You Are the Hidden Roots of My Soul

You Are the Hidden Roots of My Soul

(a prayer)

Oh God, you are the hidden roots of my soul,

my life, and my being.

You sustain me moment by moment

even when I do not think of you.

Your life-giving love, grace, and power

pulse through me like the sap of a tree.

Help me to remember that it is not so much that I

have planted myself in you

as YOU planted me long ago as a seed

to grow in love.

You did this long before I knew your name.

Now I, like a strong, stately emerald tree

am entering into the autumn of my life.

Use me, Oh God, to stretch out

and provide rest and nourishment to others.

Let me be your branches, bringing beauty

to a world torn by loneliness and strife.

And when that day comes

where my leaves drop to the ground

as the winter chill of death awaits me

May I blaze with the radiant beauty of your grace,

resting in anticipation of the springtime of resurrection.

Amen.

(c) Thomas C. Webber 9/1/ 2009