Every day I get a posting from Luther Seminary called God Pause. Today, a lovely hymn appeared on the site. A poem of Lent, I have copied it below, with the citation.
O God, with hope I enter in
And call to mind your desert grace:
To wayworn people you have been
A presence in the wilderness.
But far from Sinai have I roamed
And bear the hidden wounds of strife;
Away and worn, I yearn for home;
Athirst, desire the spring of life.
O break the rock, let water flow
And wash the dust and drought from me;
I taste your peace, your presence know,
And drinking deep, am healed and free.
How shall my days your grace proclaim;
How shall my deeds your healing prove?
An open heart will praise your name;
My grateful life will sing your love.
O God, with joy I enter in,
Restored and precious in your sight,
For in your grace I live again
In lands of honey and delight.
© 2001 Susan Palo Cherwien, admin. AugsburgFortress
Susan Cherwien
Poet and Hymn Writer, Luther Seminary
My favorite expression in the hymn is “desert grace.” And my own experience of faith finds an echo in the fourth line of the first stanza, God truly is “a presence in the wilderness” to way worn people.
Today’s spiritual discipline is the poem/hymn. May it be a prayer for your journey. May God’s “desert grace” sustain you. May he be a “a presence in the wilderness” for you.
If you are interested, you can link in to Luther Seminary’s daily chapel. Well worth a visit: http://www.luthersem.edu/chapel/
For GodPause, go to: http://www.luthersem.edu/godpause/daily_view.aspx