Loving God, Creator,
you are far more generous than we know how to be.
Like a father
greeting his prodigal son who had wasted the family inheritance:
you run to meet us;
you lavish yet more upon us;
you welcome us back home.
Like a woman
pouring out her priceless perfume:
you bathe us in blessings
and replenish us with the riches of your grace.
Make us more receptive to your extravagance!
And less embarrassed by it.
We are so cautious, so calculating.
You hold nothing back.
You long to give us life; all of life there is.
Pour into us, then,
something of your generosity;
your spontaneity;
your reckless, unconditional love.
Make us into candidates for transformation,
agents of uncalculating generosity in the world.
Help us free things up.
Help us break open the gospel we carry around
all bottled up in ourselves and our churches.
Help us break it open and let it flow.
Good news for the poor! Freedom for the captives!
Life in abundance! For real and for all!
Help us anoint your body, not for dying but for living,
in what we do for others
and in who we are ourselves.
Brian Woodcock, from Iona Dawn: Through Holy Week with the Iona Community, Neil Paynter (Ed)
Photo by Ani Kolleshi on Unsplash
USA North East