Kefir and pancakes

Rain is falling
On our parched ground
We prayed last night
For rain to come round

It’s been years
Since I prayed for rain
Perhaps, overtime
My awareness changed

See…I moved
From the farm to the town
And rain wasn’t on my radar
Where asphalt covered the ground

Separated from the creatures
Out of sight of those who sow
Rain became a distant memory
Because I forgot rain was needed to grow

Blinded by my desires
Confusing wants for needs
Not understanding rain was needed
For all to receive

But then…
After many years
I returned to creation
And lived simply
Being less distracted and still
I remembered
My neighbors
Great and small
Invisible and visible
Flying and crawling
Swimming and walking
Singing and cawing

Bearing a design in common
With all creatures
I began to understand my responsibility
In their life and their labors

Being transformed by love
With Truth filling my mind
Care of others consumed my heart
Demanding my body and my time

For a life lived in ignorance
For the hubris and the arrogance
That cared for nothing more
Than my own selfish concerns

Consequently, my imagination grew
High, wide, long and deep
I realized I was interconnected
With all God created and I grieved

It was good to confess these things
Because my thoughts, words and deeds
Had been overtaken
By a monoculture’s rapacious weeds

I needed to be cleaned out
Even more, I needed emptiness
To discover my holy space
Where I could be still
Breathing in grace
Exhaling my sins
Discovering the way
I could make amends
And no longer use God’s creation
Or his creatures as a means to my ends

As I practiced this kindness
My feelings were renewed
And we became channels
Where Love freely flowed through

Quenching each other’s thirst
For righteousness
Watering our roots
We grew together in holiness

Bound together in a covenant
Of steadfast love, mercy and justice
In the triad of fidelity
Practicing mutual trust

So, last night I prayed for rain
Because we need it
The cows in the field
The worms in the soil
The plants and the trees
The bugs and the bees

I thought about the microbes
The fowl and the fish
They, too, needed rain
To splash and to splish

We needed God’s gift from Heaven
More than technology to be sustained
We needed the maker of all living things
To gift us with rain

I prayed last night
For rain
And on the Sabbath
The rain came

As the rains came down, I started to pray
When I was called to remember
Jesus took bread and wine
And said:

“This is my body, which is being offered for you; do this in my memory…
This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is being shed for you.”

See, the rain did more than water the ground
It washed my heart and cleansed my eyes
To see God’s goodness in the land of the living
Coming down in drops of holy fire

Inviting creation and its creatures
To holy communion
In this sacred moment
With The Triune

Taking off my shoes
I was led to the table
As my head was anointed with oil
My heart became capable

To feel the presence of God
In this sacred place
Ablaze with thanksgiving and wonder
I hungered and thirsted for grace

And together with the saints
Both alive and raised from the dead
I was invited to keep the feast
With new wine and broken bread

Remembering what Jesus said
I took my kefir and pancake
As the holy body and blessed cup
And with a glad heart
I gulped it down and ate it up.