"Waken In Me a Sense of Joy"

The leaves are beginning to change in our part of Connecticut. Right now, gold is the predominant color but reds and oranges are starting to emerge. What a glorious season autumn is! Visually, I find it to be the most compelling of the seasons. The photo on the right is from freefoto.com.

In his book, Guerrillas of Grace, Ted Loder offers a beautiful autumn prayer:

O extravagant God,
in this ripening, red-tinged autumn,
waken in me a sense of joy
in just being alive.
joy for nothing in general
except everything in particular;
joy in the sun and rain
mating with earth to birth a harvest;
joy in soft light
through shyly disrobing trees;
joy in the acolyte moon
setting halos around processing clouds;
joy in the beating of a thousand wings
mysteriously knowing which way is warm;
joy in the taste of bread and wine,
the smell of dawn,
a touch,
a song,
a presence;
joy in having what I cannot live without--
other people to hold and cry and laugh with;
joy in love,
in you;
and that all at first and last
is grace.