FIVE SENSES

Master Jesus,

I dedicate all my senses anew to You this day.

Let my eyes not turn away
from the ragged sadness of the weakest among us
who are suffering in hopeless poverty
which stains the glory of our earth.

I pray for those who have lost their homes
through war, illness, infirmity
or lack of honorable ways to earn a living.

I pray for ground-down desperate parents
who are heart sore because they cannot put together
the simplest decent family meals.

Let my ears hear the desperate cries
of the weary ragged children
among the wandering displaced masses
who are barely existing in hovels and shacks
and tent-shelters defacing the globe.

I pray for all who live exposed
to chilling cold and scorching skies.

Instill in me a powerful trust
in all Your promises and the power of prayer,
and let my hope steel my conscience
and charity drive my will
to help my fellow humans in some significant way.

When I smell flowers let me remember
the odor of sanctity.
When I smell decay let me be reminded
of the vile and sulfurous smoke of Satan.

When I hear music, let me not be deaf to the agony
of those suffering in hospitals,
those plagued with incurable disease,
those walking on crutches and artificial limbs,
and those who cannot walk at all.

I pray for all who have terminal cancer
heart failure,
and other debilitating and painful fatal diseases.

Let me hear the silent, unheard cry of the unborn
and the stillborn whose lives are terminated
before they see the dawn of one single day.
May their sweetest innocence be a challenge to me.

Blessed with handshakes, loyal friends,
a partner's love and a dog's faithful companionship,
let me not forget the calloused, scarred, scabby hands, of the poorest of the poor in our world,
my human brothers and sisters,
whose lonely days are unbearably long
and whose aching bodies are endangered, weakened,
bruised and broken by unsafe and inhuman labors,
and whose spirits are darkened by too-long hours,
and whose basic dignity is demeaned
by unsafe and filthy working conditions,
when they have work at all.

In my life of music and humor and kind words,
let me not be deaf to the occasional dark discord
between even the most devoted couples,
the life-changing crack of the judge's gavel,
the notices of illness, job-termination,
eviction and death, and all the other sad news
which my fellow humans are hearing at any moment.

I offer my prayer to ask You in Your mercy
to soften the devastating moments
which break human hearts.

Unite me with my human family over space and time.
Through the awesome power of prayer, let my pleas echo backward to the age of Adam,
and rocket forward past the age of the atom
to the very last day of the last person on this earth.
May my prayers ascend
like the fragrance of holy incense
to You in Your star-shining majesty on high.

Fire my mind with a vibrant understanding
of the pain, loneliness, agony and disbelief
of many, many of my fellow human beings.
I cry to You, most merciful God,
please gather them back to You this day and always.

Then let my voice rise in harmony
with the choruses of heaven in rapturous song
before Your throne in the eternal moment of peace
forever and forever and forever and forever,
all this I pray to You this day,

Amen

(c) 2011 Donn B. Murphy

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