Sunday, June 03, 2007

Let Me Be Young Enough

This morning we stayed home from church to worship as a family and I wrote this prayer while I was sitting at the dining room table waiting for the service to begin:

God of the Dawn and the Day,
Let me be young enough to kiss your elbow and believe in fairies and dragons.

Let me be young enough to run, not walk, toward the playground,
and when I fall, to just get back up again,
and when other kids cry, to join them and not
be ashamed.

Let me be young enough to make snow angels and
climb trees in the twilight;
to be frightened of the darkness
and unwilling to stay in the big house all alone,
and astonished by dandelions and quick to chase
fireflies.

Let me be young enough to believe,
really believe, that you rose from the dead
and live in my heart, and then, make me
so excited about it that I can’t help but tell
all the other kids at recess that God actually
lives inside of me.

Let me be young enough to be afraid of
what’s going to happen to me when
Dad gets home, but humble enough
to run to him and cling to his leg when he does.

Let me be young enough to spill my ice cream
and then presumptuous enough to just ask for more;
young enough to say my prayers
and trust that they’ll be heard.

Let me be young enough
to bring you my stick-figure drawings
and know you’ll find room for them on your fridge.

Let me be child-enough
to step through the door to your kingdom
and then realize, in one astonishing
moment of somersault excitement,
that heaven is more like a sleepover
than an elders' meeting,
more like going camping and
eating macaroni and cheese with Dad
and playing in the tree house
than sitting through a Sunday morning
church service.

Because then, when I’m finally that young,
I’ll finally be born.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hey dad! I love the prayer you put on your website.

barbara said...

what beautiful thoughts to end my beautiful sunday evening with...thank you.