Quiet Moment

My spirit cannot gain a quiet moment,
It cannot hear your voice out in the world
Amongst the mighty torrent that surrounds it
From morning radio blare to traffic roar.
Too many images bombard my tired eyes
And holiness is lost
Within the tragic sights
Of murder, war, and cruelty on nightly news.

A breath of quiet calls me to the wilderness
To heal my inward ears and eyes;
To give my soul and spirit rest
In open desert and oasis shade.
I pitch my tent beneath the spacious skies
And count the heavenly bodies bright above.
Each star pronounces healing to my troubled sighs
Through the Creator’s vast and wondrous love.

Here in the wilderness, my restless anguish is released.
My soul and body, mind and spirit
Open to renewal, like flowers in the sun;
I am freed to see and hear the truth again.
I prepare to walk into the world once more
To offer myself in God’s service,
To give myself in Christ’s love.
Here I am, receive me; here I am, send me.

Forty Days of Wilderness

Forty days of wilderness
You ask of me, Lord;
What is it I am to seek?
What is it I am to find?

Forty days of wilderness
You give to me, Lord;
What will be your gift to me?
What will be your treasure?

I desire to seek you Lord;
I desire to find you.
You give the gift of your presence, Lord,
That will be my treasure.

Lenten Pilgrimage

I follow Christ in desert places
And there I find fresh springs.
I am led by the Holy Spirit
To search out my journey’s path;

I am a pilgrim in wilderness ways.

In desert’s scorching days
I seek the Sacred One;
In desert’s coldest nights
I search out the Divine;
In desert’s oases I seek the Holy One
And I am given rest and refreshment.

I am a pilgrim in wilderness ways;
I am a pilgrim on desert paths.