Streams of Mercy

Today is “Easter Monday” a day of quiet reflection on the gifts and beauty of the preceding week. I came across this beautiful prayer in the final days of the Lenten journey, and it is the prayer of my heart this Eastertide:

“Spirit of God, move through my life with winds of blessing!

Breathe in me, wash over me, empower me.

Reveal! Illuminate! Make known!

Balance! Harmonize! Unify!

Attend, transform, guide!

Soften, support, sustain!

Animate, revitalize, renew!

Remember! Evoke! Behold!”

The prayer comes from Sister Macrina Wiederkehr’s book Gold in Your Memories, which I enjoyed re-reading during Lent this year. I was challenged to reflect on the “treasures” hidden in the memories of my lifetime:

“Abandoned dreams, forgotten beauty

hidden sorrows, hidden joys

unused energies, unknown strengths

lost ages, undiscovered gifts

unsung songs, neglected relationships

unclaimed wisdom, unattended anger

cautious love, incomplete forgiveness

timid truth, buried stories, lost memories…

…all are veins of gold waiting to be mined…”

“My Life Flows On” has been a special song for me this year, calling me to reflect on the kinds of blessings the storms of my life have brought me.

“My life flows on in endless song,

above earth’s lamentation.

I catch the sweet, though far-off hymn

that hails a new creation.

No storm can shake my inmost calm

while to the Rock I’m clinging

Since Love is lord of heav’n and earth,

How can I keep from singing?”

Taking time for reflection is always time well-spent; a helpful Lenten discipline that would be meaningful in every season of life.

Elizabeth