A Lenten Prayer

This poetic prayer for the Lenten season holds together the suffering of the cross with the hope of flourishing life. It also holds together the dryness of our spirits in troubled times with the nourishment God offers in Christ so that we can bear good fruit. Our courage can spring from the honesty of this prayer and our faith in God’s affirmative response to us.

O Majesty, O Magnificence, O Mystery, come!
Be hammer, and break our indifference.
Be sun, and splinter our shadows.
Be wind, and scatter our despair.
Yea, in the dry country of our souls,
Let thy grace rain;
So that we may take root in thee, and grow,
Make of us trees strong in all seasons,
Bearing good fruit,
Giving shade to all weariness
And shelter to them that are lost.
So we pray to the glory of Jesus Christ
Who made the crosstree
Green and flourishing forever.
Amen.

By Arnold Kenseth, U.S.A. in Tirabassi and Eddy, Gifts of Many Cultures, p. 156.