Abba, Thank You Today

I was contemplating prayer and two classes I have attended recently on prayer.

Abba, Thank You Today

Abba, Abba, how I missed you,
Even as you were by me all the time.
In your presence, you are so large, so great,
so much like when I was a very young one.
Your Name shines everywhere, every day.
You fill me up each day.
You pick me up each day.
You embrace me each day as I accept your presence.
How great is your presence here today each time we invite you in, 
Each time we open our eyes to see,
Each time we listen and hear you.
Sometimes your words are so hard for me to hear,
So hard to understand,
The Greek so formal, the Aramaic so new yet intimate.
I listen today in new ways.
You bring me daily bread, protein and bulk to
feed me all day and night.
Untie, for sure, the knots of failure, knots I tie.
I fumble to untie the knots that I have tied
around me and around so many,
the strands so complex, so hard to see now.
Yet I see so much in your glow.
I am warmed and joyful.
From you, new blessings flow.
Blessings grow.
Blessings, I know.
Amen.
I grow.
Shine within me.
You wipe out the darkness.
Glow, too, for these neighbors today.
Your Word is the light.
Your Word is my joy.

(c) Tom Bolton, Milwaukee, 26 October 2012