Walking With My Brother

Holy Lord,

You came to me
When I was in labor with my daughter.
I didn’t understand Your presence then.
Only later did I know it was You.
But there You were,
Holding my hand,
Helping me breathe,
Helping me manage the pains of childbirth.

I remember closing my eyes,
Needing desperately to disregard,
Shut out somehow,
All the distractions in the world around me.

It was a holy time.
Just You and me, Lord.

And later, in the days just after she was born,
I was certain that a blissful life
Would be one of birth upon birth upon birth,
As I relived again and again
That precious time of creation with You.

All these years later I realize
I still feel Your presence most fully
When my eyes are closed.
I guess the devil has just one less way
To distract me
And separate me from You.

Cover my ears, too, Lord,
That I am lifted from the noise and clamor
Just outside this holy place You are creating in me.
Cover my ears,
That I might only hear Your voice.
Shelter my ears, so I hear only
Your choirs of angels,
Singing holy hymns of Your beauty.

And close my mouth, Lord,
That the confusion and chaos of my day
Cannot take form and flow in free-fall,
Like vomit from my mouth.
Silence my lips
That Your presence in me
Is not drowned by the flood
Of our world’s corruption.

Allow Your Holy Spirit to live within me,
To fill me so fully that there’s room for naught else.
To soar in adoration of You,
To be lifted, if only for a moment,
To experience, if only fleetingly,
That holy heaven of Triune love
Shared between You and Your Son.

Help me Father to offer You
A pure and clean and holy sheet,
Free of the sights and sounds
And the furies of this world,
On which to record Your words for me.

And, if it is Your will, holy Lord,
Let me hear Your still, small voice
Calling me, beckoning me to come,
Sit a while with You,
Be with You, and
Rest in the warmth of Your love.