Lori Strawn

Forgive, Forget, Move On

Forgive, Forget, Move On How can I ever forget?You tell me forgiving begets forgetting.Easier said than done.I nurse my hurts and keep them close,like treasured souvenirs.Pry open my fists and force them loose.It is time to move on,even though I'm afraid of the road ahead,what it looks likewithout the distraction of old...

Patience for Patients

Patience for Patients Patients!So odd, the sound of it.So reminiscentof the very forbearance I require.Please help me to retain my calm,despite all demands.Let kindness flow freely from my soul.And please, let me minister with the very stuffYou show so abundantly for me:

Dance for Menopause

Dance for Menopause By all accounts,it appears bleak.Part of me is taken away;part of me is no more.Yet I do not weep.I laugh,for You have made me a girl again,long-limbed and unconfined,my body made for dancing, swimming, double-handsprings, maybe.

Grammar Rules!

Grammar Rules! I'll admit it; I'm fanatical about being grammatical. Spelling, punctuation, syntax...these things are important to me because they can help (or hinder) communication. Imagine I walk into a room and say, "Apple broomstick waterbug!" to you. You would be mystified, and rightly so, especially if I explained, "That's just how I say hello."

The Reason

The Reason Prayer is a gift I give myself.I turn to You,because then I am not alone.I give You my troubles:You can bear them.I give You my thanks:You grant me all my needs.I give You my praise:You give me more to admire.I get more than I can ever give.And that is why I pray.  

Apology

Apology When night stretches endless,I call out for You.When day turns gray and lonelyI long for You.When I am sick,my breath growing ragged and painful,I cling to You.But when I am immersed in joy,I forget You.I am sorry.

Gal Pals

Gal Pals They're the ones that I can count on,sure as the beads on an abacus.It is miraculous to mehow You fit them into my life:the childhood friend,the college roommate,the confidante,the sisters by birthand by marriage.Treasures, all...a profusion much greaterthan one woman deserves.Thank You for the bondsforged by...

Open Book: God's Grandeur by Gerard Manley Hopkins

Pray Maker Lori Strawn and Alice will explore God's hand in creation and nature as they discuss this inspiring sonnet!        

My Girls

My Girls As my mother and I sliced cheese and summer sausage at her kitchen counter, my dad lit a fire in the fireplace and asked me, “What time are your girls coming over?” My girls. I felt a stream of giddiness shoot from my gut to my heart—we lived miles apart and our lives had taken very different paths, and yet they were still my girls, my crew, my posse. 

Words

Words They can be stones;they can be roses.Help me, Creator,to make my words a gift.Open my lips to bring comfort;still my tongue before I lash out.

Mother

Mother The greeting cards lie.They put words to what is unsayable.You alone know how I see her:She is seven feet tall,a monolith, all-powerful.Still, she is tiny and fragile—a strong gust could part us—and I cannot think of losing her.Tell her for me. I trust You.Tell her how much I love her,how our closeness awes me,so that I hardly know where she ends

Open Book: The Last Pope

Imagine a book club built around your prayer life — with no reading required! Lori Strawn and her friend Alice Shelton discuss spiritual themes and questions from literature and poetry, then top it off with a prayer from the Prayables collection. Join us in our journey to find God between the pages of our favorite books. This week, Lori and Alice will discuss a quotation from a speech by Graham Greene: "The Last Pope."

Lesson in Roses

Lesson in Roses I was thinking,the other day,about tea roses.The splendid profusionof hybrids—two beautiful plantsbred togetherinto something startlingly newand impossibly lovely.And it occurred to methat it was something like a marriage:The two of us,starting out foreign to one another,

Politics as Usual

Politics as Usual Everyone is angry these days.Even tea parties are no longer genteel.I can't stand the shouting.so I turn to You for answers.From all I know of You,You are about love.It is time for You to step in.Please let love reanimate the body politic.Teach Your children to usetheir "indoor" voices to reason, not accuse.Tutor...

Open Book: Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurson

Pray Maker Lori Strawn and Alice discuss free will, nature versus nurture and the role of sin in Zora Neale Hurson's "Their Eyes Were Watching God."        

Paradise Lost

Paradise Lost I have been sunk in a deep blue funk...all because of a dream. Like most dreams, it makes very little sense, especially upon close examination. But the feelings it evoked...those were real. Real enough to bring tears to my eyes at the memory. In the dream, I'd arrived at my alma mater in Indiana, a place I know from its frequent appearances in my dreams symbolizes peace to me. I was...

Open Book: When Death Comes by Mary Oliver

Pray Maker Lori Strawn and Alice discuss the poem by Mary Oliver "When Death Comes." Expect lively discussion about the meaning of life and the nature of death.          

Christmas Babies

Christmas Babies Shortly after I was born, my mother wrote the following words: "Dearest Lori: When I look at you, it's like looking into a mirror, only the reflection is pure innocence untainted by the worldliness and all the evils of the world, flesh and devil. How I pray you may always stay this way, spiritually innocent in the sight of God. This is my one...

Words Do Hurt

Words Do Hurt If only I could take them back!But the words flew out of my thoughtless mouthlike a bullet out of a gun.I watched it pierce,the pain welling up in my friend's eyes.I felt it ricochet through me, too,gutting me to the heart.There seems no end to the waysthat words can harm.I, alone, cannot fix this.

Forget-Me-Not

Forget-Me-Not

The Forgotten

The Forgotten They sitin managed care facilities,life at an ebb.Sometimes forgotten,like books full of photosand lively text that nobody reads.

Attention Shoppers

Attention Shoppers Why is it that what I wantis never on the rack?Peace of mind.Self-esteem.Happiness. I make myself believethat a handbag will suffice,but You know it never does. Instead let's go shopping together,You and I.Only instead of shoes,I'll look for hope,purchase forgiveness,pursue restraint.

Perfect Victim

Perfect Victim He saw from the first that I was perfect.I did not scream.I hid his ugly secret under layers of paindeep in my soul. I told no one.No one, that is, but You.Please help me learn how to trust again.Help me to stop seeing his faceon those that hold no blame.Tell me, over and over,that...

Open Book: Thoughts on Solitude by Thomas Merton

Imagine a book club built around your prayer life — with no reading required! Lori Strawn and her friend Alice Shelton discuss spiritual themes and questions from literature and poetry, then top it off with a prayer from the Prayables collection. Join us in our journey to find God between the pages of our favorite books. This week, Lori and Alice will discuss a quote from Thoughts on Solitude by Thomas Merton.

Learning Curve

Learning Curve We begin the month as fools;willing winter's end and spring's beginning.You bring our wish to bud in every leaf and blade,summoning new beauty out of dead roots,and make us wise again to eternal rebirth. This is my chance for rebirth, too.Spring has sprung and so should I:out...

Reflections

Reflections I look in the mirror and see a jumble of flaws.Please, help me see myself as You see me:Perfect. Whole. Capable.Help me to view my defects as potential,my awkwardness as a different beauty.Prevent me from self-harm,and from habits that bring me shame.Help me to accept myself as I am,just as You do,with limitless kindness and forgiveness.

Lost and Found

Lost and Found I’ve done it again.I’d lose my own head if it wasn’t attached.Please.It seems like such a little thing.But I could use:Your eyes, to see the unseen,Your attentiveness,so as not to repeat the fault,Your forgiveness, for being so carelesswith the many gifts you give me.Help me recover what...

That Time of the Year

That Time of the Year Hassled time, hurried time,crafted of jammed schedules,marathon cooking sessions,and shopping trips from hell.Why do I make this seasonharder than it must be?All You ask of me is to live and give thanks:I save all that for one lone day,and pursue busy-ness all the rest.Stop me. Remind me of my...

Open Book: Finding God in Literature

Imagine a book club built around your prayer life — with no reading required! Pray Maker Lori Strawn and her friend Alice Shelton discuss spiritual themes and questions from literature and poetry, then top it off with a prayer from the Prayables collection. Listen our journey to find God between the pages of our favorite books. This week, Lori and Alice will discuss a quote from the novel

Perfect

Perfect Unbelievable. Unattainable.My quick, loud words and selfish fearmake perfection seem as possibleas pigs in flight.Yet You are perfect,and in You, I feel what might beif only I could get closer.I will spend my life working for this.I see myself rocketing skyward,falling up like a freak of gravity.I may not ever be perfect,but my faith in You

Open Book: Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand

Pray Maker Lori Strawn and Alice discuss a quote from Ayn Rand's "Atlas Shrugged." Join the women of Prayables for a lively discussion of this quote including faith, knowledge and devotion to truth!

Your Presence Requested

Your Presence Requested I know You're there,but where?Worries are poking at me,sharp-clawed:my job, my family, my life.I can't feel You today,and I am afraid.Where are You?

Open Book: The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath

Pray Maker Lori Strawn and Alice discuss life after death — and the possibility of hell on earth — as they tease out the meaning of Esther Greenwood's philosophy in "The Bell Jar" by Sylvia Plath.        

Bless This Mess

Bless This Mess If cleanliness is next to godliness,this house is in another zip code.Divine presence, please bless our dirty home,for it has been lived in and loved in.Thank you for every messy inch of it. For the dust lining the...

Giving Up the Smokes

Giving Up the Smokes Today I did not dothat thing I should not do:That thing I've allowedto define me,for far too long.I tell myself stories about it."It keeps me thin.""I can't resist it."Today I realizedthose stories are lies,and I didn't listen.

One, Big, Happy

One, Big, Happy Our driveway is a lot for rental cars,our basement a campsite:blankets on couches,air mattresses, sleeping bags.Upstairs, the cacophony of catching up:Look how the kids have grown!How was the vacation?Gee, I miss Gram.Thank You for bringing us together.Thank You for gathering us safely.Thank You...

Rings and Things

Rings and Things It is a time for promises,for gathering together,for becoming one.Our rings, a symbolof this unity.Please protect the circleof those we hold dear,circles old and circles new.Keep them unbrokenbut stretchable,secure.

Caution: Overload

Caution: Overload I am poking my head above the paperworkto cry out: Help! I am drowning!Make no mistake,I know I am blessed to be employed.Sometimes I let it run my life,when that's Your job. I put this in Your hands.Shrink it down to size,so that I might weave itinto the fabric of my life,just one part of...

Monday Climbing Mountains

Monday Climbing Mountains Monday…most dreaded day.It is a day for beginnings—and beginnings are hard.I crane my neck to survey the day.The sheer face of it looks insurmountable.Take my hand and guide me over this Monday.Teach me not to fear it,but to embrace its possibilities.Show me that Mondayi...

Small Wonders

Small Wonders I praise You for the tiny gloriesI am often too busy to see:the irregular scallop of a maple leaf,the impossible yellow of a dandelion, the perfection of untrammeled snow. For the scrap of sunlight the cat findsin the darkened hallway,I thank You.

Moving Mountains

Moving Mountains You see what I am up against.My head is bloodied from banging it againstthe wall of corruption and denial.Save me.I am shadow boxing, trying to make a change,yet all I strike is empty air.Give me strength to keep fighting.Let the justice of my...

Daughter of the Woods

Daughter of the Woods I go to the woods, for You are there.You, fully in attendancein every leaf and bough,replenish my soulwith the sigh of the wind. I come here to be with You,where You dwell most presently,to spin out the content of my heart,and be regaledwith green-black silencesand the living canopyof nature's...

Open Book: Christmas Special

Pray Maker Lori Strawn and her friend Alice Shelton discuss spiritual themes and questions from literature and poetry, then top it off with a prayer from the Prayables collection. Join us in our journey to find God between the pages of our favorite books. This week, Lori and Alice will discuss all kinds of Christmas quotes from their favorite books, poetry and more!  

Every Woman

Every Woman Has a Story A few years ago, my mother had breast cancer. She went to an oncologist who suggested she have her lymph nodes removed. Having watched two of her sisters go through this battle, my mom knew that lymph edema (a terribly painful swelling) would be a side effect, and said she preferred to keep her glands. The doctor, a man, looked right at her and said, "When your cancer comes back, don't come crying to...

Overheated Musings

Overheated Musings Dog days, summer's end.This month's revelationscome quietly,sweat-soaked.Thank you for endings,for they make beginnings sweeter.Life cannot always be sunny weather;we must bear our winters, too.Help me to appreciatethe seasons as they happen.Let me stay warmwhen cold winds blow.August will...

Light in the Depths

Light in the Depths Down herewhere only the lantern-fish swim,too deep for sun to penetrate,I see a glint. It is You, reaching for methrough the churning seas,a hand to pull me back to the surfaceand into the light. I had made myself a home here,among the shipwrecks,thinking I'd never return to the shore.But You saved me,

Fireworks

Fireworks July is like a sparkler:  bright, hot, and somewhat dangerous.  Who can work, after all,  in the languorous sun of a summer's day?

New Life

New Life At the darkest hour, life triumphs,beating back despair with irrepressible joy.And the world rejoices because they know:One new life makes all death meaningful.Thank You for remembering what it is our hearts need,and providing it in the smallest of...

Open Book: Jesus Walking by Anne Sexton'

Join Pray Maker Lori Strawn and Alice for deep discussion about the nature of prayer and Christ's ultimate sacrifice for humankind, framed by the work of poet Anne Sexton.        

Vows

Vows June: a month for promisesof the marital variety, but others too.Time with the family,Time to slow down,Time for home and hearth.It's a recommitment to play, to laugh,to that which we were too busy for in May.Help me make time, Divine Friend,for You and those You've given me,while days seem endless and summer eternal.

Life in a Box

Life in a Box I've grown weary of the phrase "think outside the box." Box? What box? But then, I got to pondering. I live on the east side of a medium-large town. It takes maybe 20 minutes to get as far west as one would want to go. Yet I don't know anything about the west side. It might as well be 1,000 miles away. I'm perfectly happy...

It's Not You... It's Me

It's Not You... It's Me It's not that I don't believe in You.I just don't believe in me.You are all, and I am nothing,so how can I get from here to there?The span between is endless,and if I fall, an eternity of emptiness awaits.Today I start climbing.And I will never stop as long as You believeI can make it.

Thursday End in Sight

Thursday, End in Sight Where has the week gone?I see suddenly the approach of the finish line,and yet my to-do list still looms large.Please still my need to rush.Help me take it one job at a time,a steady jog—not sprint—to the end of the working week.There is more to life than hurry.Thank You for giving me this day as...

Only Child

Only Child "Help me."I seem to say that a lot.You must be tired of my constant pleas.Yet You remain as close as my shadowas constant as breathing.You spoil me with your constancy.How good of You to favor each one of usas though we are an only child,Your ear tuned to the particular pitchof each...

A Different Road

A Different Road The road of change is not well-lit;it's the dark corner of the mall parking lot,way in the back, by the dumpsters.It is that blind turn on the highway,the one you take surface streets to avoid.The road to change hurts,alternately slippery, thorny and up-hill both ways,uncomfortable, brutal, mean.

Whispers to a Writer

Whispers to a Writer

You, Everywhere

You, Everywhere Who knew You could be presentin the mopping of a floor?But there You are.I find You, too,next to the breadas I fix his brown bag sandwich.And there You are,riding shotgun, as I rush to the storeto pick up that prescription. You are always there,just to one side of my busy day,

Give Me a Hand!

Give Me a Hand! I'm dressed for Halloween: The fingers of my left hand poke pitifully out of their wrappings, my poor thumb a shade I can only describe as "prune." The bandage is so thick, my fingers dangle helplessly over the computer keys, unable to connect, so I tap away one-handed, something I haven't done since pre-high school typing class. From the elbow down, I look like something...

Wrapping Up Friday

Wrapping Up Friday This week has been a gift;today I tie the ribbon—wrapping up work, looking forward to rest.Thank You for the thousand waysYou have lent a hand to me.Through every meeting and every interaction,through every dirty face and unwashed dish,You have been my guide.Help me end this week as I...

For All the Single Ladies

For All the Single Ladies I grew up believing thatevery princess finds her prince.It's inevitable.My kingdom, on the other hand,is full of frogs.No matter how often I kiss them,they remain stubbornly amphibious. Where is the prince You made for...

Sunday Rest Stop

Sunday Rest Stop Today is the day for not doing.A day for saying no to the buzz and whir of daily life.It is a day for savoring minutes.Thank You for this day of rest.Let Your peace descend on me,like twilight falling.Show me the joy of perfect quietude,of listening to You in stillness.Let the world stopif only for a...

Thanksgiving on My Mind

Thanksgiving on My Mind I will not be spending Thanksgiving with my family this year. In fact, it's been more than 20 years since the whole lot of us got together for the holiday. Still, like most everyone, I vividly recall family Thanksgivings of old. Like most memories, it's mostly sense-based; that is, redolent of food.

Ah, Young Love

Ah, Young Love "I was young once, too,"I tell her.But she stares at me,as if I sprang, fully-formedand middle-aged, from the head of Zeus.How can I possibly understandtrue love?So I turn to You who taught methe meaning of the word.

Dark Thoughts

Dark Thoughts Stupid. Ugly. Fat. Words like these, directed at myself, are practically a constant in my life. And those are the nicer ones. I don't even mean the worse ones — some are outright lies — but I repeat them anyway, over and over, like a mantra of doom. It took me forever to realize what my problem really was. I was being too easy on myself.

Providence

Providence Call it kismet or divine intervention—I am where I need to be.Let me never forgetthat I did not wander hereunplanned by chance.You led me to this place.I am on stage awaiting my cue.What can I do for You here?With whom can I connect?Let me do Your work and will,and we shall move togetherto the next destination.Only You know my destiny,

Breakdown

Breakdown The workplace is no place for tears.Yet despite knowing better,I crumbled like sand.Bring me back from the precipice.Help me win back the respectof my coworkers and bosses.Let me use my emotions as strengths,to find solutions and right inequities,so no one else need be crushedby the weight of their feelings.Let me be just in all my business...

Outspoken

Outspoken I've been called outspoken,headstrong, a rebel.But if I am these things,it is for Your sake.You gave me a discerning mindto examine the world with.You gave me a voice,and a destiny.I will not squander these things.I will shout,and pray that it is Your voicethat will be heard.

Humility

Humility Humble me.Make me small enough to fit on the head of a pin,lest I believethat Your deeds are mine.All the good I accomplishpours forth from You;I am merely a vessel.And when I know this fully,there will be no diminishment,only awe.

Saturday Energy Rush

Saturday Energy Rush Today is a day for living!I step into sunlight, blinking,unused to bona fide illumination.What wonders You have laid before me!Let us drink them in together. Saturday is a shot of Vitamin C.I thank You for its energy, its pulse;

Holding Hands

Holding Hands Into Your hands, I place my own.It belongs there, as natural as rain falling.I trust You to keep a tight grip,whatever the excursion brings.

The Big Meeting

The Big Meeting Well, I've done what I can.I've prepared,I've honed,I've practiced.Now I give itup to You.Guide me to be my best self;let Your words be my words,Your limitless ingenuity, Your creative spark,Your empowerment,Your gifts realized.

Into the Light: Resolution Revolution

Into the Light: Resolution Revolution Resolved: I will not be making any New Year's resolutions this year. When you think about it, it makes sense. Why should a tick in the calendar make any difference in our lives? If it wasn't a priority yesterday, what makes it one today? Besides, how many resolutions really get, well, resolved? Not many. After week two, it's back to our old...

The F-Word

The F-Word I’m a feminist.There, I said it,though You are not shocked.It was You who made me so.Growing up aglow in Your love,it was obvious.If You loved me,then what I am is special.If You believed in me,than what I am is capable.If You respected me,then what I am is worthy.You taught me that being a feministisn’t shameful or unw...

Weighty Request

Weighty Request The needle sticks at a number too high for my liking. I just can’t do this without You. Please, help me today to avoid temptation. Help me to eat mindfully, to approach activity with enthusiasm, to...

Buy This Book

Buy This Book (Please) Here’s what I’m proposing: This Christmas, buy a present for yourself. It’s not a blanket with sleeves. It won’t “clap on” or “clap off” anything. It’s a book, called

The Language of Love

The Language of Love Thanks be to Youfor semi-colons,for m-dashes, ellipses, and commas.Glory be in the languages of Earth,in Morse code and Braille,in Swahili and Portuguese.You made us social beings,then gave us the gift that binds,that brings us togetherin conversation, chatter,...

Flower Power

Flower Power May flowers: a verb.It opens up to rain and sun alternately, taking both, needing both to grow.Expose me to the lessonsthat May flowers know:There is goodness to be gleanedfrom both trials and triumphs,sun and rain.Both will come in the weeks ahead.I am ready.

Faulty Connection

Faulty Connection Hello?Are You there?I could really use an answer;a sign of some sort.I beg of you — speak loudly.Drop the sky on my head...whatever it takes.You know I value Your judgmentabove all others.Let me know Your will.I long to do it,with a free and loving heart.I'm listening.I will always listen for...

Klutz

Klutz My body is a patchwork of bruises,cuts, scrapes and burns.I have not been a good stewardof the body You gave me.I seem to walk it into walls,and insist it be made of sterner stuffthan flesh and bones.Forgive me.Please move me deftly, like a master puppeteer;steer my two left feet.

TisBest

TisBest The greatest giftsdon’t fit in a box.They slip into the heartwithout ribbons or bows,and make a home there.Beginning small,They are larger than any of us,more powerful;they move mountains,fueled by what is best in us.

Wednesday, Unglued

Wednesday, Unglued Wednesday is quicksand:A person can get stuck there.Uproot my feet.I pray for onward motion,for the strength to power through,instead of relying on momentum.Remind me:The week can still be radically altered,the expedition salvaged.This is not a day to be got throughbut to be embraced:a...

Sailing Forth on Tuesday

Sailing Forth on Tuesday Tuesday…at sea,yet not far from the harbor.I row forward, scenting progress,yet prone to doubt my own abilities.Dearest Companion,help me experience this daylike Balboa, first sighting the Pacific:wide-eyed, without cynicism,a vista of incredible opportunities,with e...

One of Us

One of Us It's been years since we prayed together, years we could have grown apart but somehow didn't. I see Your hand in this. The same hand that formed us, loud and raucous,

Balance of Love

Balance of Love I know You designed me for this—To be self-aware,self-soothing, self-knowledgeable.Like all of Your cleverly-crafted creatures,I am designed to protect and sustain myself.But please help me get this thing under control.I'm losing command of this mechanism,swinging dangerously close to self-everything,losing c...

Road Map

Road Map Today I feel lost,so I turn to You for direction.My heart is a compass.Set me to true north.Lead me where I need to go.Be my guide.Take me with you,for you know the roads.I know the climb will be arduous.But when I get there,oh, the view will be worth it!

Rabbi Yossi Talks About Powerful Women

On the October 19, 2010 show we were blog-talking about women and spirituality with Rabbi Yossi! He is a teacher, lecturer, rabbinical authority, published author, professional counselor and guide. He does spiritual healing and in his daily life he is simply Rabbi Yossi - a highly perceptual and loving friend to all. The women of Prayables heard from the Rabbi about his experience and observations of powerful women and how they use their unique gifts to make the world a better place. A true friend and confidante to thousands of people who turn to him weekly for guidance and wisdom; Rabbi Yossi is renowned...

Perfectly Imperfect

Perfectly Imperfect You who see me at my worstmake me be my best.Struggling with the stress of the season,remind me:happiness has seldom depended on a spotless home,an endless buffet or love given from holiday packages.I know I can't be flawlessI can only be me.Please, I need your reassurance  that I am perfectwith all my...

Falling

Falling Autumn isfalling leavesare fallingthings arefalling into placeagain.Gone is summer'ssiren call;Fall is abouta return to purpose.Here is mine:To serve Youwell and always,in every wayand weather.