Wednesday, February 28, 2018

Stand by me (Florence + the Machine)

  (Imagine this as prayer.) 

When the night has come   
And the land is dark 
And the moon is the only light we’ll see 
No, I won’t be afraid 
Oh, I won’t be afraid 
Just as long as you stand, stand by me 
                        
So darling, darling 
Stand by me, oh, stand by me 
Stand by me 
                        
If the sky that we look upon 
Should tumble and fall 
Or the mountain should crumble to the sea 
I won’t cry, I won’t cry 
No, I won’t shed a tear 
Just as long as you stand, stand by me 

Refrain 

Whenever you’re in trouble, won’t you stand by me 
Oh, stand by me, won’t you stand now, oh, stand 
Stand by me 

To listen to Florence + the Machine perform Stand by Me, click on the video below.



Image source:  Gayatri Manchanda, Two Men, 2010.

Tuesday, February 27, 2018

Let something essential happen (Ted Loder)

  O God, 
Let something essential happen to me. 
Something more than interesting, 
or entertaining, 
or thoughtful. 
O God, 
Let something essential happen to me, 
something awesome, 
something real. 
Speak to my condition, Lord, 
and change me inside where it matters, 
a change that will burn and tremble and heal 
and explode me into tears  
or laughter 
or love that throbs or screams 
or keeps a terrible, cleansing silence 
and dares the dangerous deeds. 
Let something happen to me 
which is my real self, God… 

O God, 
let something essential and joyful happen to me, 
something like the blooming of hope and faith, 
like a grateful heart, 
like a surge of awareness 
of how precious each moment is, 
that now, not next time, 
now is the occasion  
to take off my shoes 
to see every bush afire, 
to leap and whirl with neighbor, 
to gulp the air as sweet wine 
until I’ve drunk enough 
to dare to speak the tender word: 
Thank you. 
I love you. 
You’re beautiful. 
Let’s live forever beginning now 
and I’m a fool for Christ’s sake. 

--Ted Loder, Guerillas of Grace

Monday, February 26, 2018

Before light flows over us (Fr. Thomas Rosica)


   Of the Transfiguration experience we might ask ourselves: Why did God hide all the glory on Tabor, where no one other than Peter, James and John could witness?  Why didn’t God save it for the cross?  Before light flows over us, we need to go through darkness.  The transfiguration teaches us that God’s brilliant life included death, and there is no way around it – only through it.  It also reminds us that the terrifying darkness can be radiant and dazzling.

--Fr. Thomas Rosica, CSB

Saturday, February 24, 2018

Angels in the wilderness (Marilynne Robinson)


   Any father… must finally give his child up to the wilderness and trust to the providence of God.  It seems almost a cruelty for one generation to beget another when parents can secure so little for their children, so little safety, even in the best circumstances.   Great faith is required to give the child up, trusting God to honor the parents’ love for him by assuring that there will indeed be angels in that wilderness.

--Marilynne Robinson, Gilead


Image source:  James Tissot, Isaac Bears the Wood for His Sacrifice (1902),