Silence: A Poem
by Whitney R. Simpson

She is my companion
yet I avoid her gaze

She is my teacher
yet I push back at her instruction

She is my guide
yet I veer from her course

She is my friend
yet I wonder why she comes near

She is my gift
and I long to savor her more fully

She is inviting me to a oneness with God,
listen...do you hear her?

Why not?

I avoid her gaze
because at first she looks lonely

I push back at her instruction
because of my own agenda

I veer from her course
because I am easily distracted

I wonder why she comes near
because there is always another choice

Yet I long to savor her
like never before

And once I say yes to her
I receive an awareness I never knew
​she could introduce to me

She is my companion,
my teacher,
my guide,
my friend

She is God's gift

​Silence

A Christmas Prayer

WHEN LIFE FORCES US TO WRESTLE with what's difficult, give us courage.
Teach us that there is a purpose in everything we experience, and      everything is more than it appears to be. 
 This world is permeated by your Presence, and is your Presence in form.
 May we be drawn to your Voice above the other, competing voices.
 Great and Holy one, we pray for Peace.
 Take us to the abode of Peace for which all hearts long.

WE PRAY TO FIND STILLNESS WITHIN our busyness, and
Rest in the midst of our celebrations and activity. 
Show us how to walk more gently, more patiently, on the Earth. 
Let kindness be born within all hearts.
Teach us to draw together as one people.
    One humanity.
    One heart.
    One spirit.
    One longing.

May our prayer rise up like fire and be Light for a troubled world. This we know, Something is trying to be born in us. 
Take our hand as we set out anew. 


From Advent: A Time of Hope by Paula D'Arcy.