Friday, October 3, 2014

For a Child-Deep Prayer

October 4, 2014

In the depths of who I am I rejoice in God my savior. Luke 1:47 CEB (1)

Shrek: Ogres are like onions.
Donkey: They stink? 
Shrek: Yes… NO! Layers. Onions have layers. Ogres have layers.

We mistake them as shallow, silly, simple but children have layers, too. Children have depths adults ignore. Be present with a child, listen to hear the struggles, quandaries, longings, rages, and compassions, and the layers peel away. Deeper and deeper they go. 

A child’s inner prayer life is rich with suffering, wonder, doubt, fear, hope, and joy. Mary was a child herself. Yet her prayer — from the depths of her being — is among our best-treasured expressions of faith and trust in God. 

Into the vesper still and hush, a soprano drops her jaw and dares to sing, Magnificat anima mea. The prayer of a girl called by God, coming of age, who feels in her innermost being the awe of her calling and the fullness of her joy.

God, give me the prayer life of a child, for her honesty, depth, complexity, and power. In the depths of who I am, I rejoice in you, my savior. Amen.

David Cobb
Spirit of Joy Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)
Lakeville, Minnesota

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(1) Copyright © 2011 by Common English Bible

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