A New Alphabetic Psalm

 

We might be familiar with the Alphabetic Psalms of the Hebrew Scriptures. These are psalms where every line or couplet begins with the Hebrew letters of the alphabet in sequential order. I've echoed the technique here using our own ABC alphabet. The psalms express every emotion — ecstatic joy to murderous rage. The psalmist holds back nothing from God.

Arise with me, O God, who has watched over me through the night.

Blessed are you, whose tender thought created me.

Cast away any spirit-foe that looks for my un-doing.

Direct me in my anguish and ignorance.

Everyday may my first thought be of love for you.

Filling my day, my life-way, with blessings everywhere.

Gratitude piled high, for your kindness to me.

Help me when I am weakened by the tempest of anxieties.

I am your dear child, who thanks you for my life-gift.

Justice: Do we shrink from it for fear we might have to do without?

Keep your merciful gaze on me, O God, lest I betray you today.

Loving humankind, you found us long before we ever thought to look for you.

My tears, my fretting, you know it all, O Blessed One.

Niche or nook, the inner place of deepest intimacy with you.

Oh, for the little house which is my life — guard me.

Pleasant to me are the thoughts of your heart.

Quandary, questioning, quaking — I remain your very own.

Remember any good thing I have done throughout my life, Holy One.

Shade me in the day of trouble.

Thanking you for companions who have walked with me on our way to you.

Under your gaze, keep me safe from those who could make trouble.

Vagrant I am, still, it matters to you that I exist.

Worms of resentment invade — free me, O Good One.

X — Roman numeral for ten — number of fresh beginnings. Each day I begin again with you.

Yesterday's folly, by your compassion, forgiven and forgotten.

Zillow sells houses — may I find my true home in your heart.

Psalm 151 ~ An Alphabet Psalm of Spring Praises

I suggested in Tuesday's post that we can all compose our own psalm. So I did just that. I used the alphabet as a kind of infrastructure and the sights and sounds of spring as my theme. But while I'm calling it a psalm, I don't use the words God or Lord or even praise. I simply hold all of this in my heart as I stand in the Spring's God-given day.  Saint Kateri Tekakwitha prayed more with her eyes (nose and ears) than with her mouth. 

"My heart overflows with a goodly theme as I sing my ode to the king." Psalm 45:1

April means to open ~ new consciousness.

Berries ~ and gratitude for those who through aching labor pick them for me.

Cardinal ~ not the prelate, but the elegant garden songster.

Dogwood ~ a white, wide-armed, bird-welcoming one grew outside my church.

English Daisies ~ cottage garden fantasy.

Fawns and lambs, cubs and kits, hatchlings and calves.

Goldfinch stitching heaven and earth in undulating flight.

Hummingbird whose appearing always comes as surprise.

Iris ~ garden grown or stylized, medieval symbol of Our Lady.

Junco ~ dark-eyed, slate colored, white-winged avian.

King of Marigolds from Africa *

Leaf mold ~ nature's gift for the lightening of my soil.

Migratory birds ~ Have you some intelligence you'd rather keep to yourselves?

Nozzle ~ spray or wide-angle, mist or piercing jet.

Open branching every tree. *

Passionflower hinting at Christ's bright wounds.

Quince barely budded. *

Rain ~ soft as the Irish say.

Silencing scent of damask rose.

Tea-kettle, tea-kettle, tea-kettle tea ~ Carolina Wren's all day song.

Ukraine ~  may the happiness of Spring return to you.

Viburnum for butterflies, bees and birds.

Worms fill the ground with air.

Xylem ~ summoning water up from roots.

Yellow-fevered Dandy Lions. *

Zinnia ~ color-pop, charm and joy.

* Indicates the collaborative gift of my soul sister.