Month: December 2015

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A Blessed New Year

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When 2016
shall come to a close
may you be able to look
back on the year completed
with awe and wonder
at the growth
in life and love
that has expanded
and gladdened
your heart
and soul.

© 2015 Dennis Ference

A Blessed New Year to all!

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Prayer for Compassion for Others

scream-879491_1920Divine Spirit,
how easy it is for me
to get trapped in the maze
of my own sufferings
and the tangle
of my own concerns.

I wake up in the morning,
and I begin the stretch
through the usual stiffness
and expected aches and pains.
I go to bed at night
to recline with memories
of a past that I treasure
but that no longer can be.

And in between
I often stumble in the dark
of a self-absorption
firmly planted
behind a closed door.

But you have placed a light
deep in my spirit,
shining always outward
and not merely within.
It lights the faces
of my brothers and sisters,
exposing our oneness,
baring their need.

Help me, Lord,
to move out
toward the other.
Help me, Lord,
to pry open my door.
Help me to do justice
and be compassion.
Help me, Lord,
Help me.

Adapted from Psalm Prayers for Seniors,
by Merging Traffic blog author Dennis Ference,
© 2000 Liguori Publications. Available from Liguori,
Amazon, and Barnes and Noble.

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Prayer of Praise for the Light

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There have been days
when I thought I
would never smile again.

There have been days
when I thought I
surely must die.

Those were the times
when the weight of some loss
seemed too heavy to bear.

Those were the times
when the shadow of sadness
never left my side.

But the daylight broke through
on an unexpected morning
as the clouds surrendered
to the faithfulness of the sun.

And I soon found a song,
and I soon felt a rhythm,
and I soon danced again
to the music of life.

And now I thank you
and I praise you
for all of your doing.
And I will thank you
and I will praise you
all the rest of my days.

Adapted from Psalm Prayers for Seniors,
by Merging Traffic blog author Dennis Ference,
© 2000 Liguori Publications. Available from Liguori,
Amazon, and Barnes and Noble.

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Enough Said

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Talking about life
isn’t living;
talking about love
isn’t loving;
talking about surrender
isn’t surrendering;
talking about the Spirit
isn’t being in the Spirit. . . .
Enough said!

© 2015 Dennis Ference
Photo © 2015 Lily Brock

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Hardwired

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We arise each morning
hard-wired by
culture and our humanity
to pursue security
control or applause
and still we wonder why
surrender to the Spirit
must be recycled again
again and again.

© 2014 Dennis Ference
Photo © 2015 Lily Brock
(First posted without pic 10/9/14.)

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Content and Primed

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Blessed are those
who do not stress and strain
to meet God on some
majestic mountaintop far away
but are content and primed
for an awakening to Presence
in the fragrance of flowers,
the sad songs of the streets,
and the silent movements
deep within their hearts.

© 2015 Dennis Ference
Photo © 2015 Lily Brock