mind these past few days.  A  loved one in pain has been asked to do a full bone scan to check for recurrence of the dreaded C cell.  Yes, Cancer.

It was discovered early and she was operated 18 months ago.  Everything  seemed fine but this pain and the doctor’s request has me worried.  Should I just trust that God the Healer and Loving Father will surely take care of his child?  Or should I pray, petition and plead for healing?

The answer depends on who I conceive God to be.   “Who do you say I AM?”  A benefactor who answers our petitions?