Preparation Prayer

Packing at 3am
head bowed, eyes closed
preparation prayer
Lord
Allow my mind heart spirit
to be open
to experience
the wonders of this world
that you created in the days before
men and women hated each other for no reason
at all
Lord
unpack my spirit of guilt and anxiety
of essential notions
and colonial clutter
fill my suitcase full
with a spirit of
experience
that makes me available
to a different set of places,
people and ideas
humble me as you teach me
that even the ground will write me a lesson
of how to be a listener and learner
simultaneously
LORD
allow me to return
with a renewed mind
a new kind
clearer eyes
that allow my heart to
see your vision of the world
through my life
Last
Lord
give me the strength to
Pack it all
Amen

Yunina Barbour-Payne