Living Psalm for Trinity Sunday by Maria Mankin

Maker, Lover, Keeper

I whisper to the moon I meet

before dawn when my eyes

are scratchy and spirits low.

The babies are hungry.

Parents are afraid.

My own breast aches

with them, waiting, waiting.

I walk the path behind my house

before the sun has truly risen.

I watch for coyotes, made brave

from thirst in this droughted plain

and stand for awhile watching

my neighbor’s cattle.

They are much larger up close

than I used to imagine in my youth

when I sped by fields in Massachusetts.

Here, in the West, everything feels bigger,

wider, more desperate to be cared for,

and also to be left alone to heal.

The calves stick close to their mothers

this morning, heads pressed against

them for warmth, content in the belief

that this one being will keep them safe.

Giver, Gift, and Holy Spirit

I whisper as the sun begins to rise,

shower us with the grace we are afraid

to ask for. Bathe us in your love –

the same love that shows us the stars

and the path to the water, the new

sprouted plants in the field and

the tenacity of our justice seeking spirits

when protection, dignity, and safety

seem lost. I wave to my neighbor.

I forget to say Amen until I am home

and dressed and the day has properly begun.

Amen and amen and amen . . .

Living Psalms Book is created by UCC Witness & Worship Artists’ Group, a Network of UCC connected artists, activists and ministers bridging the worship and liturgy of the local church with witness and action in the community. Maren Tirabassi, editor

click here to download this week's bulletin!