December 9, 2020
If the Truth Be Known: A Prayer
O Lord, if the truth be known,
I'm tired of
hearing about it,
thinking about it,
talking about it,
worrying about it,
even
praying about it,
my prayers like broken records,
same old same old,
because
every day it's the
same old same old,
same old
news,
noise,
nonsense;
and so as I sit here staring at a blank
yellow legal pad,
trying to compose
another prayer about the
same old same old,
my eyes
go to a scene on a sideboard before me,
an Alpine church nestled among tall
porcelain pines
sugared with snow,
a clock tower centered,
porcelain people
peopling the scene,
a portly priest,
nuns penguin-like in their black and white,
alpine horn blowers blowing,
a band on skis,
a beer wagon
festooned with garland,
a family in a sleigh,
a cheese wheel on the head of a cheesemaker,
children on sleds,
white birches bare;
to look at it
gives me
joy,
peace,
an odd hope,
even though it's an imaginary scene
I imagined into life;
and other scenes too,
a Dickens’ London street bustling on a buffet,
a grand English village on the grand,
yet another Alpine scene to be seen,
one more still,
and in everyone a church,
no surprise there.
O Lord, if the truth be known,
I love
looking at those scenes
because
even though they are
unreal,
imagined,
set out only to be soon put away
like all the other decorations,
still,
in a world like ours,
they help,
like the dazzling Christmas tree helps,
for a moment,
something of wonder and beauty beheld,
at least to my eyes,
for a moment,
lifted,
lifted out of
the same old same old,
for a moment,
imagining,
imagining a different kind of world,
a world
in which we still behold
beauty in the midst of the ugliness,
wonder in the midst of grim reality,
joy in the midst of our joyless culture,
peace in the midst of the violence,
hope in the midst of despair,
behold
the light
in the midst of
the darkness,
behold
you
and
your love
transforming the same old same old
into what is
different
and new.
O Lord, if the truth be told,
I don't think it's just me,
and so I pray
that you would
refresh all of us
with the vision of our world transformed,
renew all of us
with a vision of kindness and mercy
creating a different kind of
life together,
revive all of us
with a vision of people
coming together
at last
for the sake of
what is holy and good,
that the same old same old
would be the same
no longer.
O Lord, soon the vaccines will start bringing relief
to our beleaguered land
and we give you thanks!
But it will only be gradually
and the virus is still spreading like wildfire and so
if the same old way of living
is to one day no longer be the way we must live,
then grace us
with the strength and resolve
to keep doing the one same old same thing
we need to keep doing –
the right and responsible thing.
And even if our prayers sound like broken records,
move us to keep on praying for
those who are battling the coronavirus,
those who are wearing themselves out caring for them,
those who are grieving,
those who can barely put food on the table,
those who are overcome with despair.
Heal, strengthen, comfort, uphold, raise them up!
And move leaders
and us as well
to assist and support
them in whatever way is possible.
O Lord, let something of wonder or beauty or gladness
deliver us
day after day
from the same old same old
and help us
behold
your presence with us
and lift up our hearts in hope,
the hope that out of the same old same old
you will bring to birth
within us and this world
the love
that makes all things new.
Amen.