When We Have Shaken Off Our Wine
Prayer of the week
Jesus said, “I stood at rest in the midst of the world. And unto them I was shown forth incarnate; I found them all intoxicated. And I found none of them thirsty. And my soul was pained for the children of humankind, for they are blind in their hearts and cannot see. For, empty did they enter the world, and again empty they seek to leave the world. But now they are intoxicated. When they shake off their wine then they will have a change of heart.”
Gospel of Thomas, Saying 28
You stood in the midst
and you found me
drunk on delusion,
sodden with self-will,
pickled in pride,
miserably muddled,
bitterly befuddled,
a wastrel with an empty cup.
But also,
in deep, hidden places
there was shown in me
a thirst
a yearning
—bursting to be free—
reaching out my cup
for a drop
of living water.
And then I could See,
and you were there.
(The heart changes in
such moments
of seeming despair.)
And I could See,
and you were there,
outpouring,
saying:
”Blessed are the thirsty.”
I turned my cup
the right way up
and received.
And now I pray
to hasten the day
when we all—
blind drunkards that we are—
have shaken off our wine
(even if only a day at a time)
and See.
Previous Prayers of the Week:
There is a River (Psalm 46, Interpolated)
There is a river coursing through the cosmos (it is love) Whose streams —peace, truth, joy— wending through the wilds, nurture the soil, sprout seeds in each square inch of space, cause blossoms to unfurl in even the darkest places Make glad a human heart,
A Mystic's Sacrificial Rite
Holy One, In ancient times, sacrifice meant “to make sacred.” Burnt at the altar, the gift was purified in the flames, its savory aroma rising in plumes of smoke to please your heavenly nostrils. The modern mind thinks of doing without; of giving something up.
A Canticle for Broken Hearts
Healer of Hearts, you who know every break, every tear, every hairline fracture you who abide in each beat and flutter and in the silences between you who cradle this, my heart, in your hand stitch these wounds with threads of light fill up this, my loss, with waves of unwavering love
Thank you for enjoying!