Liturgy 42: Pleasant Lines

🕊️ A Prayer and Blessing to Find Pleasantness

☕️ Lectio Divina

Lord, you alone are my portion and my cup;
you make my lot secure.
The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places;
surely I have a delightful inheritance.

— The Sixteenth Psalm

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No such thing as a life that’s better than yours.

— J Cole

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🙏 Prayer

With apologies
to my dear
cynic friends
and cynic self

I confess.

Not always,
but somedays,
as in
days such as today,
I wonder aloud…

is this…
normal?

or
does
God
especially
love
me?

I know. I kind of just threw up in my mouth a little.

But I’m not talking about
finding a rare parking spot
in an overcrowded Chinatown plaza

I’m talking about
all the years of your life
in an instant
moving from chaos
to divine cohesion.

On some Esther and Mordecai
such a time as this
vibes…

But now that I’m here,
hold on.

Why wouldn’t God be
in a providentially
timed arrival at
a parking lot?

A small dose of Osteen
won’t kill you
might even make you smile.

Mental health gurus
who speak much on the naming of grief
but very little on nourishing joy
only feed a narrow mind.

God is so good.

LORD
For all that is wrong
I pause to see
the fortunate things
the ordinary and unusual
privileges I
enjoy.

Thank you.

🕊️ Blessing

May you say what the Psalmist said.
The Boundary Lines have fallen for me in pleasant places.
May you refuse to be a victim and a complainer.
May you give thanks continually.
May you seek the movement of God’s heart.
May God be your portion, your reward.
May you extend such goodness to all the world.

In the Name of the Giver of All Good Things
Amen