Monday Meditation

Holy and Eternal 

God of endless and unrestricted affection,

I want you to know that

I am astonished by your presence.

When I stop to think about

how deeply you have dived

into my human being,

I weep tears of joyful thanks.

I lift my arms to the sun

and let you wash over me,

bathing me

in the electric light

of endless energy

that renews my spirit

and cleanses my soul.

You provide me comfort, O God,

in my times of deepest pain

and unbearable suffering.

You encourage me

when my too many fears

paralyze me into 

apathy and inaction.

You embrace my tears,

my joy,

my best attempts

and my most heinous failures.

My every imperfection and blemish

is eradicated when you enfold me.

And here,

safe in your loving arms,

I realize you’ve been holding me all along.

You never leave me—

it is I who forget to find you

where you always are

and always will be:

the very center of my soul.

My fits of rage and 

blinding frustrations overwhelm me,

and I curse you for leaving my side,

for giving me too few moments of perfect love,

then deserting me

and abandoning me to the evil ways

of a corrupt world.

But you haven't left me,

I know that now.

You never leave me,

you couldn’t if you tried.

For I finally understand that

you and I are as bonded to each other

as surely as hydrogen and oxygen are water.

You are my oxygen, my Lord.

You are my every breath,

and I pray that tomorrow,

when the frustration and anger

attempt to worm their way back into my soul,

that you will remind me

there is nothing under the sun

that can ever separate you and me.

My God,

my love,

my light,

my universe:

You inspire me into being,

and into being more

than I believed was possible.

You animate me with 

words of worth and hope, 

when the world tells me

I am worthless and hopeless.

You drive me to act beyond myself,

in the manner of Jesus the Christ.

You have shown me,

beloved and infinite presence,

that my life is precious and beautiful,

even though I sometimes

feel like a lump of coal.

But even coal is full of potential,

for once the intense pressure

of your presence

bears down on it,

the diamond 

that had been 

hiding inside all along

is revealed.

I humbly submit myself to you, Lord,

so that my inner diamond

might shine brightly

with your healing energy

for all the world to see.

One by one,

transform us all

into the brilliant and valuable gems

we are at the core of our being.

In your many names

and all your diverse images, we pray. 

Amen.