Red Poppies for Ruth
[Red poppies have black centres producing
seed as small as grains of dust]
 
  
Dust to dust; dust of seeds;
Dust to dust; seeds to earth.
A pinch of poppy dust
to sprinkle on the soil;
reluctantly released,
with watching, faithful faith.  
Still clear in thought and heart -
not dark decaying seed -
red flowers of memory -
lost in the cold darkness;
beneath the rain of tears,
seeming decay and loss
of nature's agony.       
To mark the place, a cross
of sticks - our sign of faith.
We wait, we watch, we hope,
we picture memories -
both cruel and tender views -
 
And so we loose our hold,
trusting for transition,
until green shoots appear -
first signs to stir our hope:
Then come bowed heads - dew-touched -
exposed to cruel winds -
shaped like a question mark
dividing faith from doubt -
till open to the sun,
beauty blood red with black
at heart - more seeds to come -
The glory will not cease.
This is God's way for life -
life sown in the dark earth
yields to his transition
in the environment
of faith and hope and love;
Green shoots - Creator changed -
to beauty beyond words;
as death and life entwine,
joy and sorrow combine,
in his resurrection.
Red poppies stain the world:
Rich blood red, they witness
To God's undying love;
Promise of transition:
Death to resurrection. 

O Jesus, I will pray for sinners ceaselessly!
I came to Carmel - why?
To people heaven!
 
Therese de Lisieux - Poems

Two more prayers

Living Today
 
Today, my Lord,
make me aware of experiences of beauty and goodness;
let me not lose the wonder and surprise at meeting each one.
 
I will also come face to face
with the horror and ugliness of life;
with the hurt and pain of human suffering;
may I be ready to see the glory of your resurrection
 beyond your cross of pain
and be always ready to pray 
Your will be done, your kingdom come,
here just like it is in heaven. 
The Kingdom is yours with power and glory.
 
 
 
Joy today
 
Lord, you come to us as the first gift of the day.
To know your presence is to begin the day with joy
to desire that all this day's life
shall flow to you like the river to the sea.
 
Your joy strengthens us to be completely one with you
through the joys and sorrows,
the gains and losses,
the rising and falling of faith.
 
Your joy opens our minds to your amazing universe:
to see and hear it as new;
to work with it in harmony;
 
Your joy
is in the green grass pushing through hard soil;
the forest being untangled to make a home;
the rubbish being thrown out to furnich a clean start;
in every word and action
which brings peace and order.
 
Your joy
enables us to live to the full
the life you have given to us;
to live it bravely;
to live it for others;
 
May i never separate the joy of life with you
from the life of action with and for you
 
All through this day let the surge of your universal energy
come to us like the impetuous south wind of the Spring
with the fragrance of flowers;
the murmuring of trees in leaf;
the awakening of the earth for fruitful fulfilment.
 
 (inspired by a prayer of Rabindranath Tagor)

Oh, now in my deep silence may
I share the work they strive to do!
Yes, through my brothers, far away,
I'll be converting sinners too!
 
[Therese of Lisieux on her ministry of prayer and writing.
For her it was sharing in the whole work of Christ's Kingdom]

Two more prayers ready to publish in Prayers across the Ages  2
​

Morning Prayer
 
Lord, my God,
Thank you for a safe night of refreshing sleep.
spent in your fatherly care.
May I know the same kindness all through today,
helping me to think, speak, act and even breathe in ways
which will please you;
bring blessing to my neighbours;
and cause no harm to myself.
 
May all I do this day
be in line with your perfect will;
advance your glory;
fulfil your calling of me;
and help me to love all whom I meet, just as I would be loved myself.
 
May I be always ready for your call to serve you;
living gloriously and graciously as your child;
and at one with Jesus Christ my Lord.
 
  After Thomas Bacon (chaplain to Archbishop Cranmer (1512 - 67)

Sunrise Prayer
 
Light!   Truth!
Glorious God of sunrise,
You created our sun among myriad universes.
I praise you for the joy and hope of every sunrise.
Make today a new beginning for me,
leading on to richer experiences of your love.
 
Rivers!   Oceans!
Glorious God of flowing, sparkling waters,
I praise you for tuneful, rippling streams;
for thunderous ocean waves sculpting the shoreline:
Life-giving resources.
Let the stream which is my life, join the full current of your purposes,
until I find my freedom in the ocean-like depths of your love.
 
Hills!  Mountains!
Glorious, stable, unchanging God.
I praise you for the knowledge of your constant, never-failing grace,
embracing all creation   - and me!
 
God!   Father!
Jesus!   Son!
Glorious in the midst of your creation!
I praise you for showing us your light and truth in Jesus.
He is our life-resource;
He is our eternal hope.
I will trust you through him who is my forever life;
and in whose grace I may overcome in all things.
 
                                    Inspired by words from the Hindu Rig Veda
 

 
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