The past two years we have weathered many storms. I wonder when we are going to find calm waters. At least for a while.
And every summer I begin by hoping I will be refreshed and renewed by the time September rolls around. Yet, with the demands of daily life; with the condition of the world; with work and family, there must be intention in my seeking respite.
We are coming to the final weeks of this season; I offer a poem for you and for me by Ted Loder.
Blessings, Karen Treat
Let Me Live Grace-fully by Ted Loder
Thank you, Lord,
for this season
of sun and slow motion,
of games and porch sitting,
of picnics and light green fireflies
on heavy purple evenings;
and praise for slight breezes.
It’s good, God,
as the first long days of your creation.
Let this season be for me
a time of gathering together the pieces
into which my busyness has broken me.
O God, enable me now
to grow wise through reflection,
peaceful through the song of the cricket,
recreated through the laughter of play.
Most of all, Lord,
let me live easily and grace-fully for a spell,
so that I may see other souls deeply,
share in a silence unhurried,
listen to the sound of sunlight and shadows,
explore barefoot the land of forgotten dreams and shy hopes,
and find the right words to tell another who I am.
Copyright © 1981 Ted Loder, Guerillas of Grace: Prayers for the Battle (Minneapolis: Augsburg Press, 1981), p 131.The Rev. Dr. Ted Loder served as a Methodist minister. He is known for amazing sermons, artistic endeavors, political activism and social justice.