Resurrection life

A friend posted a beautiful Easter prayer which seemed to cover most contingencies.  Except of course, it didn*t.  There is no such thing as a prayer which covers everything.  I found myself focusing on what it lacked, which seemed to defeat the purpose of anything enlisting Resurrection life, the life we celebrate in this season.   So I wrote this instead.

This is my 27th anniversary of being ordained a priest.  The ordained life has not been what I expected from the beginning.  Ever.  It seems God has planted me unlabelled, and hung me slightly crooked.  I get older so my chain is a bit rusty.  I am grateful for Resurrection life out of all that seems to bring death.  God continues to breathe life into me and sing songs for my twining, like the clematis.  I know He does this for everyone, twining and blooming.  I believe even God can be surprised.

In the front yard the clematis

Take hold of life,

Begin to vine it

Around the pillars.

Soon enough they will offer

Purple and striped flowers.

One came without a tag

From the nursery last year.

I planted it anyway.

It will be a surprise

When it blooms.

I breathe on it,

Sing growing songs.

I do not know if it will match

Anything else.

The painted butterfly WELCOME

Hangs slightly crooked

From the garden post.

It used to hold a hanging pot.

No matter how often I straighten it

The butterfly moves to slant

Slightly,

Chain rusted,

Yellow unnamed butterfly

Intact.

No matter how we pray Resurrection life

It comes up different,

Blooms match one another in ways

We could never have planned,

Would never have thought of,

Wild, unpruned.

Welcome signs are almost always

At a slant

Except when they aren*t,

Of course.

Our particular Resurrection prayers

Could never cover the whole realm

Of possibility.

I breathe life and sing songs

To all the unlabelled flowers and vines.

I look for the welcome signs,

No matter how they hang,

The condition of their chains.

I breathe life,

Sing songs.

I know I*ll be surprised.