Covenant Prayer

My Jesus--
Your Faith has made me a part of you
like a branch on a vine--
like an ear of corn tucked firmly
in the elbow of a cornstalk;
like a stone in the bottom of a stream,
or the scent of smoke on the evening wind.

In the night I cannot sleep
for the pounding of my heart as your hand
slips across my shoulder.
In my office chair I leap
for you have touched me.
Through each clamoring day
I breathe your penetrating breath
and, so strengthend by your quickening life,
break free into the holy silence,
to stand abandoned in the wind of your Hope.

I beg your permission:
to sell myself forever into the servitude of disciple life;
to exist, only when you think of me;
to know, only when you touch me;
to live, only when you grasp me--
or not at all.

Accept my challenge, Lord.
Defeat me soundly,
until there is nothing left of me...

but Love.