Watching and listening to the birds brings me real peace and joy. I think of my loved ones who have gone on to their heavenly home a lot when I sit in that space. And sometimes I join my voice with theirs, in prayer, in song.

I may not be a picture of serenity, but I can draw on the strength of these words when I feel most vulnerable, and look toward a more normal routine when the time is right. All will be well.

This prayer for peace and transformation grounds and focuses me with a message of love, pardon, union, faith, hope, light and joy that can overcome hatred, injury, discord, doubt, despair, darkness and sadness. These words are comforting, but also a call for action.

I realized that I needed to memorize a prayer to keep me focused. I had forgotten about this, but it came to mind when the theme for this week was mentioned – to think of a prayer important to us. Even though I hadn't prayed it for a long time, I found that it was still in there.

So I think I know the secret,
Learned from many a troubled way,
You must seek Him in the morning
If you want Him through the day.

Lily Greenberg shares three of her poems.

Somedays I feel that I hear from Him. Quietly but directly. Somedays I don’t. But every day, nowadays, when I pray in the hope of feeling God’s presence, I feel good and blessed. I have a new and developing tool in my “nearness to God tool box”. When all my other tools for feeling God’s presence become possible again I will be very happy but I will also remain grateful for this new tool and the ways it is grounding me during our “new normal”.

And never a day went by when we didn’t sing as we worked. Hymns, choruses, anthems, gospel—there was a song for every occasion and I learned them all by heart. It is a rich heritage, and still today, it is in music and singing that God is especially near to me.

I cannot anticipate or fully explain these moments of stopping, opening and listening. Intuition? God’s Presence? They are rare and seem to be not on my own, our own timeline. I am sure others have had these and find them hard to explain as well. Though I can’t fully explain, now I feel I have the gift of a name for them, timeless little moments of “Bubble Flowers and ForeverGreens.”

But on that bedside table there’s a small piece of paper with a prayer that I read almost every day. It prepares me for whatever the day will bring. Frequently I feel that particular lines are written just for me:

These external supports enable me to live securely, and carve out time where I can get to the more exciting work of building up my internal supports. Creating an internal sense of security and accomplishment by taking on small projects that have a beginning, a middle, and an end.

I see God in the loving support of family and friends, in the tireless dedication of the many people who are risking their lives to support the lives of others, in the beauty of spring, in the joy that accompanies the songs of birds

I breathe in and remind myself that I am loved. I breathe out gratitude for my faith and our community. I remember scripture: Be Still and Know that I am God (Psalm 46)

Prosems can give some expression to the quieter “voices within”, and help us feel a bit more grounded in these unusual times. 

We seek with You the coming together of all humans into Your Unity. We know You, as we, ache for the harmony of humankind. Deep down, we recognize there’s only One of us here.

I’m praying that you hear God’s love in creation today.