When I say Glorify God!
I have sometimes meant, glorify me, instead.
Though you wouldn’t know it by my words.
Turn me back to You, oh Lord.
I’ve read the beautiful words of John Chrysostom, been inspired,
and tried to emulate them.
But rather than expressing pure words from a golden mouth,
like he did,
I’ve uttered deceit, more befitting the one with a forked tongue.
Words may sound fragrant, though the motive for saying them can still stink.
Reorient me, oh Lord.
I know of the beatific attitudes, and that they lead to You,
to the summation and summit of all being.
But I’ve gone my own way, with attitudes that lead to nothingness,
to non-being.
I’ve turned purity of heart to corruption,
mourning into self-exaltation,
meekness and peace into warfare,
attempting to overcome my brothers and sisters.
Turn me back to You.
Turn me away from evil.
Turn me back to life.
Reorient me, oh Lord of the eternal morning!
Sometimes I am so tired of asking,
embarrassed, and weary for all of my incessant sins.
But who else can I turn to for help?
We all are turned in a myriad of wrong directions,
so how can my brother, who is currently walking into a ditch,
save me, who am presently walking off a cliff?
You are our only help.
Reorient us all, oh Lord.
Turn us back to You, in all we say and do.
And turn us back to You, in spirit and in truth!
~FS
Prayerful Life 