Advent

Our Advent time on Saturday focused on the Prince of Peace and I used some different poems and meditations to help us to engage with the peace of Christ. Paying attention to Advent is so helpful for me. Even if I can only snatch 5 or 10 minutes to still myself and wait for God. As I slow down and sit in silence I find I become much more conscious of God's presence. These poems can be used for prayer and meditation, for simply sitting with or for reading out loud to ourselves and letting God's peace pervade us.

Silent God

This is my prayer –
That though I may not see
I be aware
Of the silent God who stands by me

That though I may not feel
I be aware
Of the mighty love which doggedly follows me

That though I may not respond
I be aware
That God – silent, mighty God
Waits each day
Quietly, hopefully, persistently
For me
For me alone

The Peace of Wild Things

When despair for the world grows in me

and I wake in the night at the least sound

in fear of what my life and my children's lives may be,

I go and lie down where the wood drake

rests in his beauty on the water, and the great heron feeds.

I come into the peace of wild things

who do not tax their lives with forethought

of grief. I come into the presence of still water.

And I feel above me the day-blind stars

waiting with their light. For a time

I rest in the grace of the world, and am free.

Wendell Berry

Emptiness Before God

Leader: Emptiness before God;

All: Fill me with the deep wisdom
Fill me with the great compassion
Fill me with the serene peace [pause]

Leader: Peace with God;

All: Let forgiveness flow
Let love come forth
Let energy return [pause]

Leader: Harmony with creation;

All: Deep peace of the shining stars
Deep peace of the running wave
Deep peace of the flowing air
Deep peace of the quiet earth
Deep peace of the Prince of Peace [pause]

Leader: Belonging to God;

All: Eternal Creator keep me
Beloved companion, Jesus, hold me
Gentle Spirit smile on me. Amen

I'll come back and blog on this again with some other poems and meditations.