Prayerfully Poetic

A Collection of Prayerful Poems by Tim McGee

Love

  • Enameled crosses hangabove cushioned pews,white hands lift in worship,voices tremble at the name of Jesus,while outside the sanctuaryanother soulis treated as less than sacred. And heaven grieves. For Christ was not crucifiedbeneath stained glass comfort.He died brown-skinned, bruised,beneath an empirethat feared the dignityof the unwanted. There is a racismthat no longer burns crosses,because it has… Read more

  • Onomatopoeia

    This morning the world prayed before I did The robin sang cheep-cheepfrom the lilac branch The creek whispered gurgle-gurgleover patient stones Leaves applauded with a gentle rustleand somewhere beyond the hilla bee hummed its tiny hymnbuzzzz I smiled at the sacred onomatopoeiaof Your creationall these soundsthat are somehow more than soundseach one a small translationof… Read more

  • Learning to Love

    Love is not always polite. Love does not always bowto comfort,or whisper only what we wish to hear. Sometimes love arriveslike a hand upon the shoulder,turning us gentlytoward a truth we would rather avoid. Sometimes love asks more of usthan we are prepared to give. Yet love never strips anotherof their dignity. Love does not… Read more

  • Gird My Thoughts

    Lord,gather the loose fabric of my mind. So many thoughts wanderlike garments in the wind,caught on fear,heavy with yesterday,restless for tomorrow. Tie them gently at the waist of Your mercy. Grant me the spiritual readinessthat sees the world as passing shadowsand yet still shimmers with Your hidden fire. Keep me awake. Not rigid or afraid,but… Read more

  • Diffusive Love

    before beginningthere is communion the Father givingall that He isfullness the Son receivingall that is givenand returning itin radiant joy the Spiritliving flame of that exchangebreath of delightthe sweetness of shared being a diffusive loveis gift without measurelife pouring into lifefullness flowering into more fullness from this holy abundanceworlds awakenlight lifts its facewaters gather their… Read more

  • I have carried this as faras my finite strength allows.My hands are tired of pretendingthey are sovereign. I can’t. I can’t bend this will into holiness,or stitch light into this torn heart.I have reached the edgeof myself. You can. You who spoke and oceans stood.You who breathe lifeinto dust and defiance alike.You whose mercy does… Read more

  • Agape

    A lovewhich leans not toward what is pleasing,nor the warmth that comes and goes,but something much deeper. This love descendslike quiet rain on stone,or a drenching rain on a dry field. A self-giving lovewhich does not askif the ground deserves it. It simply falls. It bends toward the broken,lingers with the unwanted,waits beside the wandering.… Read more

  • Lord Jesus Christ,I come to Your Crossas one who humbly kneels in sorrowbefore Your wounds. Your right hand pierced The hand that lifted the fallenthe hand that touched the leperthe hand that broke bread with sinnersnow opened by iron. Let my hands learn from Yoursto giveserveand to blesseven when the world counters lovewith nails. Your… Read more

  • I will leave it all

    I want to leave it allthe careful keeping,the small cache of certaintythe names I give to fearso I can pretend it belongs to me I want to leave it allto love Not the soft word I usewhen I mean comfortbut the love that madethe first bird lift its chest into airwithout asking permission That isto… Read more

  • The Choice

    Consider: Without HimI accomplish nothingWith HimI accomplish everything I Chooseto follow HimWho’s alreadychosen me Read more