The Lord Invites You ...

by Richard Foster

Today the heart of God is an open wound of love. He aches over our distance and preoccupation. He mourns that we do not draw near to him. He grieves that we have forgotten him. He weeps over our obsession with muchness and manyness. He longs for our presence. And he is inviting you -- and me -- to come home, to come home to where we belong; to come home to that for which we were created. His arms are stretched out wide to receive us. His heart is enlarged to take us in. For too long we have been in a far country, a country of noise and hurry, and crowds; a country of climb and push and shove, a country of frustration and fear and intimidation. And he welcomes us home, home to serenity and peace and joy, home to friendship and fellowship and openness, home to intimacy and acceptance and affirmation. We do not need to be shy.

He invites us into the living room of his heart, where we can put on old slippers and share freely. He invites us into the kitchen of his friendship, where chatter and batter mix in good fun. He invites us into the dining room of his strength, where we can feast to our heart’s delight. He invites into the study of his wisdom, where we can learn and grow and stretch ... and ask all the questions we can. He invites us into the workshop of his creativity, where we can be co-laborers with him, working together to determine the outcomes of events. He invites us into the bedroom of his rest, where new peace is found and where we can be naked and vulnerable and free. It is also the place of deepest intimacy. where we know and are known to the fullest.

Taken from Conversations, A Forum for Authentic Transformation, Volume 2, 1. Spring, 2004 (Atlanta, GA: Conversations, McCarty Building, 2055 Mt Paran Rd, NW, Atlanta.). quoting Richard Foster’s, Prayer: Finding the Heart’s True Home.

Floating in the River of Divine Love

by Thomas H. Green, SJ

My Lord, my Love,
You have called me
To float blind down the dark river
which leads to the Kingdom of Light.
May my journey be for the healing
Of those to whom you send me
Who walk in the shadow of death.

A prayer taken from When the Well Runs Dry by Thomas H. Green, SJ (Notre Dame: Ave Maria Press, 1979).