“O extravagant God, in this
ripening, red-tinged autumn, waken in me a sense of joy in just being alive, joy
for nothing in general except everything in particular; joy in sun and rain mating
with earth to birth a harvest; joy in soft light through shyly disrobing trees;
joy in acolyte moon setting halos around processing clouds; joy in the beating
of a thousand wings mysteriously knowing which way is warm; joy in wagging
tails and kids’ smiles and in this spunky old city; joy in the taste of bread and
wine, the smell of dawn, a touch, a song, a presence; joy in having what I cannot live without — other
people to hold and cry and laugh with joy in love, in you; and that all at
first and last is grace.”
—Ted
Loder, Guerrillas of Grace
Happy Halloween 2020!
“Eternal Friend, grant me an
ease to breathe deeply of this moment, this light,
this miracle of now. Beneath the din and fury of great movements and harsh news
and urgent crises, make me attentive still to good news, to small occasions, and
the grace of what is possible for me to be, to do, to give, to receive, that I
may miss neither my neighbor’s gift nor my enemy’s need. Precious Lord, grant
me a sense of humor that adds perspective to compassion, gratitude that adds persistence to
courage, quietness of spirit that adds irrepressibility to hope, openness of
mind that adds surprise to joy; that with gladness of heart I may link arm and
aim with the One who saw signs of your kingdom in salt and yeast, pearls and
seeds, travelers and tax collectors, sowers and harlots, foreigners and
fishermen, and open my eyes with these signs and my ears with the summons to
follow to something more of justice and joy.” —Ted Loder, Guerrillas of
Grace
