Prayer: THE LONG SEPARATION
Dear God, he's been away so long.
You know how much I love him; you know how much I miss him. But you
know too that sometimes it's hard to remember him -- even how he looks!
There is this terrifying vacancy within me about him sometimes. As
if he and our love never really existed; it was just something I dreamed.
Even looking at pictures or reading his letters can't quite bring him back...
Lord, make my man vivid to me again -- his voice, his face, the
touch of his hands.
And, oh God, wherever he is, make me vivid to him.
Keep him faithful to me; don't let him grow cold and indifferent.
Keep his love warm and vital too.
We are facing a long separation, God.
Please give us strength, give us courage.
We won't have each other to talk to at the day's end. We can't
comfort each other. We can't hold each other when we are sick or tired --
or filled with passion and joy.
We must learn to operate apart, in a world of strangers, who don't
care about us, or even friends who can't possibly care enough.
I can already feel the alarm just for his physical safety.
I can already feel the loneliness aching within me. Already sense
the complexities, the problems.
Yet now, for now, dear God, let me thank You for the time we have
had together. For the help we have been to each other, the lessons we've
learned from each other and for the memories that will fortify us in the
time ahead.
Bless him out there alone in the world fighting its battles for us.
(Keep him safe, oh God, protect him.)
And bless me as I struggle along on familiar ground.
Don't let us feel sorry for ourselves. Help us to remember that you
brought us together, and will bring us back to each other.
And that meanwhile we can always talk to You and receive strength for
this long separation.
By Marjorie Holmes, "Who Am I, God?" (excerpt)
Dear God, he's been away so long.
You know how much I love him; you know how much I miss him. But you
know too that sometimes it's hard to remember him -- even how he looks!
There is this terrifying vacancy within me about him sometimes. As
if he and our love never really existed; it was just something I dreamed.
Even looking at pictures or reading his letters can't quite bring him back...
Lord, make my man vivid to me again -- his voice, his face, the
touch of his hands.
And, oh God, wherever he is, make me vivid to him.
Keep him faithful to me; don't let him grow cold and indifferent.
Keep his love warm and vital too.
We are facing a long separation, God.
Please give us strength, give us courage.
We won't have each other to talk to at the day's end. We can't
comfort each other. We can't hold each other when we are sick or tired --
or filled with passion and joy.
We must learn to operate apart, in a world of strangers, who don't
care about us, or even friends who can't possibly care enough.
I can already feel the alarm just for his physical safety.
I can already feel the loneliness aching within me. Already sense
the complexities, the problems.
Yet now, for now, dear God, let me thank You for the time we have
had together. For the help we have been to each other, the lessons we've
learned from each other and for the memories that will fortify us in the
time ahead.
Bless him out there alone in the world fighting its battles for us.
(Keep him safe, oh God, protect him.)
And bless me as I struggle along on familiar ground.
Don't let us feel sorry for ourselves. Help us to remember that you
brought us together, and will bring us back to each other.
And that meanwhile we can always talk to You and receive strength for
this long separation.
By Marjorie Holmes, "Who Am I, God?" (excerpt)
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