Help us with death, Living Christ,
for we are afraid and defiant
of life’s ending.
Help us through death, Living Christ,
for we are uncertain and resistant
to life’s changes.
Help us in death, Living Christ,
for we are near-sighted and lost
on our way to life’s resurrections.
Oh Lord,
May your spirit be close to those who are sick and dying.
May they know they are not alone.
Merciful God,
May they feel the warmth of a hand in their own
May they hear the familiar words of a hymn
Lifted up by the voices of those they love the most.
Loving God,
As this beloved one travels away from this life,
May the warmth of your all encompassing love meet them
even before the warmth of the hand holding theirs has faded away.
Amen.
Rachel, I am so enjoying being a part of this!
Thank you,
Heather
Thank you, Heather, and I’m pleased that you’re sharing your prayer-writing. It’s a blessing to me too!
I love the progression of your poem, Rachel, asking for help with, through and in death. And love those lines “for we are near-sighted and lost
on our way to life’s resurrections.” Beautifully crafted.
Thanks, Hilary!
It was hard to look in his face as he was dying. I was glad the last time I saw him, he could look at me and know me. I could speak the words he spoke in other ways – the smile, the hug, the pride of a father. And when my time comes, will I, like him, cross a threshold, alone, yet accompanied by unseen loving memories and companions? Brother Christ, who faced the shadow of death alone, help us as we walk daily with our little deaths, until we find a way to befriend the darkness. Amen.
A powerful memory & prayer.
Today’s prompt took me directly to Chris Rice’s Untitled Hymn and the last verse:
And with your final heartbeat
Kiss the world goodbye
Then go in peace, and laugh on Glory’s side, and
Fly to Jesus
Fly to Jesus
Fly to Jesus and live!
A simple, stirring song.
I don’t view the approach of death
with the same fervor some of Your people do
You called it “the last enemy to be destroyed”
I can’t overlook such a word picture
Death is often horrid and lonely and seemingly untimely
Even You Jesus, asked for company from your friends
in Your own journey towards death
How beautiful is the knowledge
that the Presence of a Comforter
surrounds me now
and in that final hour
Indeed!
There is but one breath
between
life and death
one
final
chance
to be who you truly are
what if this breath
now
drawn before
a finished reading
is the One you leave
your
legacy
on
will we have known
the real
you.
Compelling question, so poetically offered. Thanks for sharing this, Tammy!
Thank you Tammy for your words. I love the space you create as you write and for the reader, echoing the space between breaths, the space between life and death.