Wednesday, August 26, 2015

Dear God,

You soften hard hearts.  You massage them with great love.  You infuse them with the oil of your gladness.

A hard heart is one that has lost its elasticity, its suppleness.  It is impenetrable.  It has no soft veins by which love can flow through.  A hard heart is nearly dead.  A hard heart has lost hope.

But when your hand touches a hard heart, something can happen.  When your love touches deadness, new life can come.  When your voice speaks, a hard heart can hear their name and begin to pump once again. 

Your desire is we all have soft hearts.  You know soft hearts are loving hearts, forgiving hearts, and compassionate hearts.  Your love can flow through soft hearts to others who long for healing for their heavy hearts.

Sometimes, O Lord, hard hearts are made to keep suffering and pain away.  They grow hard to keep distance between themselves and others.  Hard hearts sever themselves from life.  We think hard hearts will protect us.  But then we can't feel your love, Lord, and our hearts feel empty. 

You come to all of us with the promise of your love and kind mercy.  You teach us how to breathe in new life because your hand is upon us.  You will us back to life by softening our hearts and miraculously filling us up.

Soften our hearts
toward you
and others,
O Lord.
Make our world
one soft heart
that beats
in rhythm
with your own.
Heal us
with your touch;
inspire us
to heal others.

Love, Andrea