Friday, June 09, 2006
The Haven
When all the darkness of a world gone mad with "me" and "mine"
presses against your heart with its dark futility,
watch the world and see what happens
when self becomes the measure of the truth,
no one way better or worse than another,
with no standard to give it value.
Relativism – a place with no verities.
What type of world is it
when millions of selves become the arbiters of what is right,
of what is holy,
what is worth believing,
each competing,
the child molester no less worthy of admiration
than the hero who rescues the dying,
where killing the sick and old seeming as good a deed as healing,
and children seem a futility of expense.
Listen to that cacophony of competing voices
drowning out a truth they do not want to face,
the fact that without family,
there is an empty hole in life,
where self-loathing shadows over the death of hope,
the fact that chasing sex and intoxication
will never sustain,
that things break,
heros fail,
that isms are imperfect answers for that hole in their lives,
and that no matter how they veil the reality,
their choices are leading them to a nightmare world,
where they try to make shifting desires the center of all,
turning the old granite of truth into quicksand,
unable to sustain a purposeless life.
Listen, and ask yourself,
have we not created the tower of Babel anew,
confusing our hearts, our spirits, our future
in our hubris to say Man, and not God is the center?
Where then, is the firm land
that will let you stand while the chaos grows,
as the center cannot hold,
and things fall apart?
The answer was given to you in the life of a single person
sent here with one purpose,
to bring you home.
Even now, he calls through the bitter waters of modern life,
and offers that transformation
that creates a sanctuary against the storm.
Look upon his cross,
his tomb,
his resurrection and know
one greater than any man
has touched the world,
leaving a cross-shaped beacon pointing the way
to the place where heaven and earth come crashing together,
an island of meaning against the midnight,
bought with blood,
sustained by love.
Laugh at him as old fashioned as you cry against the dark,
or listen to what he has to say,
and find the purpose you were missing.
Susan E. Stone, 2006
presses against your heart with its dark futility,
watch the world and see what happens
when self becomes the measure of the truth,
no one way better or worse than another,
with no standard to give it value.
Relativism – a place with no verities.
What type of world is it
when millions of selves become the arbiters of what is right,
of what is holy,
what is worth believing,
each competing,
the child molester no less worthy of admiration
than the hero who rescues the dying,
where killing the sick and old seeming as good a deed as healing,
and children seem a futility of expense.
Listen to that cacophony of competing voices
drowning out a truth they do not want to face,
the fact that without family,
there is an empty hole in life,
where self-loathing shadows over the death of hope,
the fact that chasing sex and intoxication
will never sustain,
that things break,
heros fail,
that isms are imperfect answers for that hole in their lives,
and that no matter how they veil the reality,
their choices are leading them to a nightmare world,
where they try to make shifting desires the center of all,
turning the old granite of truth into quicksand,
unable to sustain a purposeless life.
Listen, and ask yourself,
have we not created the tower of Babel anew,
confusing our hearts, our spirits, our future
in our hubris to say Man, and not God is the center?
Where then, is the firm land
that will let you stand while the chaos grows,
as the center cannot hold,
and things fall apart?
The answer was given to you in the life of a single person
sent here with one purpose,
to bring you home.
Even now, he calls through the bitter waters of modern life,
and offers that transformation
that creates a sanctuary against the storm.
Look upon his cross,
his tomb,
his resurrection and know
one greater than any man
has touched the world,
leaving a cross-shaped beacon pointing the way
to the place where heaven and earth come crashing together,
an island of meaning against the midnight,
bought with blood,
sustained by love.
Laugh at him as old fashioned as you cry against the dark,
or listen to what he has to say,
and find the purpose you were missing.
Susan E. Stone, 2006
Labels: current evils, Jesus' Love, man's inhumanity
Tuesday, June 06, 2006
Forgive us, Lord
Lord,
You offer so many graces to us,
your poor benighted children here on Earth,
graces that fall to the ground too often unwanted, ignored, unseen.
How often we turn to run to the dark when you offer us
that purifying light that will heal the aching in our hearts
as if it were some bitter tonic
instead of the Living Water,
perfect tonic for all that ails us.
Forgive us, Lord,
for the ingratitude of our wayward hearts,
for the cold determination to do what we want,
no matter what the cost.
Soften our hearts, O Lord, and open our eyes,
scaled over by sin and and willfullness and lack of trust,
until we see you standing there,
waiting patiently with outstretched hands,
ready to transform us step by step,
grace by grace
until you have made us into the child of light
you would have us be.
Susan E. Stone, 2006
You offer so many graces to us,
your poor benighted children here on Earth,
graces that fall to the ground too often unwanted, ignored, unseen.
How often we turn to run to the dark when you offer us
that purifying light that will heal the aching in our hearts
as if it were some bitter tonic
instead of the Living Water,
perfect tonic for all that ails us.
Forgive us, Lord,
for the ingratitude of our wayward hearts,
for the cold determination to do what we want,
no matter what the cost.
Soften our hearts, O Lord, and open our eyes,
scaled over by sin and and willfullness and lack of trust,
until we see you standing there,
waiting patiently with outstretched hands,
ready to transform us step by step,
grace by grace
until you have made us into the child of light
you would have us be.
Susan E. Stone, 2006
Labels: Jesus' Love, Man's Sinfulness, Mercy on Mankind, Prayer for Mercy
Monday, June 05, 2006
Prayer to the Sacred Heart
O Sacred Heart,
so burning with the fire of love.
O Heart of my Savior,
Sanctuary of all grace,
all love,
all truth,
I adore you, I praise you, I bless you,
and I love you with all the strength and love
my poor heart has to give.
O Heart above all hearts,
forgive this poor, scarred heart of mine,
so often choosing not to love,
not to listen to your call,
cold when you would fill it with fire,
rebellious when you would lead me beside the still waters,
unfaithful wihen you wiould fill it full with your grace.
Forgive me, O Fount of endless mercy,
I who deserve to be cast out of your presence and into the endless darkness,
but who through your mercy find myself here,
at the fount of the Living Water.
O Bridegroom beyond all others,
by your cross,
by the very act of your choosing to be the Victim of love,
by your loving self-sacrifice in the Eucharistic Presence
that feeds my very soul with your own loving self,
I beg you, O Heart of Divine Mercy,
to forgive me for all those times,
all those sins
of ingratitude,
forgetfulness,
lack of faithfulness,
and all the other wrongs I have done to you,
whom I should love with an undivided heart.
With tears of contrition and grief for what I have wrought,
I come before you
longing to make whatever reparation I can,
token of my love for you,
knowing that truly they could never make up for what you are willing to give,
but yet, Lord, here I am.
Let me bear whatever griefs,
whatever suffering you should send my way
willingly as a reparation to thee,
for the wrongs I have done,
for the wrongs others do,
and for the conversion of hearts who do not love you.
Let each beat of my heart
be a prayer of love you you,
each breath I take,
a rememberance of Him who gives me breath,
each day granted
another chance to speak to you of my love,
each hour a celebration of the hope you give me,
each minute passing,
a thanksgiving of my joy at having been touched
by your love.
O Ocean of mercy,
whose love is big enough to embrace the whole world,
hide me in the depths of your heart forever.
Amen.
Susan E. Stone, 2006
so burning with the fire of love.
O Heart of my Savior,
Sanctuary of all grace,
all love,
all truth,
I adore you, I praise you, I bless you,
and I love you with all the strength and love
my poor heart has to give.
O Heart above all hearts,
forgive this poor, scarred heart of mine,
so often choosing not to love,
not to listen to your call,
cold when you would fill it with fire,
rebellious when you would lead me beside the still waters,
unfaithful wihen you wiould fill it full with your grace.
Forgive me, O Fount of endless mercy,
I who deserve to be cast out of your presence and into the endless darkness,
but who through your mercy find myself here,
at the fount of the Living Water.
O Bridegroom beyond all others,
by your cross,
by the very act of your choosing to be the Victim of love,
by your loving self-sacrifice in the Eucharistic Presence
that feeds my very soul with your own loving self,
I beg you, O Heart of Divine Mercy,
to forgive me for all those times,
all those sins
of ingratitude,
forgetfulness,
lack of faithfulness,
and all the other wrongs I have done to you,
whom I should love with an undivided heart.
With tears of contrition and grief for what I have wrought,
I come before you
longing to make whatever reparation I can,
token of my love for you,
knowing that truly they could never make up for what you are willing to give,
but yet, Lord, here I am.
Let me bear whatever griefs,
whatever suffering you should send my way
willingly as a reparation to thee,
for the wrongs I have done,
for the wrongs others do,
and for the conversion of hearts who do not love you.
Let each beat of my heart
be a prayer of love you you,
each breath I take,
a rememberance of Him who gives me breath,
each day granted
another chance to speak to you of my love,
each hour a celebration of the hope you give me,
each minute passing,
a thanksgiving of my joy at having been touched
by your love.
O Ocean of mercy,
whose love is big enough to embrace the whole world,
hide me in the depths of your heart forever.
Amen.
Susan E. Stone, 2006
Labels: Jesus' Love, Loving God, Sacred Heart
