When the stream of our lives

Seems to vanish into desert sands,

and we wonder if we’ve lost our way,

 

When between our talent and output,

Between our aspiration and achievement.

Falls the shadow,

 

When we have reaped less than we’ve planted

And we wonder if we’ve given our children

Solid skills for this whirling world.

 

There is still hope. A lever

Which can change everything

And revise the plot

Of what seems like our wasted lives.

* * *

 

Prayer which can take the story of a life

Which seems hopelessly mired

Unpromising and bleak,

 

Oh, and just reverse the whole thing!!

Making it burst into colour,

Twists and turns, whirls and spirals

 

When we call out to the Lord in our despair

He comes,

Scouring our spirits with repentance

 

Filling them with his Spirit,

New ideas, new vision, new love.

Fresh grace, fresh strength, fresh fire.

* * *

 

And again and again, when my life

Seemed stymied, and my dreams

Have crashed, and sadness surrounds me,

 

When I seemed unable to do the simplest things,

Lose some weight

Write some words,

Parent well,

And I cried out to you in my despair,

 

You came, you came,

Flooding me with your tenderness

Bestowing new ideas, new grace!

* * *

 

Oh Lord, we see so little of reality:

We see the caterpillar,

Not the iridescent butterfly,

The acorn, not the oak.

 

But the drab apple seed

Is never the end of the story.

 

Help me remember, Lord,

That you take five loaves and two fish

And multiply and multiply.

 

So I give you my hopes,

I give you my dreams,

My weakness, my strength.

 

Take and receive, Oh Lord,

Breathe on them, transform them,

Bring fruitfulness from these seeds.