“That Fair Beguiling
Thread – Prayer Poems
for Every Occasion”
by Sean O'Neill
The
following Introduction and selection
of prayer poems are excerpted from the
book, “That Fair Beguiling Thread -
Prayer Poems for Every Occasion”, by
Sean O'Neill. While it was
written from a Roman Catholic
perspective, the material can be
beneficial for Christians from other
traditions as well. – ed.
Introduction
With the fresh and, to a some extent, more
esthetic translation of the text of the Mass there
seems to be a new hunger among modern Catholics
for religious and spiritual literature that is not
only truthful and faithful to the mind of the
Church, but also beautiful. Each of the pages of
this volume uses rich imagery to express prayers
and petitions, in a way that is, hopefully,
lyrical and finely crafted. The resultant wording
therefore aims to provide the person praying with
a deeper and more heartfelt time of prayer which,
in turn, gives greater glory to God.
This book is intended for anyone who is sincere
about their relationship with God and wishes to
express that in ways that reflect their experience
of life and the cry of their heart. It is for the
bereaved, the joyful, the steadfast and the
wavering, the trembling and the strong. It is for
husbands, wives, parents, and children, for those
who are single by choice or by accident and for
those who are lonely.
It is for anyone who wants to approach the throne
of grace, to feel the love of the Father, the
embrace of the Son and the strengthening of the
Holy Spirit. It is for anyone who holds out their
begging bowl for scraps of love, only to find it
brimming over with sweetness and nourishment and
healing.
Three samples of prayer poems from the book:
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Morning prayer
O God, who turn the
planets, rouse the sun,
and spark the dawn-light in the eastern
sky,
hear me, I pray: to You who post Your
sentinels
along the vast horizon, heralding the
sunrise,
be the glory and grandeur that is due a
king.
You have made me by the molding of my
clay.
Such poor material You sculpt into
personhood
and breathe on, to wake the soul within,
fanning into flame the answering
instinct
to turn towards the brightness of Your
face
and sing Your praise and humbly serve.
I thank You for another day of life,
the trials and satisfactions of each
hour,
the woeful sorrows, brimming joys,
the guts and revelations of each minute
past;
for all this I render You my thankful
heart.
Be with me today in Your guiding Spirit
and let me not turn from the narrow way
to follow, unredeemed, the highways of
ruin,
but let me be steadfast in kindness and
love,
strong in hope and abounding in faith.
I offer You my very self this day;
take me, Lord, and do with me what You
will.
Evening prayer
At the rose-tinted hour
when light dies westward
and the pulsing drive of the human body
winds down, stepping from the heights
of sterling work or depths of tedious
occupation,
I pause to lift my heart to God’s face.
As though Jesus walked among us bodily,
bodily I bow and calm myself
in that bare brightness that bathes me
now,
as he passes with hand upraised to
bless.
Dear Lord of all that ails, delights,
intrigues me,
in all my commerce and toil, give me
light,
at this encroaching hour of dusk,
to catch Your Spirit’s motion in the
world.
I thank You, caring master,
for the pendulum of work and rest,
that swings through all fulfillments
and the struggles of the clogging
carousel of work,
through the accomplishment of steady
hours.
On the homeward journey keep me firm
in mind and heart, in pleasing You
and in my subtle service as ambassador
of grace
to other soul-bearers that You place
within my life.
And bless my evening with Your peace.
As the sun sinks, my heart will rise to
You.
Prayer before a difficult
task
On this way through
the foothills of life
You, Lord, steer into my onward path
greensward and boulder, valley and peak,
broad metaled road and broken cattle
track.
In the conjunction of a million threads
of will,
here and now I face the fording of the
river,
the task that must be tackled to
proceed.
Lord, You know everything, the story and
outcome,
keep my wits clear and my mind sharp
to bend lithely to every nuance and
gradation;
Give strength of body and steadiness of
hand
and confidence that You are with me as I
strive.
Give me joyful trust in Your care for me
that I may broach this present task
with courage, whatever the result.
Your hand is at work in my life
to bring to fruition Your light in my
heart,
Your longed-for perfection and gentle
bliss.
Give me success and may it usher in
the glorious procession of Your kingdom.
And if my enterprise should come to
naught
let me accept, joyfully, my cross united
to Yours.
May Your precious will be done in my
life always.
(c) 2017 Sean O'Neill, from
That Fair Beguiling Thread - Prayer
Poems for Every Occasion
|
For
many years Sean O'Neill was a leader
in a lay Christian community in
Glasgow, Scotland. Along with his
wife, Liz, he is currently involved in
offering healing prayer to all-comers
in his parish in the Diocese of
Lansing, Michigan, USA..
That Fair Beguiling
Thread - Prayer Poems for Every Occasion
.
by Sean O'Neill
Each of the prayers in this volume uses imagery
to express ideas and petitions in a lyrical and
finely-crafted way. This affords the person
praying a more heartfelt time of prayer which,
in turn, gives greater glory to God. The book is
intended for anyone who is sincere about their
relationship with God and wishes to express that
in ways that reflect their own experience of
life and the cry of their heart.
The book contains 57 prayer poems spanning a
wide range of themes, including prayers for
family members, for work, for driving, in a
difficult task, in sickness,
distress,bereavement, for an addict, etc.
The book is available on Amazon.com
and Amazon.co.uk
in both print and ebook format.
Top
photo of man walking in a sunlit forest:
from bigstock.com Photo ID: 147092471
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