Debbie's Psalm 3 - After Returning to Work

I pulled Flames to Heaven: New Psalms for Healing & Praise, by Debbie Perlman (may her memory be a blessing), off of my bookshelf recently. One of the poems I read there which really moves he is her psalm three, subtitled "After Returning to Work."

Reading her psalm, I remember my own journey of returning to work and returning to normalcy after my strokes. And I marvel at the extent to which this poem rings true for me even in the most ordinary of times: no recent illness, thank God; no hospital stay; and still this poem says something I need to hear. Maybe it's something you need to hear, too.

 

THREE

After Returning to Work

For E.L.L.

From the flurry of my life, I will praise You.

As I drive the child-circle errand-round,

Hurrying to meet allotted times,

I will stop for You,

To marvel at Your creation.

From the tasks that await me,

That tempt me to focus on minutia

Of hometasks, and homework, and jobwork,

I will pause for You,

To remember Your goodness.

From my perpetual self-reproof:

Is it enough, could it be better,

One more effort, a different preparation,

I will tarry for You

To praise Your Name.

In this fullness of my life, O God,

Calm my constant motion,

Quiet my pursuit,

That I may wait for You with a serene soul.