He guided me along the right path.
He is true to his name .
Saving me from pointless wrath.
Acknowledging no one is to blame.At mass today I was half asleep and then this I heard.
And something truly wonderful was revealed.
Only say the word .
And my soul shall be healed.

Thus truth can come in a moment.
And quite unexpectedly.
We only have to listen for a moment.
And we might be surprised unexpectedly.

And then the moment passes.

And we worry anew about various crises.

…….

Only say the word

And then my soul will be healed

Such revealing words

……

See Psalm 22

This love of yours is like a morning cloud.
Like the dew that quickly disappears.
Sometimes his truth is hidden as with a shroud.
But with the rising sun doubt clears.

There I was tossing and turning.
Wondering at a decision to take before remembering.
The namu myoho renge kio chanting.
And then instantly felt the mind clearing.

It gives one a sense of oneness with all creation.
That all decisions can  be put into their right context.
That we are all one nation.
Although we may follow many a differ spiritual text.Maybe next time I will calm my worry some  dreaming.
And in the dream take to chanting.

……

Like a morning cloud
And the dew that disappears
So we find new hope

……

See Hosea 5 : 15 -6 :6

Lord, I do not know how to speak.
I am a child.
But we can still seek.
We can be reconciled.The Latin Mass was in the crypt.
And I was not six feet from the altar.
I was gripped.
Here was a highway to the thereafter.

Our faith is essentially private.
And difficult to understand let alone share.
But we need to acknowledge it.
And share it if we dare.

Go now to those I send you.
And say whatever I command you.

…….

I am but a child
I do not know how to speak
But one day I will

……

See Jeremiah 1 : 4-9

He sends out his word to the earth.
And swiftly runs his command.
We ask what we are worth.
And how we will hold on to truth’s strand.

St Jerome said the Gospel is the body of Christ.
The holy scriptures are his teaching.
As usual I was plagued by doubt, are we sacrificed.
Is our soul dead,  pass to another body , or go on living.

And then in my dream I seemed to see the scriptures.
As a light on the truth.
I saw it in my mind’s eye as reassuring pictures.
For this instant, I recovered the certainty of youth.

And then I woke up.
And doubts rose up.……

What is the Gospel
It is the body of Christ
And it’s his teaching

……

See Psalm 147

Oh, do not abandon us for ever.

For the sake of your name.

Help us in our endeavour.

Keep alive in us the flame.

Do not repudiate your covenant.

Do not withdraw your favour.

Help us to see the ultimate.

And to know who is our saviour.

May it be your will that we follow you wholeheartedly.

Those who put their trust in you will not be disappointed.

Let us never act coldheartedly.

For the hour that we will meet you is appointed.

We only hear your voice faintly.

But treat us , we pray, gently

…….

Abandon not us

Help us in our endeavour

Keep alive the flame

…. ..

See Daniel 3 :25, 34-43

No prophet is ever accepted.
In his own country.
What matter if we are feted or despised.
If we proceed with pride or humbly.

Fast from the self, the I.
Take our place in the cosmos.
Piece the illusion of the present tie.
What matter is it what we gain or whether suffer loss.

Take out an anonymous place with the wind.
Strive, through meditation, to forget ourself.
Pierce the illusion of the daily grind.
We are in reality all or any self.

But as much as we try to do this

Daily reality kicks in to trump this bliss.……

All is illusion.
Fast from the self and the I
Illusions return

…….

See Luke 4: 24-30

Harden not your hearts as at Meribah.

As on that day at Massah in the desert.

And like them we are short sighted, we can’t see far.

Or follow our own guiding star.

Another prayer for Lent.

Fast from complaining and start accepting.

But it’s our lot to allow our happiness to be rent.

Perhaps because  we always are to others comparing.

Tormented by thirst the people complained against Moses.

Why did you bring us out of Egypt.

Of course our life is not a bed of roses.

We are wandering in our own desert out of Egypt.

Will we find the promised land.

Or just up amidst the trackless sand.

…….

Fast from complaining

And start accepting for once

Or give it a go

……..

See Exodus 17 : 3-7

He was lost and is found

Thus can we hope for the end of strife.

And our efforts crowned .

Another thought for lent

Fast for fear of illness and decay .

That tooth hurts , a muscle rent.

It seems to get worse every day.

But what was lost will eventually be found.

Whether in this life or the next .

We will no longer be aground.

Ultimately all is balances and checks.

But oh, it still hurts.

I suppose we get our just desserts.

……

Fast from fear of death

But illness and decay too

They always come first

…..

See Luke 15: 1-3 , 11-32

Israel loved Joseph more than all his other sons.
For he was the son of his old age.
By the end of our innings we may not have scored many runs.

And soon we will leave the stage.

I am composing another lent prayer.
Fast from fear of death , the soul lives on.
But one thing is constant , fear.
Fear of failure , of illness, old age , it goes on and on.

But everywhere , there are children.
We are merely the rain drop running down.
They all will become women and men.
And they will go on swimming as gently we drown.

But Joseph was rescued and prospered.
And we too will prosper after we have passed.

……

If we fast from fear
And know the soul will pass on
There is always hope

……

See Genesis 37

They replied we can.

Sometimes we feel we are on the brink.

Nothing seems to go to plan.

We seemed called to sacrifice.

We look into a dark chasm.

But then we shake ourselves out of torpor.

And try to be a bit more merry.

We listen and hear the celestial harper.

Nothing is for ever , all is temporary.

He gave us all he had.

Do we have a right to be sad.

……..

Fast from depression

Embrace enthusiasm

All’s temporary

……..

See Matthew 20 : 17-28

Hear the word of the Lord.
Listen to the command of our God.
Hear the spiritual musical chord.
So may we be awed.

The eleventh prayer of Francis is now reached.
Fast from words and be silent so you can listen.
Thus we are beseeched.
Now with new faith we can christen.

But we love speaking so much.
Anyway listening tests our patience.

We say how else to keep in touch.

How else to make clear our presence.

So even if we make a vow to be silent.

Our thoughts seldom remain silent.

…….

Fast  from many words

be silent so to listen

But we keep talking

……..

See Isaiah 1 : 10, 16-20

Be compassionate as your father is compassionate.

Do not judge and you will not be judged.

We can be angry just  because they are late.

Or perhaps because they have not budged.

I am trying to do Francis’ tenth prayer.

Fast from grudges and be reconciled.

If only we could do this we would be relieved from care.

If only all these irritations could be filed.

Of course we will not succeed.

We can only try.

Even if we don’t do the deed.

But we will not lie.

We nurture  all these grudges.

But we should know we are not the judges.

……..

Fast  then from grudges

Be reconciled to others

That must be the way

…….

See Luke 6: 36-38

The Lord said to Abram, leave your country.
I will make you a great nation.
Have we the courage to seek another spiritual  country.
Or we wedded to our own mind’s nation.The ninth prayer of Pope Francis.
Fast from selfishness, be compassionate to others.
For what really enhances.
Is it our interest or that of others

We are tied with a great anchor to our ego.
But what we ask are we.
What in truth is our credo.
We do not know, however often we make this plea.

What if we are less in the world , less selfish.
And more other worldly more elvish.

…….

Fast from selfishness
And be compassionate
To all the others

……

See Genesis 12: 1-4

He causes his sun to rise on bad men as well as good.

And his rain to fall on honest and dishonest men alike.

I should have known this from my boyhood.

Perhaps we should be more trusting, childlike.

I am praying Francis’ eighth piece of advice.

Fast from bitterness and fill your heart with joy.

Value, we feel is rated less than price.

Our efforts unrewarded by lesser alloy.

But why worry about what others do.

Or what they are given.

To appreciate that we have enough is the clue.

That we may not succeed,  but we have striven.

Bitterness is so corrosive.

Let’s just live.

…….

Fast from bitterness.

Try to fill your heart with joy

Perhaps that may help

……

See Matthew 5 : 43-48

If the upright man renounces his integrity.

Copies the wicked man, is he to live.

Is this going to be our destiny.

How are we to thrive and forgive.

I am on the seventh prayer of Francis for Lent.

Fast from pressures and be prayerful.

All these seem a new advent rather than a lament.

Teaching us to reach out , not just be careful.

We can try our best all our lives.

And fall at the last.

The bad man is forgiven and thrives.

Whereas we feel the full righteous blast.

We just always have to try our best.

And leave all the pressures to the rest.

……

Fast from our pressures

And always be prayerful

Then enjoy some rest

…..

See Ezekiel 18 : 21-28

Come to my help for I am alone.

All I can say is that I forget the past.
And I strain ahead for what is to come..
Nothing bad need necessarily last.
And what seems large may turn out no than a crumb.I am thinking about Francis’ fifth prayer.
Fast from worries and trust in God.
Look at everything as just part of another layer.
For which we must assume we are well shod.

But worries just keep coming.
However hard we try to meditate.
They are beyond all reasoning.
Not just part of inevitable fate.

So keep trusting
Not fathoming.

……

Fasting from worries.
And trusting also in God
That’s all we can do

……..

See Philippians 3 : 8-14

The Lord rescues the just in all their distress.

You must not be guilty of unjust verdicts.

You must pass judgment on your neighbour according to justice.

We cannot just rely on our own edicts.

Or to tolerate injustice.

Fast from anger and be filled with patience.

Is the third prayer of Francis for Lent.

But how often are we filled with impatience.

Giving anger full vent .

We try to do better .

But it surges up in an instant.

For that moment patience is a dead letter.

Disappearing into the distance.

Pray let be me be patient .

Even if I just achieve it during Lent .

…….

Fasting from anger

And being filled with patience

That’s not so easy

…..

See Leviticus 19: 1-2 , 11-18

If you do away with the clenched fist, the wicked word

Your light will arise in the darkness.

Fast from hurting words and say a kind word.

This is the first exhortation of Francis in this wilderness.

But how easy it is to criticise.

Rather than than advise

Or commend as we politicise.

Or encourage to the skies.

How often do we turn away.

Or ignore.

Embarrassed to mean what we say.

And make for the door.

We don’t need to be nasty

We can just be eager to get away , hasty.

……

Saying a kind word

We may not want to do it

But it is worthwhile

… ….

See Isaiah 58 : 9-14

Fasting like yours today.

Will never make your voice heard on high.

But we can at least pray.

And look ourselves in the eye.

I like Pope Francis’ exhortations.

They somehow seem possible to do.

And they are true foundations.

A sort of inspiring glue.

Less sadness.

Less pessimism.

Less selfishness.

Certainly that’s not sophism.

Perhaps more compassion.

And less fashion.

……

What to do in Lent

Give up something physical

Or doing some good

……

See Isaiah 58 : 1-9

If anyone wants to be a follower of mine.
Take up his cross .
Lord , take me over the line.
And be a little happier and less cross.

I am reminded of Pope Francis’ prayer.
Fast from hurting words and say kind words.
Fast from sadness and be filled with gratitude’s prayer.
Fast from anger and be filled with patient words.

Fast from pessimism and be filled with hope.
Fast from worries and have trust in God.
Fast from complaints and contemplate simplicity in hope
Fast from pressures and be prayerful to God.

Fast from bitterness and fill your heart with joy.
Fast from selfishness and be compassionate to others in joy.…….

Fast then from grudges
And be reconciled always
Fast from many words.

….

And pray be silent
So that you can then listen
Now and for ever

…….

See Luke 9  : 22-25