(A prayer of Moses, God’s friend.)
You’re our home, Lord.
You always have been.
Before there were mountains,
Before you’d shaped any part of earth,
Before the beginning and after the end of everything else,
There is one solid reality —
You.
You are God.
But us humans?
You sober us up, saying,
“Go back to the dust you were formed from,
Humanity’s children.”
A millenium passes
But to you it’s as if only a day has gone by,
Just an hour in the middle of the night.
But we are washed away
In the river of time.
We are as unremarkable as the forgotten dreams
From last night.
We’re mere blades of grass
Confident in our green growth in the morning
But mown down in the evening
And left to turn brown and blow away.
Getting cut down so quickly
Feels like you’re angry with us,
Rushed from life by your wrath.
And our sins?
All laid out in front of you.
Our secret shames exposed in your bright light.
All our days pass by
Under your stern examination.
And when they’re all done,
We’re gone with a gasp.
Add them all up and we may last
Seventy or eighty years.
We’re so proud of what we do,
But it’s really just one struggle after another.
So quickly spent.
So quickly squandered.
That sure looks like you’re angry with us,
Even those of us who orient our lives toward you.
So, teach us how count our days
That we might spend them wisely and well.
Come back to us, Yahweh.
Tell us how much time we’ve got left.
Be gentle with us.
May we wake up each morning
To the light of your lovingkindness,
So that every one of the few days we live
Is filled with joy.
The days you give us are touched by sorrow
And our few years by evil,
Please fill them with laughter too.
We serve you,
So show us what you’re doing in the world.
We’re your children,
Give us glimpses of your glory,
Your power at work.
Smile lovingly on us, Lord our God.
And give us good and meaningful work to do.
Yes, give us good and meaningful work to do.