“In his love he clothes us, enfolds us and embraces us; that tender love completely surrounds us, never to leave us.”
Julian of Norwich
“Relying on God has to begin all over again every day as though nothing had ever been done.”
C.S. Lewis
“Don’t wish me happiness. I don’t expect to be happy all the time… Its gotten beyond that somehow. Wish me courage, and strength and a sense of humour. I will need them all.”
Anne Morrow Lindbergh, Gift from the Sea
I will raise up shepherds over them who will shepherd them, and they shall not fear any longer, or be dismayed, nor shall any be missing, says the Lord.
Jeremiah 23.1,4
MY PRAYER today… is for strength. And for support. The support that comes from those who care for us, and the strength that comes from within. The tree below on my dear friend Jenneth’s poetic image, recalls to me Kahil Gilbran’s words, ‘even as love crowns you so shall he crucify you. Even as he is for your growth so is he for your pruning. Even as he ascends to your height and caresses your tenderest branches that quiver in the sun, so shall he descend to your roots and shake them in their clinging to the earth’. God grows us, in his love for us, he doesn’t leave us as we are, however comfortable that might be, he brings us pain to hollow us out to contain more of him and less of ourselves. He prunes us for greater strength, for stronger branches and fruitfulness. Oh it hurts when he shakes our clinging to the earth. We suddenly realise the insubstantial nature of the soil surrounding us, which can so easily wash away with the rains, and understand that our true strength is in him who supports our frame and in the roots that delve deep for stability. We can then say, with the Psalmist ‘God is within me, I will not fall; God will help me at break of day’ (from Psalm 46:5).
These are drawn from daily prayers and reflections I write my Chaplaincy colleagues.
Living Tree Poetry 