Bigger Picture #13: Holding

I was visiting RevGalBlogPals today and noticed the Thursday prayer. It is a prayer written by Janet Morley published in The Book of a Thousand Prayers. It begins:

and you held me and there were no words
and there was no time and you held me
and there was only wanting and
being held and being filled with wanting
and I was nothing but letting go
and being held
and there were no words and there
needed to be no words

As I read it, I was very aware of my sense that this was talking about the God/human relationship and also the parent/child relationship. I don't know what you hear when you read her words, or what Ms. Morley intended, but I hear a relationship of comfort and security, a relationship of mutuality, a relationship of balance, a relationship of presence.

Again I am reminded that the holding we do of our children, the speaking, the not speaking, the hurrying, the patience, the holding on, the letting go...all of it speaks of God, whether we intend it or not. It reflects our understandings. It teaches them theirs. Parenting is a powerful gift. May we live it well.

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And, if you'd like to read the whole prayer, pop on over here.