Prayer by Leslie Middleton at St. Paul's

Our own Leslie Middleton wrote this prayer this morning and shared it with us a few minutes ago with a piece of art she created. Here is her prayer:

Dear God

Peace is messy. Peace is bloody.

Peace in my heart is not something I know.

In my mind, I think “Peace. This could be a good thing.”

In my heart, I cry to be free.

I cry to be free of all that is un-peaceful in my heart.

 

I can barely look across the desert and see the

       Dark children with swollen bellies, walking slowly

       Until they can no longer walk.

I can barely look at the women in my town,

       Black, overweight, alone with their children’s

       Children, eating day-old sweets and hot dogs.

I can barely see the ground beneath bulldozers,

       Plowed under for concrete and cars.

I can barely see the green that splits the

       Pavement wide, the power of soil and light.

 

I can, barely, in this quiet,

       Except for the peace that eludes me, the bloody

       World, the place within my heart where unrest resides.

But God, below me is light. I think.

Was there first, I believe.

Comes with the dawn, I must trust.

Ever more, I pray.

Amen.