Prayers and Poems
These words are meant to bring you closer to god in your moments. The Forgiveness Prayer was the first on this page; you can find it by scrolling down. Others are added occasionally.
Home
Home is not a place. It's a point at which a world of potential diverged into several more limited paths, from which one actual path took form.
Home is the point of all departures,
All destinations are futures waiting for form.
When we speak of going home, what we really mean is that we want to return to a point where we had more options - where we have hope for different outcomes - where we have grist for dreams.
Home is the point of all departures,
All destinations are futures waiting for form.
Home is the point of all departures,
All destinations are futures waiting for form.
When we speak of going home, what we really mean is that we want to return to a point where we had more options - where we have hope for different outcomes - where we have grist for dreams.
Home is the point of all departures,
All destinations are futures waiting for form.
Three boxes
I am three boxes in a tabletop display.
The biggest box is the world around me
Swirling bits of aching beauty and mean suspicions,
gentle dreams and constructed desolation
My body is the middle box, small inside the outer one
It moves and is moved, lurches and rights again
Spins and grows and then diminishes with the times.
At the core of my body is a tiny box
Box of soul, dense and weighty.
Forgotten, it crashes at my ribs and unconnects me
Cherished and considered, it calms the spinning
Three boxes in balance on the tabletop today.
The biggest box is the world around me
Swirling bits of aching beauty and mean suspicions,
gentle dreams and constructed desolation
My body is the middle box, small inside the outer one
It moves and is moved, lurches and rights again
Spins and grows and then diminishes with the times.
At the core of my body is a tiny box
Box of soul, dense and weighty.
Forgotten, it crashes at my ribs and unconnects me
Cherished and considered, it calms the spinning
Three boxes in balance on the tabletop today.
Jagged
I've been spending more time than usual in public places early in the morning, dropping my daughter off at the subway and then dropping into grocery stores and coffee shops. Looking at the people around me, I'm reminded of a science show I saw once that talked about extremophiles - creatures that live in unusual environments, including the points at which salt and fresh water collide. Early mornings in grocery stores and coffee shops are kind of like that fresh/salt water overlap - some of the people there are transitioning from sleep to a busy day, others from a night without a place to be to a day without a place to be.
After the most recent of these trips, where I picked up a coffee and sundries, passing (twice) a woman wandering around with a basket and a look of mute confusion (was it tinged with desperation?), and a guy scowling over a coffee with a six-day beard, I thought I'd put the following here...
Jagged
earlymorn is a jagged place
the half that shifts through the seams of the night
confronts
the half that’s early rising for the day ahead
After the most recent of these trips, where I picked up a coffee and sundries, passing (twice) a woman wandering around with a basket and a look of mute confusion (was it tinged with desperation?), and a guy scowling over a coffee with a six-day beard, I thought I'd put the following here...
Jagged
earlymorn is a jagged place
the half that shifts through the seams of the night
confronts
the half that’s early rising for the day ahead
Tearatorium
There's a point in life in which the children we've raised need to move away, to build their own lives. As parents, we understand that this is a necessary step. We are proud of the people our children have become - and if we're honest, we know that it's best for everyone for our children to establish their own independent lives. We know that this can be a difficult transition for the children...but we come to understand that it's difficult for parents as well, as we come to grips with the great void that we feel when our children move away.
In the weeks before my daughter went off to school, I found the hardest times were in the grocery store - I'd look at "best by" dates set for after her departure, and a huge sadness would crash over me. This is a poem about those times.
Seems like I need
A tearatorium
A quiet place to hide
Where I can sit and cry
I walk by shelves, their coded dates
Are stamped on milk and bread
They swim from aisles into my cart
But it’s neither food nor drink I dread
Breathe, and breathe, and breathe again
These things are what we know we need
She goes, I stay – she’ll visit still
From school, and then from where life leads
The women look, then look away
The men and kids too self-concerned
The clerks begin their programmed speech
They scarcely care I can’t respond
My lips are tight, my eyes are full
Drops splatter on my cart
Seems like I need a tearatorium
Until I grow a colder heart
In the weeks before my daughter went off to school, I found the hardest times were in the grocery store - I'd look at "best by" dates set for after her departure, and a huge sadness would crash over me. This is a poem about those times.
Seems like I need
A tearatorium
A quiet place to hide
Where I can sit and cry
I walk by shelves, their coded dates
Are stamped on milk and bread
They swim from aisles into my cart
But it’s neither food nor drink I dread
Breathe, and breathe, and breathe again
These things are what we know we need
She goes, I stay – she’ll visit still
From school, and then from where life leads
The women look, then look away
The men and kids too self-concerned
The clerks begin their programmed speech
They scarcely care I can’t respond
My lips are tight, my eyes are full
Drops splatter on my cart
Seems like I need a tearatorium
Until I grow a colder heart
Forgiveness prayer
All of us, at one time or another, find ourselves in a place where we need to ask forgiveness. Sometimes we do this directly by talking to the people in our lives - but sometimes, we need a spiritual cleansing.
This prayer is for those times. Read it out loud to yourself - once or more than once, as often as needed to make you feel better about life and your role within it.
If after reading the prayer you feel that God in the Moment has helped you, please consider making a donation to God in the Moment.
Forgiveness Prayer
The sweetness of presence, sweet sweet God
Visit me with the touch of forgiveness
Sweetness of presence, sweet sweet God
Visit me with the touch of forgiveness
I feel the brush with the soap of forgiveness,
Scrubbing my body, scrubbing my soul.
I feel the brush with the soap of forgiveness
scrub my body, scrub my soul
And ten! it scrubs through my head, all around,
and nine! it cleanses my neck
and eight! it scrubs through my chest and my shoulders
leaving its touch on my breast, in my breast,
and seven! it scrubs down my arms, past my fingers
and six! it covers my back side to side
as I shiver and feel myself lighter
and five! it cleanses my hips and my loins,
and four! it scrubs at my thighs,
and three! it touches my knees
And two! I feel it finish my feet,
and one, I am one, I am clean.
The sweetness of presence, sweet sweet God
Visit me with the touch of forgiveness
Sweetness of presence, sweet sweet God
Visit me with the touch of forgiveness
I feel the water that cleanses our sins,
engulfing my body, enfolding my soul.
I feel the water, the sweet blameless water
engulf my body, surround my soul
And ten! it wraps round my head, and it carries
the salt of my tears away.
and nine! it washes my neck,
and eight! it swirls round my chest and my shoulders
leaving my breast still and warm,
and seven! it strokes my arms and my fingers
and six! it warms up my back
and five! it washes my hips and my loins,
and four! it rinses my thighs,
and three! it kisses my knees
And two! I feel it pull through my feet,
and one, I am one, I am clean.
The sweetness of presence, sweet sweet God
Visit me with the touch of forgiveness
Sweetness of presence, sweet sweet God
Visit me with the touch of forgiveness
I feel the oil that carries forgiveness,
Scenting my body, scenting my soul.
I feel the oil, the fragrant forgiveness
scent my body, scent my soul
And ten! and softly, it visits my head,
and nine! it touches my neck
and eight! anointing my chest and my shoulders
leaving its touch on my breast, in my breast
and seven! it slides down my arms, past my fingers
and six! seeping into my back
and five! it touches my hips and my loins,
healing me, healing me now
and four! it warms my thighs,
and three! it softens my knees
And two! I feel it lick at my feet,
and one, I am one, I am clean.
and one, I am one, I am clean.
This prayer is for those times. Read it out loud to yourself - once or more than once, as often as needed to make you feel better about life and your role within it.
If after reading the prayer you feel that God in the Moment has helped you, please consider making a donation to God in the Moment.
Forgiveness Prayer
The sweetness of presence, sweet sweet God
Visit me with the touch of forgiveness
Sweetness of presence, sweet sweet God
Visit me with the touch of forgiveness
I feel the brush with the soap of forgiveness,
Scrubbing my body, scrubbing my soul.
I feel the brush with the soap of forgiveness
scrub my body, scrub my soul
And ten! it scrubs through my head, all around,
and nine! it cleanses my neck
and eight! it scrubs through my chest and my shoulders
leaving its touch on my breast, in my breast,
and seven! it scrubs down my arms, past my fingers
and six! it covers my back side to side
as I shiver and feel myself lighter
and five! it cleanses my hips and my loins,
and four! it scrubs at my thighs,
and three! it touches my knees
And two! I feel it finish my feet,
and one, I am one, I am clean.
The sweetness of presence, sweet sweet God
Visit me with the touch of forgiveness
Sweetness of presence, sweet sweet God
Visit me with the touch of forgiveness
I feel the water that cleanses our sins,
engulfing my body, enfolding my soul.
I feel the water, the sweet blameless water
engulf my body, surround my soul
And ten! it wraps round my head, and it carries
the salt of my tears away.
and nine! it washes my neck,
and eight! it swirls round my chest and my shoulders
leaving my breast still and warm,
and seven! it strokes my arms and my fingers
and six! it warms up my back
and five! it washes my hips and my loins,
and four! it rinses my thighs,
and three! it kisses my knees
And two! I feel it pull through my feet,
and one, I am one, I am clean.
The sweetness of presence, sweet sweet God
Visit me with the touch of forgiveness
Sweetness of presence, sweet sweet God
Visit me with the touch of forgiveness
I feel the oil that carries forgiveness,
Scenting my body, scenting my soul.
I feel the oil, the fragrant forgiveness
scent my body, scent my soul
And ten! and softly, it visits my head,
and nine! it touches my neck
and eight! anointing my chest and my shoulders
leaving its touch on my breast, in my breast
and seven! it slides down my arms, past my fingers
and six! seeping into my back
and five! it touches my hips and my loins,
healing me, healing me now
and four! it warms my thighs,
and three! it softens my knees
And two! I feel it lick at my feet,
and one, I am one, I am clean.
and one, I am one, I am clean.
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