Liturgy 40: I Know My Stressors and My Vices

🕊️ A Prayer and a Blessing to Find a God worth Delighting in

Blessed is the one
who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked…

Blessed is the one
who delights in the Law of the LORD
meditating on it day and night…

He will be like a tree
planted by streams of water…

— Psalm 1

Go and enjoy choice food and sweet drinks,
and send some to those
who have nothing prepared.

This day is holy to our Lord.

Do not grieve
for the joy of the Lord is your strength.

— Nehemiah 8

🙏 Prayer

I know my stressors
I know my vices
But where do I find delight?

Blessedness is not
an equation
of dismissing
and renouncing

A faith oriented around
what I cannot
and should not do
is insufferable

Jesus
You taught us

Your Kingdom
is a merchant
selling all that he has
to purchase a single pearl

Your Kingdom
is treasure
hidden in the fields
for someone to discover
and erupt with joy

LORD, I
have neglected
my capacity to delight
to break out into a smile

LORD, as I
close my eyes
this morning
and this evening

let the roots
go down deep

May my faith
be a love affair
a rejoicing
in your voice
and your nearness

Amen

🕊️ A Blessing

May you discover a God worth delighting in.

May all grow strangely dim in the light of divine countenance.

May prayer and delight be one and the same.

In the Name of the One
who Endured the Cross
for the Joy Set Before Him

Amen