Saturday, April 07, 2007

Easter Vigil Prayer

I ran into a new author. Joyce Rupp. She writes:Thus say God to these bones:"I will cause breath to enter you, and you shall live."Ezekiel 37:5
May I have this dance?

there I am
in Ezekiel's valley,
one heap among many,
just another stack of old,
dry bones.

some Mondays
feel this way,
and Tuesdays, too,
to say nothing of
Wednesday, Thursday, Friday.

Lost dreams
and forgotten pleasures,
sold like a soul
to a gluttonous world
feeding on my frenzy
and anxious activity.

but just when
the old heap of bones
seems most dry
and deserted,
a strong Breath of Life
stirs among my dead.

Someone named God
comes to my fragments
and asks,
with twinkling eye:
"May I have this dance?"

the Voice stretches into me,
a stirring leaps in my heart,
lifting up the bones of death.

then I offer my waiting self
to the One who's never stopped
believing in me,
and the dance begins.

I just spent an hour in prayer and reading scripture as part of the Easter vigil. What a quick hour. I found myself tense during my centering prayer, having to become aware enough to ask myself to relax.I felt at ease reading Psalms aloud. I read Psalm 31, 51 and 23.No-one there except me for an hour.

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