I have a new toy. It’s a rope chair swing that hangs from a sturdy !! tree in my beautiful backyard. I have tilled the ground and planted my plants and now like so many farmers, I watch them grow and help God with the watering.
So this is summer for me. Time to re-create and renew my soul- that is until the evenin comes and the mosquitos drive me inside or up to the deck to look for repellent. But while I sit and swing I can think and pray, and still feel like I am moving toward something. (Moving while I pray is important to me- just antsy I guess)
I have been reading “Strengthening the Soul of Your Leadership” by Ruth Haley Barton. She quotes Ted Loder often. He has written a series of prayers in a book entitled “Guerrillas of Grace.” I think, he might be right, that we must fight fiercely like guerrillas to stand up for the fragile grace that needs defending. I am strengthening my soul for the fight. Here is one of my favorite prayers:
“O God, gather me — to be with you — as you are with me. Keep me in touch with myself, – with my needs, – my anxieties, – my angers, – my pains, my corruptions,– that I may claim them as my own rather than blame them on someone else.
O Lord, deepen my wounds into wisdom, — shape my weaknesses into compassion, – gentle my envy into enjoyment,– my fear into trust, —my guilt into honesty.
O God gather me —to be with you— as you are with me.”
Now read it again… slowly… and may you have a swinging summer too.
