If It Be Your Will

If it be your will 

That I speak no more
And my voice be still
As it was before
I will speak no more
I shall abide until
I am spoken for
If it be your will

If it be your will
That a voice be true
From this broken hill
I will sing to you
From this broken hill
All your praises they shall ring
If it be your will
To let me sing
From this broken hill
All your praises they shall ring
If it be your will
To let me sing

If it be your will
If there is a choice
Let the rivers fill
Let the hills rejoice
Let your mercy spill
On all these burning hearts in hell
If it be your will
To make us well

And draw us near
And bind us tight
All your children here
In their rags of light
In our rags of light
All dressed to kill
And end this night
If it be your will

If it be your will.

--Leonard Cohen (1934-2016), genius American singer-songwriter, troubadour, and mystic.

Scripture Reference: Matthew 26:36-46, Garden of Gethsemane

Image: Gethsemane, by He Qi

A cover of this song by David Gilmour of Pink Floyd and his daughter Romany playing the Irish harp:

Prayer in Infirmity

O most mighty and most merciful God,
who, though thou have taken me off of my feet ,
hast not taken me off of my foundation, which is thyself;
who, though thou have removed me from that upright form
in which I could stand and see thy throne, the heavens,
yet has not removed from me that light
by which I can lie and see thyself;
who though thou have weakened my bodily knees,
that they cannot bow to thee,
hast yet left me the knees of my heart,
which are bowed unto thee evermore;
as thou hast made this bed thine altar,
make me thy sacrifice,
and as thou make us thy son Jesus Christ the priest,
so make me his Deacon,
to minister to him
in a cheerful surrender of my body and soul
to thy pleasure,
by his hands.

-- John Donne, from Devotions Upon Emergent Occasions III (1624), from Glorious Companions: Five Centuries of Anglican Spirituality, 2002

Image: Window fromTrinity Episcopal Church, Tulsa OK.

Prayer for Hope and Good Cheer

O God, who has given us the gift of courage so that we may endure hardness and meet danger with a resolute will, grant us Your spiritual benediction that we may have hope to carry us through frustration with good cheer and through defeats with an unrelenting faith in the ultimate victory of Your purpose.

--Wallace W. Robbins (1910-1988), Unitarian Universalist minister, found at Harvard Square Library



Image: Lu Hongnian, Jesus Calming the Storm

blessing the boats

(at St. Mary's)

may the tide
that is entering even now
the lip of our understanding
carry you out
beyond the face of fear
may you kiss
the wind then turn from it
certain that it will
love your back may you
open your eyes to water
water waving forever
and may you in your innocence
sail through this to that

-- Lucille Clifton (1936-2010)


Photo: Fishing boats at anchor, Havana Harbor, Cuba, 2017.

God Moves in a Mysterious Way

God moves in a mysterious way
His wonders to perform;
He plants His footsteps in the sea,
And rides upon the storm.

Deep in unfathomable mines 
Of never-failing skill
He treasures up His bright designs,
And works His sovereign will.

Ye fearful saints, fresh courage take,
The clouds ye so much dread
Are big with mercy, and shall break
In blessings on your head.

Judge not the Lord by feeble sense,
But trust Him for His grace;
Behind a frowning providence
He hides a smiling face.

His purposes will ripen fast,
Unfolding every hour;
The bud may have a bitter taste,
But sweet will be the flower.

Blind unbelief is sure to err,
And scan his work in vain;
God is His own interpreter,
And He will make it plain.

--William Cowper (1731-1800), English poet

Painting: Jesus Calming the Storm, Lu Hongnian, 20th century Chinese
Matthew 8:23-27, Mark 4:35-41

from "Ulysses"

Old age hath yet his honor and his toil.
Death closes all; but something ere the end,
Some work of noble note, may yet be done,
Not unbecoming men that strove with gods.
The lights begin to twinkle from the rocks;
The long day wanes; the slow moon climbs; the deep
Moans round with many voices. Come, my friends.
'Tis not too late to seek a newer world.
Push off, and sitting well in order smite
The sounding furrows; for my purpose holds
To sail beyond the sunset, and the baths
Of all the western stars, until I die.
It may be that the gulfs will wash us down;
It may be that we shall touch the Happy Isles,
And see the great Achilles, whom we knew.
Though much is taken, much abides; and though 
We are not now that strength which in old days
Moved earth and heaven, that which we are, we are---
One equal temper of heroic hearts,
Made weak by time and fate, but strong in will
To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield.

--Alfred, Lord Tennyson (1809-1892), English poet and poet laureate, written 1842

Stephen Colbert had Helen Mirren read this selection from Ulysses to him on March 9, 2018.

Paradox Blessing

May God bless you with discomfort at easy answers,
half-truths, superficial relationships,
so that you will live deep within your heart.

May God bless you with anger at injustice,
oppression and exploitation of people,
so that you will work for justice, equity, and peace.

May God bless you with tears to shed
for those who suffer from pain, rejection, starvation and war,
so that you will reach out your hand to comfort them
and change their pain to joy.

And may God bless you with the foolishness to think
that you can make a difference in the world,
so that you will do the things that others tell you
cannot be done.

 --from Celtic Daily Prayer, Book 2, from the Northumbria Community, p. 1088