Pastoral Prayer for October 13, 2024

Our Scripture text this morning is the story of Zacchaeus the tax collector, who ran ahead and climbed a sycamore tree to let Jesus know that he wanted to change (Luke 19:1-10). ​​ This prayer-poem by John O’Donohue, from his classic book,​​ To Bless the Space Between Us, captures the way that Zacchaeus felt when he did this – and the way we do too, when we’re seeking to change:

FOR A NEW BEGINNING

In out-of-the-way places of the heart,

Where your thoughts never think to wander,

This beginning has been quietly forming,

Waiting until you were ready to emerge.

For a long time it has watched your desire,

Feeling the emptiness growing inside you,

Noticing how you willed yourself on,

Still unable to leave what you had outgrown.

It watched you play with the seduction of safety

And the dull promises that sameness whispered,

Heard the waves of turmoil rise and relent,

Wondered would you always live like this.

Then the delight,​​ when your courage kindled,

And out you stepped onto new ground,

Your eyes young again with energy and dream,

A path of plenitude opening before you.

Though your destination is not yet clear

You can trust the promise of this opening;

Unfurl yourself into the grace of beginning

That is at one with your life’s desire.

Awaken your spirit to adventure;

Hold nothing back, learn to find ease in risk;

Soon you will be home in a new rhythm,

For your soul senses the world that awaits you.

Amen.