Ending this day restored

Daily Devotion - April 7

I will send a brief message each day (except Monday) while we are pausing gathering in person.
- Kara

It's been a full day for me and my household - at one point 3/4 of the residents in my house were on different zoom calls. There was simply more to do than time for, and it's hard to stay grounded when that's the case. But the sun is bright, and the air is warm, and each day is its own day, with gifts and fears, disappointments and satisfaction all mixed in. 

The Psalms are a gift to us right now - prayers that run the gamut of emotions.  

This one spoke to me today.

Psalm 54 

Awaken me, O Blessed Healer with

your holy mercy,

that I may be free of fear.

Hear my prayer, O Holy One;

give ear to the words of 

my mouth.

For nagging doubts assail me,

bringing loneliness and pain;

I remember not the Beloved, so

overwhelming are my fears.

Yet behold, You are my helper,

the upholder of my life.

With You I have the strength to

face my fears;

Your faithfulness will help me 

transform them into love.

With boundless confidence, I

abandon myself into your Heart;

I give praise to your holy Name,

O Beloved,

with gratitude and joy.

For You deliver me from my illusions,

and, through Love, my heart

opens to Wisdom.

from Psalms for Praying, by Nan C. Merrill

CONNECTING RITUAL:

Perhaps, tonight before we go to bed, whatever time that is in each of our homes, we might pray this prayer, and so join our hearts:
I seek your presence, O God,
not because I have managed to see clearly
or been true in all things this day,
not because I have succeeded in loving
or in reverencing those around me,
but because I want to see with clarity
because I long to be true
and desire to love as I have been loved.
Renew my inner sight,
make fresh my longings to be true
and grant me the grace of loving this night
that I may end this day restored to my deepest yearnings,
that I may end this day as I intend to live tomorrow,
as I intend to live tomorrow.
Amen.