#Living Psalm 90:1-6, 13-17– Anderson, October 29, 2023, Twenty-second Sunday after Pentecost

By Eric S. Anderson
Within my lifetime, LORD, this crevasse fountained
living rock, a fiery river streaming steaming to the sea.
Within my lifetime, LORD, the scarlet cooled to grey,
the leaping molten spray to pebbles and to sand.
Within this not-so-ancient crevasse, LORD,
the geologic hues of rust and glassy sable take
their place alongside steady growth of greens,
of lichens, grasses, and of spreading ferns.
If this ohi’a seed had fallen somewhere else,
it might have towered high above the ground,
but here, where roots have barely churned the sand
to soil, it hardly clears its neighbor ferns,
But now, as if in echo of the scarlet lava which
had inundated and transformed this place,
it blooms in crimson tipped with gold,
as if to shame old Solomon in all his glory.
Here where a score of years is like an age,
where lakes are drowned in liquid rock,
where forests blaze amidst a burning river,
to leave stone columns marking vanished trees,
We pray, once more, O LORD, for your compassion.
Awaken us each morning with your steadfast love,
and as we settle in to sleep, assure us of your grace.
Inspire us to celebrate your name in all our days.
Your power is manifest in lava’s crimson and in leafy jade.
We are as transient as the grass, as temporary as the stone.
Let your favor be upon us. May our efforts prosper,
so that in this perishable world, we leave a flower of love.