Ephesians 1:18 (NRSV)

…so that, with the eyes of your heart enlightened,

you may know what is the hope to which he has called you,

what are the riches of his glorious inheritance among the saints,

and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power for us who believe.

Open my eyes to what is already holy.

Lucille Clifton, from Eyes

“may you open your eyes

to water,

to trees,

to air,

to light—

and not just see them,

but *see* them.

everything holds a sermon.

every leaf contains a psalm.

do not close your eyes to what has been singing your name

since the beginning.”

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Exodus 3:2–4 (NRSV)

There the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire

out of a bush;

he looked, and the bush was blazing, yet it was not consumed.

Then Moses said,

“I must turn aside and look at this great sight,

and see why the bush is not burned up.”

When the Lord saw that he had turned aside to see,

God called to him out of the bush,

“Moses, Moses!”

And he said, “Here I am.”

The flame that calls is the flame that heals.

Thomas Merton

“There is no way of telling people

that they are all walking around shining like the sun.

But it is true.

If only they could see themselves as they truly are.

If only we could see each other that way all the time.

There would be no more war,

no more hatred, no more cruelty,

no more greed...

But this cannot be seen with ordinary eyes.”

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Isaiah 61:3 (NRSV)

...to provide for those who mourn in Zion—

to give them a garland instead of ashes,

the oil of gladness instead of mourning,

the mantle of praise instead of a faint spirit.

They will be called oaks of righteousness,

the planting of the Lord, to display his glory.

Grace grows where the soul has been scorched.

Henri Nouwen

“Hope means to keep living amid desperation

and to keep humming in the darkness.

Hope is knowing that there is love,

it is trust in tomorrow,

it is falling asleep and waking again

when the sun rises.

In the midst of a broken world,

hope is the gift of grace—

the quiet knowing that ashes are not the end.”

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Lamentations 3:25–26 (NRSV)

The Lord is good to those who wait for him,

to the soul that seeks him.

It is good that one should wait quietly

for the salvation of the Lord.

I will wait with hope through the night.

John O’Donohue, from To Bless the Space Between Us

“This is the time to be slow,

Lie low to the wall

Until the bitter weather passes.

Try, as best you can, not to let

The wire brush of doubt

Scrape from your heart

All sense of yourself and your hesitant light.

If you remain generous,

Time will come good;

And you will find your feet

Again on fresh pastures of promise,

Where the air will be kind

And blushed with beginning.”

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Psalm 5:1–3 (NRSV)

Give ear to my words, O Lord;

give heed to my sighing.

Listen to the sound of my cry,

my King and my God,

for to you I pray.

O Lord, in the morning you hear my voice;

in the morning I plead my case to you, and watch.

God hears what I cannot say.

Barbara Brown Taylor

“Prayer is not a production;

it is not something you perform or complete.

It is the practice of attending.

Sometimes to the stillness.

Sometimes to your own breath.

Sometimes to the ache that will not speak.

And always—to the presence of God,

who listens even when you forget to speak.”

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Romans 8:38–39 (NRSV)

For I am convinced that neither death, nor life,

nor angels, nor rulers,

nor things present, nor things to come,

nor powers, nor height, nor depth,

nor anything else in all creation,

will be able to separate us from the love of God

in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Even this is not beyond redemption.

Julian of Norwich

“All shall be well,

and all shall be well,

and all manner of things shall be well.

He said not:

‘Thou shalt not be tempted,

thou shalt not be travailed,

thou shalt not be afflicted.’

But he said: ‘Thou shalt not be overcome.’”

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Isaiah 30:21 (NRSV)

And when you turn to the right or when you turn to the left,

your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying,

“This is the way; walk in it.”

The voice of God is gentle and trustworthy.

Macrina Wiederkehr

“O God,

help me to believe the truth about myself—

no matter how beautiful it is.

Help me to hear Your voice

in the small, in the slow,

in the silence between my doubts.

You do not scream Your love.

You whisper it—

so I will learn to lean in.”

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Exodus 20:8–11 (NRSV)

Remember the sabbath day, and keep it holy.

Six days you shall labor and do all your work.

But the seventh day is a sabbath to the Lord your God;

you shall not do any work—you, your son or your daughter,

your male or female slave, your livestock,

or the alien resident in your towns.

For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth,

the sea, and all that is in them, but rested the seventh day;

therefore the Lord blessed the sabbath day and consecrated it.

Rest is not withdrawal, it is return.

Wendell Berry, from A Timbered Choir

“Teach me work that honors Thy work,

the true economies of goods and words,

to make my arts compatible with the songs of the local birds.

Teach me patience beyond work—

and, beyond patience, the blest Sabbath of Thy unresting love

which lights all things and gives rest.”

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