Thinking ahead to Sunday's Gospel which is the parable of the loaves and fishes I was struck by this phrase which I have often overlooked in the light of the main miracle.
For some reason I was led to thinking that even after being given the opportunities to be filled with the life of God time after time, we can convince ourselves we have little left to give, but God can always turn us into something much more;
so that when we are fragmented God takes the little bits and pieces we are and gathers us in to restore us to wholeness..
So perhaps this poem fits well with that.
O GOD, gather me now to be with you as you are with me.
Soothe my tiredness;
quiet my fretfulness;
curb my aimlessness;
receive my compulsiveness;
let me be easy for a moment.
O LORD, release me from the fears and guilts which grip me so tightly;
from the expectations and opinions which I so tightly grip,
that I may be open to receiving,
to learn something refreshingly different.
O GOD, gather me to be with you as you are with me.
Forgive me for claiming so much for myself that I leave no room for gratitude;
for confusing exercises in self-importance with acceptance of self-worth;
for complaining so much of my burdens that I become a burden;
for competing against others so insidiously that I stifle celebrating them and receiving your blessing through their gifts.
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 weakness into compassion;
gentle my envy into enjoyment,
my fear into trust,
my guilt into honesty,
my accusing finger into tickling ones.
O GOD, gather me to be with you as you are with me.
by Ted Loder, Guerillas of Grace
Image from here
"They all ate and were satisfied,
and they picked up the fragments left over—
twelve wicker baskets full. "
and they picked up the fragments left over—
twelve wicker baskets full. "
so that when we are fragmented God takes the little bits and pieces we are and gathers us in to restore us to wholeness..
So perhaps this poem fits well with that.
Gather Me God
O GOD, gather me now to be with you as you are with me.
Soothe my tiredness;
quiet my fretfulness;
curb my aimlessness;
receive my compulsiveness;
let me be easy for a moment.
O LORD, release me from the fears and guilts which grip me so tightly;
from the expectations and opinions which I so tightly grip,
that I may be open to receiving,
to learn something refreshingly different.
O GOD, gather me to be with you as you are with me.
Forgive me for claiming so much for myself that I leave no room for gratitude;
for confusing exercises in self-importance with acceptance of self-worth;
for complaining so much of my burdens that I become a burden;
for competing against others so insidiously that I stifle celebrating them and receiving your blessing through their gifts.
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 weakness into compassion;
gentle my envy into enjoyment,
my fear into trust,
my guilt into honesty,
my accusing finger into tickling ones.
O GOD, gather me to be with you as you are with me.
by Ted Loder, Guerillas of Grace
2 comments:
Hi Fran,
Great to have your comments and glad you like the poem as much as I did !
Blessings
Oh those words - wonderful... deepen my wounds into wisdom. I really love the sentiment of this and the reminder of what God can do, if we but let God do it. Thank you Phil.
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