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.

https://images.fineartamerica.com/images/artworkimages/mediumlarge/1/two-men-gayatri-manchanda.jpg

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

Image source:  http://seekingfaith.stedward.com/reflections/open-to-the-experience/

Poem source

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

Image source:  Andy Gray, Transfiguration of Christ
https://i1.wp.com/onegraydot.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/11/transfiguration.jpg?resize=410%2C308&ssl=1 

Quotation source

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), 

https://i.pinimg.com/736x/4e/33/5a/4e335afe9405f0aefb699b416044b16d.jpg