Kathy Albert: Prayers for Life

with 2 Comments
Parishioner Kathy Albert wrote this reflection on two meaningful prayers. Thank you for sharing, Kathy! 

When life gets rugged, I turn to a wealth of spiritual wisdom that has sustained me over the years. Here's a prayer that I am saying out loud now after meals. It comes from Gates of the House: The New Union Home Prayer Book, published by the Central Conference of American Rabbis:

"Let us praise God.
Praised be the name of God, now and forever!
Blessed is our God, of whose abundance we have eaten.
Blessed is our God, of whose abundance we have eaten, and by whose goodness we live.
Blessed is the One-Who-Is!
Blessed is the [Holy One] our God, [Sovereign] of the universe, whose goodness sustains the world.
The God of grace, love, and compassion is the source of food for all who live—for God's love is everlasting.
Through God's great goodness we do not lack and will not ever lack.
For God is in the goodness that sustains and nourishes all, providing food enough for every living being.
Blessed is the [Holy One], Source of food for all who live."
Thomas Merton prayed a prayer that also finds resonance in my own heart, especially now:
"My Lord God, I have no idea where I am going.
I do not see the road ahead of me.
I cannot know for certain where it will end.
Nor do I really know myself, and the fact that I think that I am following your will does not mean that I am actually doing so.
But I believe that the desire to please you does in fact please you.
And I hope I have that desire in all that I am doing.
I hope that I will never do anything apart from that desire.
And I know that if I do this you will lead me by the right road though I may know nothing about it.
Therefore will I trust you always though I may seem to be lost and in the shadow of death.
I will not fear, for you are ever with me, and you will never leave me to face my perils alone."
I am now no more vulnerable to death than I have ever been.  Life is always tenuous!  So I can take this moment to choose life more than ever!  In the face of the deaths, I choose to live!  Life is good!

2 Responses

  1. Chris Rigos
    | Reply

    Kathy, what a beautiful two pieces! The prayer after (or before) meals is so helpful in this difficult shut down time. For me, I think of all those homeless persons we serve and pray that somehow they+we can get through this time. Like everyone, I find that I have to stay conscious of my blessings and remain committed to this kind of ministry, somehow, or someway. Be well and stay healthy, Kathy! Much Peace to you! Chris Rigos

  2. Kathy Albert
    | Reply

    Thank you, Chris! The more I turn my gaze to my very real blessings, the more they live in me, and then there’s no room for fear, worry or distress. Perhaps strangely to us, in this time we’re being given an immense gift. In the slowing and the limitation, we may have more of a chance to turn our selves to behold the face of our Mother and Father, providing for us all. If we do, there is only joy! In everything, Love always wins!

    I know a man who was formerly homeless. He says the people who are the least afraid right now ARE the homeless. This makes sense to me. The more we lose and the more we’ve let go, the more we can experience the Love that sustains us.

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