Prayer to Aid in the Darkness

There is darkness in my mind, what I've called "the crocodile brain" part. A living darkness, ancient and primitive. I live with this part of me. A teacher says that while traveling, and I say, too, for help with the darkness, short prayers.

Taught that a prayer can be like an arrow, it is also a balm and a solution, a civilizing act, a way to goodness. An arrow to heaven. O Lord, come to my assistance.

At Easter time we rejoice for there is a promise, a certain gift and redemption in the risen Christ. The wonderful prayer in "The Book of Common Prayer" that says, "We bless you for our creation, preservation,/and all the blessings of this life;/but above all for your immeasurable love/in the redemption of the world by our Lord Jesus Christ..."



One word prayers...(2001)
by Peter Menkin

One word prayers were what I practiced
on the drive home, trying on the way
to see in the night towards San Francisco
where a purple glow in the sky distinguished
the unseen cityscape, and to the north,
metal towers lit with red warning lights, for airplanes
to note in the darkness. I was told by a teacher,
short prayers are good while

travelling. On the way, the Church prays
as it goes and its members do so also. Surprise,

interruption there is peace in the evening;
as a seeker of God, lover of Christ,
I know the distracting onslought
of inner conversation--
ancient enemies that wait
in the darkness of the hour in ones mind,
like the crocodile brain deep inside. Accept
the suffering, and live to God's presence:
my short prayer is "Abba," I cry.

Poem about returning to God, the dance...

This time, in the evening as I write this note in my blog, I consider how I must return to the Lord. The sun has set, the light of the winter has from day turned to night. Stay with me for a short time, and forgive my indulgence in telling you about my solitude of heart in my poem, and how I turn back to him, dancing around the sorrows of my life sometimes.

This in a poem.

Everyone isn't going to find this their favorite subject, but I confess my sense of needing to be conscious or just in the presence of God. Otherwise, I begin to feel alone, and I begin to feel like I have forgotten something, and I think, He is missing. But of course God is present, everywhere, all the time. Like that hymn on the CD I am listening to tonight, "My Soul Proclaims the Greatness of the Lord." That is also what I want to have and experience.

A note about adding some more images to this blog. For some time I have perused, searched, and sometimes visited museum websites for images of paintings that are religious in nature. I also find images elsewhere, for you will see there are a number of icons of Christ. On the way, I've collected a few different "faces" of Christ. Some are posted already.

Here is that poem from five years ago about returning to the Lord, in our lonliness, or when we feel we are slipping away from Him.


Nurturing Solitude of the Heart
by Peter Menkin -- Dec 14, 2001

When at Evening Prayer
together
Christ thrusts upon me
solitude--Call to vocation with God,
alone in unsuspected depth.

A teacher says this
is where God has always been.
Dance around sorrow,
the crucible is necessary.
Cry, "Abba!"