the artist of daring ways

Teach Me Your Ways by Ted Loder

Teach me your ways, Lord,

that I may be open to the same Spirit

who moved over the face of the waters

in the first day of creation

and moves also over the chaos of this time

to fashion a day like this,

a world like ours,

a life like mine,

a kingdom like leaven in bread,

like a treasure

buried in the fields of the daily I plow;

and make me aware of the miracles of life,

of warm and cold,

of starkness and order,

of screaming wind and impenetrable silences,

and of the unfathomable mystery of amazing grace in which I am kept.

Teach me your ways, Lord,

that I may praise you

for all the surprising, ingenious ways you bless me,

and for all the wondrous gifts you give me

through artists who introduce me to the beauty of holiness,

who usher me into awesome worlds in which I begin to live anew

in a fullness of pain and joy not possible before.

Teach me your ways, Lord,

that I may accept my own talent openly,

nurture it hopefully,

develop it faithfully,

and give it freely.

Teach me your ways, Lord,

that I may love the kindness of the prophets

and practice it toward the hungry of the world,

the poor and sick and oppressed

that I may learn the healing humility

which responsibly tends the earth and all creatures therein.

Teach me your ways, Lord,

that I may be swept up in worship with the saints,

which surges in wonder, gratitude, and obedience,

and shapes my life into an irrepressible YES to you,

to all my sisters and brothers,

and to the presence of the kingdom among us

until the ancient vision of mothers burns in me

with a fire to light the world and warm its heart,

through Jesus Christ,

the singer of passionate songs,

the teller of powerful stories,

the artist of daring ways.