A Prayer for a Sunday when the Heat is too Hot and the Music too Slow

Oh Holy Spirit,
You who raised Eutychus from the dead
After he fell asleep during church,
and fell out the window and died;
Grant me the grace to stay awake through church this morning.
And if this is not Your Holy Will,
Grant that I do not snore too loudly,
Or drool on myself,
Or start to nod off and then jerk awake real suddenly.
Whether I make it through this service awake or asleep,
Remind me that the Redemption You are working right now,
At this moment,
Is more creative and far reaching than can be contained
In this room,
At this moment.
In the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit,
Amen.

A Monday Morning Poem

People usually find the incessant
Barking of a dog or two
Inside their fence
A nuisance, noise pollution.

A rap on the window,
"Shut up out there!"

After listening to those dogs bark
At the same string of squirrels,
     Loose dogs roaming the neighborhood,
           The occasional passerby,
                The mail lady six days a week
                      Between noon and two o'clock,

I hear those dogs barking out
A testimony to the sheer persistence
Of created life
As I hop in the shower
     And head to work on Monday morning.

- 3 October 2011