The Two Ways: A Wisdom Song

Woe to us when we walk in the way of wickedness,
when we bend our ear to the counsel of deceit,
and scoff at what is holy from the seat of pride.
                                        Keep us true to your Way.

Blessings upon us when we delight in the truth of God,
and ponder God’s law by day and by night,
when we stand up for truth in face of the lie,
when we mouth no slogans and betray no friends.
                                        Keep us true to your Way.

Then we shall grow like trees planted by streams of water,
that yield their fruit in due season,
whose leaves do not wither.
                                        Keep us true to your Way.

We struggle with evil in our hearts,
tossed to and fro like chaff in the wind,
a rootless people whose lives have no meaning,
unable to stand when judgment comes,
desolate, outside the house of our God.
                                        Keep us true to your Way.

May ways of wickedness perish among us:
forgive us, O God, and renew us,
lead us in path of justice and truth,
obedient to your Wisdom and your Will,
trusting in the hope of your promise.
                                        Keep us true to your Way.

Giver of life, save us from the desert of faithlessness,
and nourish us with the living water of your Word,
that we may bring forth fruit that will last,
in the name of Jesus Christ our Saviour.



--The Rev. Jim Cotter, Anglican priest and poet, from Psalms for a Pilgrim People.

Scripture Reference: Psalm 1, Proper 25A, track 1

Watching and Waiting (Psalm 130)

          Dare I enter the dark?

                Refrain: costing not less than everything,
                all manner of things shall be well.

Empty, exhausted, and ravaged,
in the depths of despair I writhe.
Anguished and afflicted, terribly alone,
I trudge a bleak wasteland, devoid of all love.

In the echoing abyss I call out:
no God of Compassion hears my voice.
Yet still I pray, Open your heart,
for my tears well up within me.

If you keep account of all that drags me down,
there is no way I can ever stand firm.
Paralyzed and powerless, I topple over,
bound by the evil I hate.

But with you is forgiveness and grace,
there is nothing I can give - it seems like a death.
The power of your love is so awesome:
I am terrified by your freeing embrace.

Drawn from the murky deeps by a fishhook,
I shout to the air that will kill me:
must I leave behind all that I cherish
before I can truly breathe free?

Suspended between one world and the next,
I waited for you, my God.
Apprehension and hope struggled within me,
I waited, I longed for your word.

As a watchman waits for the morning,
through the darkest and coldest of nights,
more even than the watchman who peers through the gloom,
I hope for the dawn, I yearn for the light.

You will fulfill your promise to bring me alive,
overflowing with generous love.
You will free me from the grip of evil,
O God of mercy and compassion.

Touching and healing the whole of my being,
you are a God whose reach has no limit.
All that has been lost will one day be found:
the communion of the rescued will rejoice in your name.



-- Jim Cotter, Anglican priest and poet, from Psalms for a Pilgrim People

Scripture reference: Psalm 130, Lent 5A

The Lord's Prayer, modern ANZPB

Eternal Spirit,
Earth-maker, Pain Bearer, Life-Giver,
Source of all that is and that shall be.
Father and Mother of us all,
Loving God, in whom is heaven:
The hallowing of your name echo through the universe!
The way of your justice be followed by the peoples of the world!
Your heavenly will be done by all created beings!
Your commonwealth of peace and freedom sustain our hope and come on earth.
With the bread we need for today, feed us.
In the hurts we absorb from one another, forgive us.
In times of temptation and test, strengthen us.
From trials too great to endure, spare us.
From the grip of all that is evil, free us.
For your reign in the glory of the power that is love, now and forever. 

Amen.

-- The Rev. Jim Cotter (1942-2014), Anglican priest, prayer writer, and poet, whose work was featured in the prayer book used in Aoteoroa, New Zealand, and Polynesia. This prayer is included in that volume.

Image: The Lord's Prayer in Catalan, from the rear wall of La Sagrada Familia, Barcelona.

Praying with Mary

Rejoicing with you,
grieving with you,

Mary, graced by God --
Love's Mystery did come to you --
of our race we deem you
most the blessed,

save but the Blessed One,
the Child
who came to birth in you.

Woman holy,

trembling at the Presence
of the Angel,

willing the rare
and marvellous exchange,

in the darkness
holding the Unseen,

bearing forth
the Word made flesh
for earth's redeeming,

hold to your heart our world,
and pray for humankind,

that we with you
be bearers of the Christ,

through this
and all our days,
and at the last.

--The Rev. Jim Cotter (1942-2014), English priest, poet, and contributor to the New Zealand Prayer Book, from Prayer at Night's Approaching, 1983

The Lord's Prayer

Eternal Spirit, Life-Giver, Pain-Bearer, Love-Maker,
Source of all that is and shall be, Father and Mother of us all, Loving God, in whom is heaven
The Hallowing of your name echo through the universe!
The way of your Justice be followed by the peoples of the world!
Your heavenly will be done by all created beings!
Your Commonwealth of Peace and Freedom sustain our hope and come on earth!
With the bread that we need for today, feed us.
In the hurts we absorb from one another, forgive us.
In times of temptation and test, strengthen us.
From trials too great to endure, spare us.
From the grip of all that is evil, free us.
For you reign in the glory of the power that is love,
now and for ever.

Amen.

-- The Rev. Jim Cotter (1942-2014),  English priest, poet, and contributor to the New Zealand Prayer Book