#BlogElul 17 - Awake

Dear God

Would you grant me awakeness,

Enough to see
leaves the color of heartbreak gold?
Enough to hear
my child,
who has a laugh
that starts somewhere in his belly,
or maybe his toes,
and it fills him
and spills over into Your world
like ribbons
and ripples of
Light?

Enough to hear the sound of anguish -
Even half a world away,
or on the next block,
so I can know that
the work is not finished,
That more must still be done?

Enough to feel
the sharp edges of sorrow,
and smell
the sweet spice
of joy that comes
even in that moment of separation?
Enough to taste
the glorious riot
of freedom,
that bursts
in profusion
like the suddenness of
wildflowers?

God of Infinite Compassion,

Will you grant me enough awakeness
to see the bush that burns,
that has always burned,
that waits -
unconsumed
for me to notice,
And in my noticing
I will know
that You are near?

And God, Whose Mercy
is ever tempered with
Justice,

let me be awake enough
to see -
to notice -
to catch my eye
and attention
on that thin blue
thread
braided
and knotted
and filling the corners,

to remind me
that I am commanded
to remember
and to do
and to see
and to
Love?


(c) Stacey Zisook Robinson
2014