Gray and white and cold

                                   Grant me Your Sense of Timing by Ted Loder

O God of all seasons and senses,

grant me your sense of timing

to submit gracefully

and rejoice quietly

in the turn of the seasons.

In this season of short days and long nights,

of grey and white and cold,

teach me the lessons of waiting:

of the snow joining the mystery

of the hunkered-down seeds

growing in their sleep

watched over by gnarled-limbed, grandparent trees

resting from autumn’s staggering energy;

of the silent, whirling earth

circling to race back home to the sun.

                                          O God, grant me your sense of timing.

In this season of short days and long nights,

of grey and white and cold,

teach me the lessons of endings:

children growing

friends leaving

jobs concluding

stages finishing

grieving over

grudges over

blaming over

excuses over.

                                         O God, grant me your sense of timing.

In this season of short days and long nights,

of grey and white and cold,

teach me the lessons of beginnings:

that such waitings and endings

may be a starting place,

of planting seeds

which bring to birth

what is ready to be born—

something right and just and different,

a new song,

a deeper relationship,

a fuller lover—

in the fullness of your time.

                                        O God, grant me your sense of timing.

Hope you all had lovely holidays spent with family and friends.

Happy New Year to all of you too!

Thanks for reading,

Love, Lolly