Prayer

Matthew 22:35-40

"Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest?" He said to him, "'You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.' This is the greatest and first commandment. And a second is like it: 'You shall love your neighbour as yourself.' On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets."

Lord,

I give you my heart; a mess of blood and rhythms; deceit and delight. A wild animal, lifting only an eye above the shrubs.

Lord,

I give you my soul. A thing you know better than me. A texture somewhere between galvanized steel and a butterfly wing.

Lord,

I give you my mind. A handwritten book with its own feet and vocal chords trying at logic like jumping rope.

Oh Lord, Your large hand smooths the ruffled feathers of wild geese. You offer a clear river of strength in your tent of meeting. You shush a whining child and redirect his tearing eyes to things from above.

Help me to love my unknown neighbors, a mysterious set of vowels and exclamations.

I trust you with the hearts minds and souls of the neighbors I have left behind. Comfort, strengthen and bless neighbors miles, timezones near and far.