Father in Heaven,
May we move slowly in this Advent season
And in a countercultural cadence
Trust that the One we wait for
Is the One we wait with.

Glory be to God for Dirt—

For backyard soil
as dark and dense
as the midnight sky.
And for all the creatures
who make this ground
their earthy home—
the wiggly ones
and leggy ones
and the tiny ones
our eyes can’t see.

“In Your tender compassion, the morning sun has risen upon us…”— Benedictus

Our Father in Heaven,

May sunrise light
The brilliant beams of Creation’s color:
Pale peach, dusty orange, candy pink, and ruby red
Announce with holy hues
The arrival of this new day.

Thank You for dark mornings,
Where light unhurriedly arrives.
May rhythms of being rooted
Reform in us as autumn assuredly arrives.

Today I pray for patience
For myself and my neighbors.
Our lives are relentlessly harassed by hurry
And entangled in cycles of crushing chaos.

Father in Heaven,
Thank You for longer days;
When light arrives early, shines brightly,
And after amber sunsets, slowly leaves late.

May 40 Days
Of Lenten wilderness lead
To a greater awareness
Of our great need,
And of Your great love.

May the roots of our life reach deeper
In this threshold of time,
And in this sacred place.

May our hearts be wise,
Help us number our summers
With our parents and our children,
Our spouses and our siblings,