John 20:19–21 (NRSVUE)

When it was evening on that day, the first day of the week, 

and the doors of the house where the disciples had met were locked for fear, 

Jesus came and stood among them and said, "Peace be with you." 

After he said this, he showed them his hands and his side. 

Then the disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord. 

Jesus said to them again, "Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you."

Refrain

Peace be with me, even here.

Quote

St. Seraphim of Sarov

"Acquire inner peace and thousands around you will find their salvation."

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Luke 24:30–31 (NRSVUE)

When he was at the table with them, he took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them.

Then their eyes were opened, and they recognized him; and he vanished from their sight.

Refrain

Open my eyes to what is already here.

Quote

Elizabeth Barrett Browning, from Aurora Leigh

"Earth's crammed with heaven, and every common bush afire with God, but only he who sees takes off his shoes; the rest sit round and pluck blackberries."

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Luke 24:13–16 (NRSVUE)

Now on that same day two of them were going to a village called Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem, and talking with each other about all these things that had happened. While they were talking and discussing, Jesus himself came near and went with them, but their eyes were kept from recognizing him.

Refrain

Even in disappointment, You are near.

Quote

Frederick Buechner

"Resurrection means that the worst thing is never the last thing."

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Luke 24:1–6 (NRSVUE)

But on the first day of the week, at early dawn, they came to the tomb,

taking the spices that they had prepared.

They found the stone rolled away from the tomb,

but when they went in, they did not find the body. 

While they were perplexed about this, suddenly two men in dazzling clothes stood beside them.

The women were terrified and bowed their faces to the ground, but the men said to them, 

"Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here, but has risen."

Refrain

The tomb is empty. Everything is different.

Quote

N.T. Wright, from Surprised by Hope

"Resurrection is not the reversal of death. It is the defeat of death. Not undoing what happened, but transforming it into something that opens onto a new world."

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Philippians 3:13–14 (NRSVUE)

Beloved, I do not consider that I have made it my own; but this one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the heavenly call of God in Christ Jesus.

Refrain

I press on toward what is ahead.

Quote

Frederick Buechner, from Wishful Thinking

"The grace of God means something like: Here is your life. You might never have been, but you are because the party wouldn't have been complete without you. Here is the world. Beautiful and terrible things will happen. Don't be afraid. I am with you. Nothing can ever separate us. It's for you I created the universe. I love you. There's only one catch. Like any other gift, the gift of grace can be yours only if you'll reach out and take it. Maybe being able to reach out and take it is a gift too.”

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Philippians 3:10–11 (NRSVUE)

I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the sharing of his sufferings by becoming like him in his death, if somehow I may attain the resurrection from the dead.

Refrain

In my suffering, Christ is with me.

Quote

Nicholas Wolterstorff, from Lament for a Son

"God is not only the God of the sufferers but the God who suffers. The one who suffers beside us."

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Philippians 3:10 (NRSVUE)

I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the sharing of his sufferings by becoming like him in his death, if somehow I may attain the resurrection from the dead.

Refrain

I surrender in order to know You.

Quote

Brennan Manning, from Abba's Child

"Define yourself radically as one beloved by God. This is the true self. Every other identity is illusion."

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Philippians 3:8–9 (NRSVUE)

I regard everything as loss because of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things, and I regard them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but one that comes through faith in Christ.

Refrain

In losing, I find what truly lasts.

Quote

Richard Rohr, from Falling Upward

"The supposed achievements of the first half of life have to fall apart and show themselves to be wanting in some way, or we will not move further. Why would we?"

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Philippians 3:7–8 (NRSVUE)

Yet whatever gains I had, these I have come to regard as loss because of Christ. More than that, I regard everything as loss because of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things, and I regard them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ.

Refrain

I release what I once held as gain.

Quote

Thomas Merton, from New Seeds of Contemplation

"To consider persons and events and situations only in the light of their effect upon myself is to live on the doorstep of hell."

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Scripture

Psalm 84:11–12 (NRSVUE)

For the Lord God is a sun and shield; he bestows favor and honor. No good thing does the Lord withhold from those who walk uprightly. O Lord of hosts, happy is everyone who trusts in you.

Refrain

God withholds no good thing from me.

Quote

George Herbert, from The Pulley

"When God at first made man, having a glass of blessings standing by,

let us, said he, pour on him all we can."

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Psalm 84:10 (NRSVUE)

For a day in your courts is better than a thousand elsewhere. I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than live in the tents of wickedness.

Refrain

One day in your presence is enough.

Quote

C.S. Lewis, from The Weight of Glory

"It would seem that Our Lord finds our desires not too strong, but too weak.

We are half-hearted creatures,

fooling about with drink and sex and ambition

when infinite joy is offered us,

like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum

because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea."

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Psalm 84:5–7 (NRSVUE)

Happy are those whose strength is in you, in whose heart are the highways to Zion. As they go through the valley of Baca they make it a place of springs; the early rain also covers it with pools. They go from strength to strength; the God of gods will be seen in Zion.

Refrain

Strength rises in me as I walk.

Quote

Eugene Peterson, from A Long Obedience in the Same Direction

"The life of faith is not a sprint but a long obedience in the same direction."

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Psalm 84:3 (NRSVUE)

Even the sparrow finds a home, and the swallow a nest for herself, where she may lay her young, at your altars, O Lord of hosts, my King and my God.

Refrain

I have found a place to belong.

Quote

Henri Nouwen, from The Return of the Prodigal Son

"Home is the center of my being where I can hear the voice that says:

'You are my beloved, on you my favor rests.'"

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Psalm 84:1–2 (NRSVUE)

How lovely is your dwelling place, O Lord of hosts! My soul longs, indeed it faints, for the courts of the Lord; my heart and my flesh sing for joy to the living God.

Refrain

My soul longs for the living God.

Quote

Augustine of Hippo, from Confessions

"You have made us for yourself, O Lord, and our hearts are restless until they rest in you."

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John 15:9–10 (NRSVUE)

As the Father has loved me, so I have loved you; abide in my love. If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father's commandments and abide in his love.

Refrain

I remain in love.

Quote

Brennan Manning, from The Ragamuffin Gospel

"Jesus comes not for the super-spiritual but for the wobbly and weak-kneed who know they don't have it all together and are not too proud to accept the handout of amazing grace."

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John 15:16 (NRSVUE)

You did not choose me but I chose you. And I appointed you to go and bear fruit, fruit that will last, so that the Father will give you whatever you ask him in my name.

Refrain

I did not choose first — I was chosen.

Quote

Henri Nouwen, from Life of the Beloved

"Long before any human being saw us, we are seen by God's loving eyes. Long before anyone heard us cry or laugh, we are heard by our God who is all ears for us. Long before any person spoke to us in this world, we are spoken to by the voice of eternal love."

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John 15:7–8 (NRSVUE)

If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask for whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit and become my disciples.

Refrain

Fruit grows when I remain.

Quote

Frederick Buechner, from Wishful Thinking

"The place God calls you to is the place where your deep gladness and the world's deep hunger meet."

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John 15:5 (NRSVUE)

I am the vine, you are the branches. Those who abide in me and I in them bear much fruit, because apart from me you can do nothing.

Refrain

I am rooted in the vine.

Quote

John of the Cross, from The Ascent of Mount Carmel

"The soul that is attached to anything, however much good there may be in it, will not arrive at the liberty of divine union."

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John 15:4 (NRSVUE)

Abide in me as I abide in you. Just as the branch cannot bear fruit by itself unless it abides in the vine, neither can you unless you abide in me.

Refrain

I choose to abide.

Quote

Thomas R. Kelly, from A Testament of Devotion

"For God Himself works in our souls, in the deepest depths, taking increasing control as we are progressively willing to be prepared for His wonder."

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Galatians 5:22–25 (NRSVUE)

The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against such things. And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live by the Spirit, let us also be guided by the Spirit.

Refrain

I walk in step with the Spirit.

Quote

Thomas R. Kelly, from A Testament of Devotion

"There is a way of ordering our mental life on more than one level at once. On one level we may be thinking, discussing, seeing, calculating, meeting all the demands of external affairs. But deep within, behind the scenes, at a profounder level, we may also be in prayer and adoration, song and worship, and a gentle receptiveness to divine breathings."

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1 John 4:18 (NRSVUE)

There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear; for fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not reached perfection in love.

Refrain

Love has moved in where fear used to live.

Quote

Julian of Norwich, from Revelations of Divine Love

"Love was His meaning. Who showed it thee? Love. What showed He thee? Love. Wherefore was it showed? For Love. Hold thee therein and thou shalt learn and know more in the same. But thou shalt never know nor learn therein other thing without end."

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Galatians 5:13 (NRSVUE)

For you were called to freedom, brothers and sisters; only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for self-indulgence, but through love become servants to one another.

Refrain

Free to love, I turn toward others.

Quote

Dorothy Day, from The Long Loneliness

"We have all known the long loneliness and we have learned that the only solution is love and that love comes with community."

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Galatians 5:1 (NRSVUE)

For freedom Christ has set us free. Stand firm, therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.

Refrain

I have nothing left to prove.

Quote

Henri Nouwen, from The Return of the Prodigal Son

"Self-rejection is the greatest enemy of the spiritual life because it contradicts the sacred voice that calls us the Beloved. Being the Beloved constitutes the core truth of our existence."

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Galatians 5:13–14 (NRSVUE)

For you were called to freedom, brothers and sisters; only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for self-indulgence, but through love become slaves to one another. For the whole law is summed up in a single commandment, "You shall love your neighbor as yourself."

Refrain

I was made for this freedom.

Quote

Meister Eckhart

"The most powerful prayer, one well-nigh omnipotent, and the worthiest work of all is the outcome of a quiet mind. The quieter it is the more powerful, the worthier, the deeper, the more telling and more perfect the prayer is. To the quiet mind all things are possible. What is a quiet mind? A quiet mind is one which nothing weighs on, nothing worries, which, free from ties and from all self-seeking, is wholly merged into the will of God and dead to its own."

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Philippians 1:6 (NRSVUE)

I am confident of this,  

that the one who began a good work among you  

will bring it to completion  

by the day of Jesus Christ.

Refrain  

I am learning to trust what is unfinished.

Quote  

R. S. Thomas

There are nights when the darkness presses so close  

that I can hear my own heart questioning.  

I have learned not to force an answer,  

not to demand a voice.

Faith is not the absence of uncertainty,  

but the decision to live with it,  

to continue without seeing,  

to remain when clarity does not come.

I stay, not because I understand,  

but because something in me knows  

this waiting is itself a form of prayer.

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Hebrews 10:36 (NRSVUE)

For you need endurance,  

so that when you have done the will of God,  

you may receive what was promised.

Refrain  

I am learning to stay in the middle.

Quote  

Henri Nouwen

Every time you listen with great attentiveness  

to the voice that calls you the Beloved,  

you will discover within yourself  

a desire to hear that voice longer and more deeply.

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Proverbs 3:5 (NRSVUE)

Trust in the LORD with all your heart,  

and do not rely on your own insight.

Refrain  

I am learning to trust without certainty.

Quote  

Simone Weil

We do not obtain the most precious gifts  

by going in search of them,  

but by waiting for them.

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Deep calls to deep  

at the thunder of your cataracts;  

all your waves and your billows  

have gone over me.

Refrain  

I am learning to stay with the silence.

Quote  

R. S. Thomas

But the silence in the mind  

is when we live best, within  

listening distance of the silence  

we call God. This is the deep  

calling to deep of the psalm-writer,  

the bottomless ocean.

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John 6:68 (NRSVUE)

Simon Peter answered him,  

“Lord, to whom can we go?  

You have the words of eternal life.”

Refrain  

I am learning to stay.

Quote  

Thomas Merton

My Lord God, I have no idea where I am going.  

I do not see the road ahead of me.  

I cannot know for certain where it will end.

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Habakkuk 2:3 (NRSVUE)

For there is still a vision for the appointed time;  

it speaks of the end and does not lie.  

If it seems to tarry, wait for it;  

it will surely come, it will not delay.

Refrain  

I am learning to wait with trust.

Quote  

John of the Cross

In order to arrive at what you do not know,  

you must go by a way which you do not know.  

In order to arrive at what you do not possess,  

you must go by a way in which you do not possess.

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Isaiah 43:18–19 (NRSVUE)

Do not remember the former things,  

or consider the things of old.  

I am about to do a new thing;  

now it springs forth, do you not perceive it?  

I will make a way in the wilderness  

and rivers in the desert.

Refrain  

I am learning to make room.

Quote  

Meister Eckhart

To be empty of all things is to be full of God.  

To be full of all things is to be empty of God.

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Psalm 62:8 (NRSVUE)

Trust in him at all times, O people;  

pour out your heart before him;  

God is a refuge for us.

---

Refrain  

I am learning to name what is true.

---

Quote  

Julian of Norwich

For I saw no wrath in God,  

nor ever shall.  

For our Lord is God, and God is good,  

and goodness is enough to answer for all.

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Lamentations 3:22–23 (NRSVUE)

The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases,  

his mercies never come to an end;  

they are new every morning;  

great is your faithfulness.

---

Refrain  

I am learning to notice what is here.

---

Quote  

George Herbert

Prayer the Church’s banquet, Angel’s age,  

God’s breath in man returning to his birth,  

The soul in paraphrase, heart in pilgrimage.

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Psalm 131:2 (NRSVUE)

But I have calmed and quieted my soul,  

like a weaned child with its mother;  

my soul is like the weaned child that is with me.

---

Refrain  

I am learning to pay attention.

---

Quote  

Simone Weil, *Waiting for God*

The key to a Christian conception of studies is the realization that prayer consists of attention.  

It is the orientation of all the attention of which the soul is capable toward God.

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Galatians 6:9 (NRSVUE)

So let us not grow weary in doing what is right,  

for we will reap at harvest time,  

if we do not give up.

Refrain  

I am learning to stay with the work.

Quote  

Benedict of Nursia

Let us set out on this way with the Gospel for our guide,  

that we may deserve to see him who has called us into his kingdom.

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Luke 19:8–9 (NRSVUE)

Zacchaeus stood there and said to the Lord,  

“Look, half of my possessions, Lord, I will give to the poor;  

and if I have defrauded anyone of anything,  

I will pay back four times as much.”  

Then Jesus said to him,  

“Today salvation has come to this house.”

Refrain  

I am learning to turn again.

Quote  

Julian of Norwich

Our Lord does not say, “You shall not be tempted,  

you shall not be troubled,  

you shall not be distressed,”  

but he says, “You shall not be overcome.”

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Joel 2:12–13 (NRSVUE)

Yet even now, says the LORD,  

return to me with all your heart,  

with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning;  

rend your hearts and not your clothing.  

Return to the LORD, your God,  

for he is gracious and merciful,  

slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love.

Refrain  

I return to what is true.

Quote  

Augustine of Hippo

Remember, you are dust.  

Yet you are dust breathed upon by God.

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Psalm 103:14 (NRSVUE)

For he knows how we were made;  

he remembers that we are dust.

Refrain  

I am learning to receive my limits.

Quote  

Meister Eckhart

If the only prayer you ever say in your entire life  

is thank you,  

it will be enough.

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Joshua 3:5 (NRSVUE)

Then Joshua said to the people,  

“Sanctify yourselves, for tomorrow the LORD will do wonders among you.”

Refrain  

I am learning to return.

Quote  

T. S. Eliot

What we call the beginning is often the end  

And to make an end is to make a beginning.  

The end is where we start from.

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Psalm 4:8 (NRSVUE)

I will both lie down and sleep in peace; for you alone, O LORD, make me lie down in safety.

Refrain  

Tomorrow is held.

Quote  

Ralph Waldo Emerson

“Finish each day and be done with it. You have done what you could. Some blunders and absurdities no doubt crept in; forget them as soon as you can. Tomorrow is a new day; begin it serenely and with too high a spirit to be encumbered with your old nonsense.”

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Proverbs 3:5–6 (NRSVUE)

Trust in the LORD with all your heart,  

and do not rely on your own insight.  

In all your ways acknowledge him,  

and he will make straight your paths.

Refrain  

I choose trust today.

Quote  

Charles R. Swindoll

“We must cease striving and trust God to provide what He thinks is best and in whatever time He chooses to make it available. But this kind of trusting doesn't come naturally. It's a spiritual crisis of the will in which we must choose to exercise faith.”

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Isaiah 30:15 (NRSVUE)

“For thus said the Lord GOD, the Holy One of Israel:

In returning and rest you shall be saved;

in quietness and in trust shall be your strength.”

Refrain  

You are near.

Quote  

Thomas Merton

“In a world of noise, confusion and conflict – it is necessary that there be places of silence, inner discipline and peace. In such places love can blossom.”

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Habakkuk 3:17–18

Though the fig tree does not bud

    and there are no grapes on the vines,

though the olive crop fails

    and the fields produce no food,

though there are no sheep in the pen

    and no cattle in the stalls,

18 yet I will rejoice in the Lord,

    I will be joyful in God my Savior.

Refrain  

I trust what remains.

Quote  

Václav Havel

“The kind of hope that I often think about…

I understand above all as a state of mind, not a state of the world.

Either we have hope within us, or we don’t. 

It is a dimension of the soul

It’s not essentially dependent upon some particular observation of the world or estimate of the situation.

Hope is not the conviction that something will turn out well,

but the certainty that something makes sense, regardless of how it turns out.”

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Psalm 62:8 (NRSVUE)

Trust in him at all times, O people;  

pour out your heart before him;  

God is a refuge for us.

Refrain  

I release what I cannot carry.

Quote  

Richard Rohr

“Religion has largely become ‘holding on’ instead of letting go. God, it seems to me, does the holding on (to us!), and we must learn the letting go.” 

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Romans 8:24–25

24 For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what they already have? 25 But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently.

Refrain  

I listen for what is true.

Quote  

Howard Thurman, 

“There is something in every one of you that waits and listens for the sound of the genuine in yourself.  

It is the only true guide you will ever have.  

And if you cannot hear it,  

you will all of your life spend your days on the ends of strings  

that somebody else pulls.”

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Isaiah 43:2 (NRSVUE)

When you pass through the waters, I will be with you;  

and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you;  

when you walk through fire you shall not be burned,  

and the flame shall not consume you.

Refrain  

I am not alone in this.

Quote  

Thomas Merton

“You do not need to know precisely what is happening, or exactly where it is all going.  

What you need is to recognize the possibilities and challenges offered by the present moment,  

and to embrace them with courage, faith and hope.”

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Psalm 13:1-2…5-6

1 How long, Lord? Will you forget me forever?

    How long will you hide your face from me?

2 How long must I wrestle with my thoughts

    and day after day have sorrow in my heart?

    How long will my enemy triumph over me?

…

5 But I trust in your unfailing love;

    my heart rejoices in your salvation.

6 I will sing the Lord’s praise,

    for he has been good to me.

Refrain  

Courage is possible here.

Quote  

Pádraig Ó Tuama

“It occurs to me that courage comes from the same place as fear, and where there is fear, there is the possibility of courage.”

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Galatians 6:9

Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.

Refrain  

God is forming me, even now.

Quote  

Eugene H. Peterson,

“There is a great market for religious experience in our world; there is little enthusiasm for the patient acquisition of virtue, little inclination to sign up for a long apprenticeship in what earlier generations of Christians called holiness.”

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1 John 4:12 (NRSVUE)  

No one has ever seen God;  

if we love one another,  

God lives in us,  

and his love is perfected in us.  

Refrain  

There are no ordinary people.  

Quote / Poem  

C. S. Lewis

“There are no ordinary people. You have never talked to a mere mortal. Nations, cultures, arts, civilizations - these are mortal, and their life is to ours as the life of a gnat. But it is immortals whom we joke with, work with, marry, snub and exploit - immortal horrors or everlasting splendors. This does not mean that we are to be perpetually solemn. We must play. But our merriment must be of that kind (and it is, in fact, the merriest kind) which exists between people who have, from the outset, taken each other seriously - no flippancy, no superiority, no presumption.”  

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Lamentations 3:22–23 (NRSV)  

The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases,  

his mercies never come to an end;  

they are new every morning;  

great is your faithfulness.  

Refrain  

Lord, your mercies are enough for today.  

Quote / Poem  

Henri J. M. Nouwen  

“Each day holds a surprise.  

But only if we expect it  

can we see, hear, or feel it  

when it comes to us.”  

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Matthew 6:26–29 (NRSVUE)  

Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns,  

and yet your heavenly Father feeds them.  

Are you not of more value than they?  

And which of you by worrying  

can add a single hour to your span of life?  

And why do you worry about clothing?  

Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow;  

they neither toil nor spin,  

yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory  

was not clothed like one of these.  

Refrain  

Open my eyes to what is already here.  

Quote / Poem  

Annie Dillard  

“We are here to abet creation and to witness it,  

to notice each thing so each thing gets noticed.  

Together we notice not only each mountain shadow  

and each stone on the beach  

but we notice each other’s beautiful face  

and complex nature  

so that creation need not play  

to an empty house.”  

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Luke 16:10 (NRSV)  

Whoever is faithful in a very little is faithful also in much;  

and whoever is dishonest in a very little  

is dishonest also in much.

Refrain  

In every small thing, love can shine.

Quote / Poem  

St. Teresa of Ávila  

“If you would progress a long way along this road,  

the important thing is not to think much,  

but to love much.  

Do then whatever arouses you to love.  

It is love alone that gives worth to all things.”

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Psalm 92:1–2 (NRSVUE)  

It is good to give thanks to the Lord,  

to sing praises to your name, O Most High,  

to declare your steadfast love in the morning  

and your faithfulness by night.  

Refrain  

God meets me in the everyday.  

Quote / Poem  

Brother Lawrence 

“That we ought not to be weary  

of doing little things for the love of God,  

who regards not the greatness of the work,  

but the love with which it is performed.”  

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Colossians 3:17 (NRSV)  

And whatever you do, in word or deed,  

do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus,  

giving thanks to God the Father through him.  

Refrain  

God is present here.  

Quote / Poem  

Thomas Merton  

“Life is this simple.  

We are living in a world that is absolutely transparent  

and God is shining through it all the time.  

This is not just a fable or a nice story.  

It is true.  

God manifests himself everywhere, in everything—  

in people and in things and in nature and in events.  

The only thing is that we do not see it.  

...But the gate of heaven is everywhere.”

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1 Kings 19:11–13 (NRSV)  

11 He said, “Go out and stand on the mountain before the Lord, for the Lord is about to pass by.” Now there was a great wind, so strong that it was splitting mountains and breaking rocks in pieces before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind, and after the wind an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake, 12 and after the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire, and after the fire a sound of sheer silence. 13 When Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his mantle and went out and stood at the entrance of the cave. Then there came a voice to him that said, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”

Refrain

Be with us, O God,  

in all things.

Quote

Wendell Berry  

“Accept what comes from silence.   

Make the best you can of it.   

Of the little words that come   

out of the silence, like prayers   

prayed back to the one who prays,   

make a poem that does not disturb   

the silence from which it came.”

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Ecclesiastes 3:1, 11 (NRSV)  

For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven.  

He has made everything suitable for its time; moreover he has put a sense of past and future into their minds, yet they cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end.

Refrain

Teach us to trust, O God,  

the work you are doing in us.

Quote

The Cloud of Unknowing

“For this is the work of the soul that most pleaseth God,  

to wait in stillness and in trust.  

Not striving to see clearly,  

nor desiring to feel greatly,  

but choosing to rest in the dark knowing  

that God is at work beyond our understanding.

For love may reach God in this life,  

but knowing never can.  

And therefore, be content to remain in this cloud,  

trusting that God is nearer than you know.”

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Mark 4:26–29 (NRSV)  

He also said, “The kingdom of God is as if someone would scatter seed on the ground,  

and would sleep and rise night and day, and the seed would sprout and grow,  

he does not know how.  

The earth produces of itself, first the stalk, then the head, then the full grain in the head.  

But when the grain is ripe, at once he goes in with his sickle, because the harvest has come.”

Refrain

Teach us to see, O God,  

what is already before us.

Quote

Meister Eckhart

“The soul must forget itself and all things  

and must be empty of all images.  

For where there is emptiness,  

there is room for God to work.  

Nothing is so unlike God as distraction,  

and nothing so like God  

as stillness.”

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Psalm 131:1–2 (NRSV)  

O Lord, my heart is not lifted up,  

my eyes are not raised too high;  

I do not occupy myself with things  

too great and too marvelous for me.

Refrain

Here I am, O God.  

I make room for you.

Quote

Julian of Norwich  

Revelations of Divine Love

“For I saw truly that God does all things, however small they may be,  

and that nothing is done by chance,  

but all by the foreseeing wisdom of God.  

I saw that God is in all things,  

and that God does all things,  

and that God is all things.

And I saw that God’s love was never absent,  

nor ever shall be,  

and that all shall be gathered and held  

in this love forever.”

Refrain  

Here I am, O God.  

I make room for you.

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Job 33:4 (NRSV)  

The spirit of God has made me,  

and the breath of the Almighty gives me life.

Refrain

God of breath and nearness,  

you are closer than our next inhale.

Quote

Brother Lawrence of the Resurrection  

*The Practice of the Presence of God*  

“There is not in the world a kind of life more sweet and delightful, than that of a continual conversation with God: those only can comprehend it who practice and experience it; yet I do not advise you to do it from that motive; it is not pleasure which we ought to seek in this exercise; but let us do it from a principle of love, and because God would have us.

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Lamentations 3:31–33 (NRSVUE, abridged)  

For the Lord will not reject forever.  

Although he causes grief,  

he will have compassion  

according to the abundance of his steadfast love;  

for he does not willingly afflict  

or grieve anyone.

Refrain  

I return again and again.

Quote / Prose  

Jon Kabat-Zinn  

“Mindfulness practice means that we commit fully  

in each moment to being present;  

inviting ourselves to interface  

with this moment in full awareness.  

We do this by returning again and again  

to the anchor of the breath,  

no matter how many times the mind wanders.”

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Psalm 23:4 (NRSVUE)  

Even though I walk through the darkest valley,  

I fear no evil;  

for you are with me;  

your rod and your staff—  

they comfort me.

Refrain  

I stay with what is.

Quote / Prose  

Pema Chödrön, from *When Things Fall Apart*  

“To stay present with pain and not run away from it  

is the key to awakening.  

When we stop struggling against what we feel,  

we begin to find freedom  

right where we are.”

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1 Corinthians 6:19 (NRSVUE, abridged)  

Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you,  

which you have from God…  

and that you are not your own?

Refrain  

God meets me in my body.

Quote / Prose  

Bessel van der Kolk

“The body keeps the score:  

if the memory of trauma is encoded in the viscera,  

in heartbreaking and gut-wrenching sensations,  

in autoimmune disorders and skeletal and muscular problems,  

then talking about it may not be enough.  

The body must feel safe again.”

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Psalm 46:10 (NRSVUE)  

“Be still, and know that I am God.”

Refrain  

I notice without fixing.

Quote / Prose  

Jon Kabat-Zinn, from *Wherever You Go, There You Are*  

“Mindfulness is about being fully awake in our lives.  

It is about perceiving the exquisite vividness  

of each moment.  

We also gain immediate access  

to our own powerful inner resources  

for insight, transformation,  

and healing.”

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Genesis 2:7 (NRSVUE)  

Then the Lord God formed man from the dust of the ground,  

and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life;  

and the man became a living being.

Refrain  

I return to the breath.

Quote / Poem  

George Herbert

“Teach me, my God and King,  

In all things Thee to see;  

And what I do in anything,  

To do it as for Thee.  

A servant with this clause  

Makes drudgery divine.”

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Matthew 2:12 (NRSVUE)  

And having been warned in a dream not to return to Herod,  

they left for their own country  

by another road.

Refrain  

I walk by the light I have been given.

Quote / Poem  

Teresa of Ávila  

“Let nothing disturb you,  

Let nothing frighten you,  

All things are passing away:  

God never changes.  

Patience obtains all things.  

Whoever has God lacks nothing;  

God alone suffices.”

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Psalm 139:1–5 (NRSVUE, abridged)  

O Lord, you have searched me and known me.  

You know when I sit down and when I rise up;  

you discern my thoughts from far away.  

You search out my path and my lying down,  

and are acquainted with all my ways.  

Even before a word is on my tongue,  

O Lord, you know it completely.

Refrain  

I am seen and known by God.

Quote / Poem  

George Herbert

“Love bade me welcome: yet my soul drew back,  

Guilty of dust and sin.  

But quick-eyed Love, observing me grow slack  

From my first entrance in,  

Drew nearer to me, sweetly questioning,  

If I lacked anything.”

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Luke 24:30–31 (NRSVUE, abridged)  

When he was at the table with them,  

he took bread, blessed and broke it,  

and gave it to them.  

Then their eyes were opened, and they recognized him…  

and he vanished from their sight.

Refrain  

My eyes are opening.

Quote / Poem  

Emily Dickinson  

“The Soul should always stand ajar,  

That if the Heaven inquire,  

He will not be obliged to wait,  

Or shy of troubling her.  

Depart, before the Host has slid  

The bolt unto the Door—  

Then will the Soul return her trust  

Without distrust or more.”

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Exodus 3:1–6 (NRSVUE)  

Moses was keeping the flock of his father-in-law Jethro, the priest of Midian;  

he led his flock beyond the wilderness, and came to Horeb, the mountain of God.  

There the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire out of a bush;  

he looked, and the bush was blazing, yet it was not consumed.  

Then Moses said, “I must turn aside and look at this great sight,  

and see why the bush is not burned up.”  

When the Lord saw that he had turned aside to see,  

God called to him out of the bush, “Moses, Moses!”  

And he said, “Here I am.”

Refrain  

I am learning to see.

Quote / Poem  

William Blake, from *Auguries of Innocence* (c. 1803)

“To see a World in a Grain of Sand  

And a Heaven in a Wild Flower,  

Hold Infinity in the palm of your hand  

And Eternity in an hour.  

A Robin Red breast in a Cage  

Puts all Heaven in a Rage.”

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Isaiah 60:1–2 (NRSVUE)  

Arise, shine; for your light has come,  

and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you.  

For darkness shall cover the earth,  

and thick darkness the peoples;  

but the Lord will arise upon you,  

and his glory will appear over you.

Refrain  

God’s light meets me where I am.

Quote / Poem  

Charles Wesley

“Christ, whose glory fills the skies,  

Christ, the true, the only Light,  

Sun of Righteousness, arise,  

Triumph o’er the shades of night;  

Day-spring from on high, be near;  

Day-star, in my heart appear.”

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Micah 6:8 (NRSVUE)  

He has told you, O mortal, what is good;  

and what does the Lord require of you  

but to do justice, and to love kindness,  

and to walk humbly with your God?

Refrain  

What I offer is enough.

Quote / Poem  

Dorothy Day

“We cannot love God  

unless we love each other,  

and to love we must know each other.  

We know Him in the breaking of bread,  

and we are not alone anymore.  

He has given us each other.”

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Lamentations 3:22–23 (NRSVUE)  

The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases,  

his mercies never come to an end;  

they are new every morning;  

great is your faithfulness.

Refrain  

I begin again in grace.

Quote / Poem  

Henri Nouwen, from *The Return of the Prodigal Son*  

“Returning is not a one-time event.  

It is a long and painful process.  

It is the continuous choice  

to trust that there will be a homecoming,  

even when you feel lost.  

The movement of returning  

is not a straight line.  

It is a series of small choices,  

often made in weakness,  

to step toward love again and again.  

The great gift of God  

is that we are always welcomed home.  

No matter how far we have wandered,  

no matter how often we have failed,  

the arms of mercy remain open.”

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Proverbs 16:9 (NRSVUE)  

The human mind plans the way,  

but the Lord directs the steps.

Refrain  

I set my heart toward love.

Quote / Poem  

Howard Thurman 

“Don’t ask what the world needs.  

Ask what makes you come alive,  

and go do it.  

Because what the world needs  

is people who have come alive.”

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Psalm 46:10 (NRSVUE)  

“Be still, and know that I am God!  

I am exalted among the nations,  

I am exalted in the earth.”

Refrain  

This moment is where God meets me.

Quote / Poem  

Brother Lawrence

“We can do little things for God;  

I turn the cake that is frying on the pan  

for love of Him,  

and that done,  

if there is nothing else to call me,  

I prostrate myself in worship  

before Him who has given me grace to work.”

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Isaiah 43:18–19 (NRSVUE)  

Do not remember the former things,  

or consider the things of old.  

I am about to do a new thing;  

now it springs forth, do you not perceive it?  

I will make a way in the wilderness  

and rivers in the desert.

Refrain  

I release what no longer gives life.

Quote / Poem  

Thomas Merton

“To let go does not mean to get rid of.  

To let go means to let be.  

When we let be with compassion,  

things come and go on their own.”

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Colossians 1:27 (NRSVUE)  

Christ in you, the hope of glory.

Refrain  

Christ lives in me.

Quote / Poem  

Richard Rohr  

“The Christ Mystery  

is not something to admire from a distance.  

It is something to participate in.  

God has chosen to dwell  

not merely among us,  

but within us—  

so that divine love  

might continue to take flesh  

in the world.”

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Matthew 1:23 (NRSVUE)  

“Look, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son,  

and they shall name him Emmanuel,”  

which means, “God is with us.”

Refrain  

God is with us.

Quote / Poem  

Dietrich Bonhoeffer, from *God Is in the Manger*  

“God is not ashamed of the lowliness of human beings.  

God marches right in.  

God chooses people as his instruments  

and performs wonders where one would least expect them.  

God is near us—  

in the midst of our lives.”

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Luke 2:6–7  

While they were there, the time came for Mary to deliver her child. 

And she gave birth to her firstborn son 

and wrapped him in bands of cloth and laid him in a manger,

because there was no place in the guest room.

Refrain  

God is found in the ordinary.

Quote / Poem  

Madeleine L’Engle, from Walking on Water

“There is nothing so secular

that it cannot be sacred.

And nothing so ordinary

that it cannot be filled with God.

If we believe that God took on flesh,

then every place

where life unfolds

is holy ground.”

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John 1:14 (NRSVUE)  

And the Word became flesh and lived among us,  

and we have seen his glory,  

the glory as of a father’s only son,  

full of grace and truth.

Refrain  

God is closer than I imagined.

Quote / Poem  

Meister Eckhart  

“God is nearer to me than I am to myself.  

My being depends on God’s nearness  

and God’s presence within me.  

God does not come and go.  

God is always here.”

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Luke 1:38 (NRSVUE)  

Then Mary said,  

“Here am I, the servant of the Lord;  

let it be with me according to your word.”  

Then the angel departed from her.

Refrain  

I make room for God.

Quote / Poem  

Jan Richardson  

“This is a season  

for making room—  

for letting the heart  

be opened  

not by force  

but by consent.  

The Holy does not arrive  

with demands,  

but with an invitation  

that waits patiently  

to be welcomed.”

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Deuteronomy 33:27 (NRSVUE)  

The eternal God is your dwelling place,  

and underneath are the everlasting arms.

Refrain  

I am held in God.

Quote / Poem  

Julian of Norwich  

“For I saw no wrath in God,  

only mercy.  

And I saw that we are all held,  

and shall be held,  

in love—  

and this holding never fails.”

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1 John 4:16 (NRSVUE)  

So we have known and believe the love that God has for us.  

God is love, and those who abide in love abide in God,  

and God abides in them.

Refrain  

God’s love moves through me.

Quote / Poem  

Howard Thurman  

“When love is present,  

it does not force its way.  

It creates space.  

It releases fear,  

loosens the grip of control,  

and invites life to unfold as it must.  

Love does not originate with us.  

It passes through us,  

shaping the world  

as it goes.”

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Philippians 2:3 (NRSVUE)  

Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit,  

but in humility regard others as better than yourselves.

Refrain  

I am free to be small and loved.

Quote / Poem  

Meister Eckhart  

“The more completely you are able  

to empty yourself,  

the more room God has to act within you.  

True humility is not weakness.  

It is the spaciousness  

that allows divine love to move freely.”

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Habakkuk 2:3 (NRSVUE)  

For there is still a vision for the appointed time;  

it speaks of the end and does not lie.  

If it seems to tarry, wait for it;  

it will surely come, it will not delay.

Refrain  

I trust the slow work of God.

Quote / Poem  

Parker J. Palmer, from *Let Your Life Speak*  

“Before you tell your life what you intend to do with it,  

listen for what it intends to do with you.  

Before you tell your life what truths you have decided to live up to,  

let your life tell you what truths you embody.  

Vocation does not come from willfulness.  

It comes from listening.  

Listening to the quiet, persistent voice  

that invites you to become  

the person you already are.”

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John 15:4 (NRSVUE)  

Abide in me as I abide in you.  

Just as the branch cannot bear fruit by itself  

unless it abides in the vine,  

neither can you unless you abide in me.

Refrain  

I choose to abide in love.

Quote / Poem  

Evelyn Underhill  

“The spiritual life is not a career of effort  

but a condition of being.  

It is not attained by strain  

but by consent.  

We do not need to rush ahead of God.  

We are invited to remain—  

to stay rooted in love,  

and let that love do its quiet work.”

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Romans 15:13 (NRSVUE)  

May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing,  

so that you may abound in hope  

by the power of the Holy Spirit.

Refrain  

Hope rises within me by the Spirit of God.

Quote / Poem  

John O’Donohue  

“Hope is not a prediction of the future.  

It is a companion for the present.  

It whispers that meaning is still unfolding,  

that grace is still moving,  

that God is not finished  

with any part of your story.”  

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Psalm 103:8 (NRSVUE)  

The Lord is merciful and gracious,  

slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.

Refrain  

God’s love is patient with my becoming.

Quote / Poem  

Julian of Norwich  

“God is never surprised by our weakness,  

never offended by our slowness.  

For He sees us not merely as we are,  

but as we are becoming—  

and He loves us  

with a patient love  

that cannot be hurried or diminished.”

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Psalm 34:17 (NRSVUE)  

When the righteous cry for help,  

the Lord hears  

and rescues them from all their troubles.

Refrain  

God hears me in every breath.

Quote / Poem  

Teresa of Ávila  

“Prayer is not thinking much,  

but loving much.  

It is the quiet turning of the heart  

toward the One  

who has been listening  

since before you learned to speak.”

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Psalm 16:5 (NRSVUE)  

The Lord is my chosen portion and my cup;  

you hold my lot.

Refrain  

In God, this moment is enough.

Quote / Poem  

Richard Rohr  

“We do not find God  

in the future we are anxiously building,  

but in the present we are constantly overlooking.  

Grace is not what we earn or achieve—  

it is what is already given,  

what is quietly present,  

what has always been enough.”

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Psalm 143:10 (NRSVUE)  

Teach me the way I should go,  

for to you I lift up my soul.

Refrain  

God leads me even when the path is unclear.

Quote / Poem  

Macrina Wiederkehr  

“Guide me, O God of the journey,  

for in the mystery that lies ahead  

I cannot travel by sight.  

But if You walk with me,  

uncertainty becomes a holy place—  

a doorway  

where trust is born.” 

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Revelation 21:5 (NRSVUE)  

And the one who was seated on the throne said,  

“See, I am making all things new.”

Refrain  

God is making all things new—including me.

Quote / Poem  

Thomas Merton  

“There is in all visible things  

a hidden wholeness—  

a divine seed  

waiting for the moment  

it will break open in glory.  

Nothing is lost in God’s renewal.  

Everything,  

in its own time,  

is made new.”  

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Genesis 28:16 (NRSVUE)  

Then Jacob woke from his sleep and said,  

“Surely the Lord is in this place—  

and I did not know it!”

Refrain  

God is here, in this very moment.

Quote / Poem  

David Whyte  

“Alertness is the hidden discipline of familiarity.  

To walk the world awake  

is to see the miracle  

in what we have come to call ordinary.  

The sacred is not elsewhere—  

it is here,  

waiting for our eyes  

to finally open.”  

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John 17:21 (NRSVUE)  

“…that they may all be one.  

As you, Father, are in me and I am in you,  

may they also be in us…”

Refrain  

I am invited into union with God.

Quote / Poem  

Meister Eckhart  

“God is always at home.  

It is we who have gone out for a walk.  

Yet the soul that returns to itself  

returns to God,  

for the ground of the soul  

and the ground of God  

are one and the same.  

To awaken is to realize  

you have never been separate.”

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Romans 8:16 (NRSVUE)  

It is that very Spirit  

bearing witness with our spirit  

that we are children of God.

Refrain  

The Spirit speaks within me.

Quote / Poem  

St. Symeon the New Theologian  

“God is not far away.  

The fire of the Spirit  

shines within your heart,  

warming, illuminating,  

revealing who you truly are.  

Look within,  

and you will find the One  

who has been looking for you.”  

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Acts 17:28 (NRSVUE)  

For “In him we live and move and have our being,”  

as even some of your own poets have said,  

“For we too are his offspring.”

Refrain  

God is in all things, and all things are in God.

Quote / Poem  

Teilhard de Chardin  

“By virtue of creation,  

not one of us is ever far from God.  

The divine presence  

is at the heart of matter  

and at the center of our soul.  

To live is to sense that Presence—  

to discover God  

in everything that is growing,  

everything that is moving,  

everything that simply is.”  

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Genesis 12:2 (NRSVUE)  

I will make of you a great nation,  

and I will bless you, and make your name great,  

so that you will be a blessing.

Refrain  

The blessing I receive becomes the blessing I give.

Quote / Poem  

John O’Donohue  

“May the gifts you have been given  

find their way into the world.  

May your life be a channel of grace,  

a quiet river of blessing  

that nourishes what is withering  

and awakens what is waiting to bloom.”

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Isaiah 41:10 (NRSVUE)  

Do not fear, for I am with you;  

do not be afraid, for I am your God.  

I will strengthen you, I will help you;  

I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.

Refrain  

God holds me when I cannot hold myself.

Quote / Poem  

Frederick Buechner  

“Faith is not a clenched fist  

but an open hand.  

It is not holding on for dear life  

but letting yourself be held.  

For underneath our lives,  

so fragile and fierce,  

are the everlasting arms—  

stronger than fear,  

softer than grace,  

wider than we can imagine.”  

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Psalm 32:10 (NRSVUE)  

Many are the torments of the wicked,  

but steadfast love surrounds  

those who trust in the Lord.

Refrain  

I am surrounded by mercy.

Quote / Poem  

Julian of Norwich  

“God is nearer to us than our own soul,  

for we are endlessly held  

in His vast and tender mercy.  

And though we fall,  

His arms surround us still—  

not to punish,  

but to lift,  

to heal,  

to bring us home.”  

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Jeremiah 17:7–8 (NRSVUE)  

Blessed are those who trust in the Lord,  

whose trust is the Lord.  

They shall be like a tree planted by water,  

sending out its roots by the stream.  

It shall not fear when heat comes,  

and its leaves shall stay green;  

in the year of drought it is not anxious,  

and it does not cease to bear fruit.

Refrain  

God strengthens me where no one sees.

Quote / Poem  

Christian Wiman  

“Faith is not a fortress  

but a seed in the soil—  

small, hidden,  

slow to rise.  

Yet beneath the surface  

the roots thicken,  

the dark earth warms,  

and strength is formed  

long before it blooms.”  

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Psalm 119:105 (NRSVUE)  

Your word is a lamp to my feet  

and a light to my path.

Refrain  

God guides me one step at a time.

Quote / Poem  

Eugene Peterson  

“God’s direction is not a spotlight  

that floods the horizon with certainty.  

It is a lamp—  

small enough to carry,  

bright enough for the step in front of you.  

Faith grows not by seeing everything,  

but by trusting the One  

who walks the road with you.”

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Psalm 51:10 (NRSVUE)  

Create in me a clean heart, O God,  

and put a new and right spirit within me.

Refrain  

God renews me from the inside out.

Quote / Poem  

Howard Thurman  

“There is in every person  

a quiet center,  

a place of renewal  

where God whispers life again.  

Return to that center often—  

for it is from the depths  

that true transformation rises.”

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Isaiah 43:1 (NRSVUE)  

But now thus says the Lord…  

“I have called you by name,  

you are mine.”

Refrain  

I am the one God loves.

Quote / Poem  

Brennan Manning  

“Define yourself radically  

as one beloved by God.  

This is the true self  

every other voice tries to silence.  

Your identity is not rooted  

in what you achieve,  

but in the One  

who calls you beloved—  

and never stops saying it.”

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1 Corinthians 6:19 (NRSVUE)  

Do you not know that your body is a temple  

of the Holy Spirit within you,  

which you have from God…?

Refrain  

God dwells in this body.

Quote / Poem  

Hildegard of Bingen  

“Your body is a sacred vessel,  

alive with the breath of God.  

Do not despise the earth you are made of—  

for it is here  

that the Holy One chooses to dwell.  

The soul is not trapped in the body;  

it sings through it.”  

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Psalm 27:8 (NRSVUE)  

You have said, “Seek my face.”  

My heart says to you,  

“Your face, Lord, do I seek.”

Refrain  

My desire draws me toward God.

Quote / Poem  

John of the Cross  

“In the desire of the heart  

God is already present.  

For longing is the humble doorway  

through which Love enters—  

not to take us away from ourselves,  

but to lead us deeper within  

to where God has always dwelled.”

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1 Kings 19:12 (NRSVUE)  

…and after the earthquake a fire,  

but the Lord was not in the fire;  

and after the fire  

a sound of sheer silence.

Refrain  

God meets me in the quiet.

Quote / Poem  

Kathleen Norris  

“Silence is not the absence of God—  

it is the presence of God unforced.  

It is here we learn to listen,  

to shed our illusions,  

to discover the One  

who has been with us all along  

in the quiet places we seldom enter.” 

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2 Corinthians 4:6 (NRSVUE)  

For it is the God who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,”  

who has shone in our hearts  

to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God  

in the face of Jesus Christ.

Refrain  

Love shines through everything.

Quote / Poem  

Julian of Norwich  

“The love of God creates in us  

such a oneness  

that when it is truly seen,  

no created thing can separate us from Him.  

For love was His meaning from the beginning,  

and love shall be His meaning to the end.  

So it was,  

so it is,  

so it ever shall be.”  

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1 Thessalonians 5:18 (NRSVUE)  

Give thanks in all circumstances,  

for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.

Refrain  

Gratitude opens my heart to God.

Quote / Poem  

Mary Oliver  

“It is a serious thing  

just to be alive  

on this fresh morning  

in this broken world.  

I give thanks for the mystery of it—  

for the grass underfoot,  

for the air moving through my lungs,  

for the chance  

to love what is before me.”  

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Colossians 1:17 (NRSVUE)  

He himself is before all things,  

and in him all things hold together.

Refrain  

All things are held together in Christ.

Quote / Poem  

Teilhard de Chardin  

“By virtue of creation,  

and still more of the Incarnation,  

nothing here below is profane for those who know how to see.  

The divine spark is everywhere,  

hidden in matter as fire is hidden in stone.  

To live is to set that fire free—  

to awaken to the communion of all things.”

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Matthew 5:9 (NRSVUE)  

Blessed are the peacemakers,  

for they will be called children of God.

Refrain  

I carry peace wherever I go.