Find a comfortable seat.
Let your sits bone settle,
And with your next inhale,
Lift your chest.
Let your spine settle straight,
And feel the support it gives your neck,
Head,
Shoulders,
Lungs,
And stomach.
Make sure your head is over your heart,
And your heart is over your pelvis.
Close your eyes,
Or leave them open and resting if that makes you more comfortable.
You are safe in this space,
With the ground supporting you and the air sustaining you.
Bring your attention to your breath.
Breathe deeply and naturally.
Pay attention to the sensation of your lungs filling,
Diaphragm expanding,
Life-giving oxygen circulating your body.
Sit in this.
Enjoy the sensation of simply breathing.
The air sustains you.
I will share with you now from Psalm 40 of the Hebrew Bible,
Or Old Testament of the Christian Bible.
Every few stanzas,
I will offer a reflection to better help these words sink in.
Note any emotions that surface,
And allow them the space they need,
No more and no less.
Now,
Invite the Divine to be here with you.
Breathe in and out,
With the knowledge of the presence of God drawn close to you.
I waited patiently for the Lord.
He inclined to me and heard my cry.
He drew me up from the desolate pit,
Out of the miry bog,
And set my feet upon rock,
Making my steps secure.
He put a new song in my mouth,
A song of praise to our God.
Many will see and fear,
And put their trust in the Lord.
Is there room in my life for patience?
Patience requires trust and hope.
Do I have hope in a Creator who can pull me from the desolate pit?
Do I trust that I am loved enough?
Wherever the desolate pit I have been,
The miry bog cleaning to my nerves and covering my joy,
Trust in love creates security.
The psalmist proclaims that there is a new song in their mouth,
That praise and relief and joy are contagious.
Many will see and hear and be in awe.
I must sing.
Happy are those who make the Lord their trust,
Who do not turn to the proud,
To those who go astray after false gods.
You have multiplied,
O Lord my God,
Your wondrous deeds and your thoughts toward us.
None can compare with you.
Were I to proclaim and tell of them,
They would be more than can be counted.
We have so many false gods to attract our worship,
Money or attention or power,
Even security.
By being here,
I know those gods provide nothing in terms of true joy or fulfillment.
I am seeking the author of goodness.
I am seeking the author of goodness.
The quiet voice that sat with me in the desolate pit.
I have something to be grateful for.
Sacrifice an offering you do not desire,
But you have given me an open ear.
Burnt offering and sin offering you have not required.
Then I said,
Here I am,
In the scroll of the book it is written of me.
I delight to you your will,
O my God.
Your law is within my heart.
This voice does not make demands.
It speaks only to let me know it is near.
Presence is enough.
It is enough for me and from me.
Here I am.
This time gives me joy.
This joy motivates me.
I can breathe in delight and exhale compassion.
I have told the glad news of deliverance in the great congregation.
See,
I have not restrained my lips,
As you know,
O Lord.
I have not hidden your saving help within my heart.
I have spoken of your faithfulness and your salvation.
I have not concealed your steadfast love and your faithfulness from the great congregation.
This joy bursts from my heart.
I cannot contain it.
I want them to hear.
I want them to know.
Providence has heard me and love has saved me.
I do not know how to keep this to myself.
There are others in the desolate pit,
Covered in the bog,
And I can help them.
Do not,
O Lord,
Withhold your mercy from me.
Let your steadfast love and your faithfulness keep me safe forever.
For evils have encompassed me without number.
My iniquities have overtaken me until I cannot see.
They are more than the hairs of my head,
And my heart fails me.
The memory of being overwhelmed is never far from my mind.
The desolate pit could consume me,
Could eat my heart whole.
But I know now what it is to trust something truly firm.
I know God's love can whisper to my heart and can embrace my mind.
I do not have to stay in darkness.
Light is within me,
Is around me,
Is above me,
Is below me.
It is strong and firm.
Be pleased,
O Lord,
To deliver me.
O Lord,
Make haste to help me.
Let all those be put to shame and confusion who seek to snatch away my life.
Let those be turned back and brought to dishonor who desire my hurt.
Let those be appalled because of their shame who say to me,
Aha!
Aha!
I do not desire hurt for another person.
But I need to know,
Somewhere,
Somehow,
That there is justice.
Sometimes striving for goodness does not seem enough,
Not when others who commit harm seem so successful.
Save me,
Savior,
From this comparison.
Lead me to the gratitude that gives freedom from the cruelty of others.
I am grateful and have no need for the fears that plague them.
But may all who seek you rejoice and be glad in you.
May those who love your salvation say continually,
Great is the Lord.
As for me,
I am poor and needy,
But the Lord takes thought for me.
You are my help and my deliverer.
Do not delay,
O my God.
I hope that love and peace does not just stay with me.
So many people,
People I see every day,
Walking in the world and existing online,
Need to rejoice in something.
May I be a beacon of love for all those who need to feel it.
I know myself,
I know my strengths and limitations,
And yet to feel loved by the divine reminds me that I carry the spark of the divine within myself.
I know my help does not delay.
I know I may be that help for another.
As we close this time of reflection and prayer,
Take a deep inhale and exhale.
Inhale and exhale.
You have spent this time in communication with your creator.
Take a couple moments to choose something from this time,
A word,
A feeling,
An idea,
That you want to carry with you for the rest of the day.
Thank you for spending this time for yourself with God.
