Learning to Pray

By: Miriam Pugh

Movement 1: The Garden

May my hunger start and end with You.

May the prayers you prayed-
Sweating, bloody, agonising prayers-
guide me to your feet,
to your heart.
May they usher me in to You.

I love You because
You first loved me.
I pray because
You first prayed
alone,
in the dark,
in agony.

I stand tall and free,
drawn close to You.

I am on holy ground.

May my hunger start and end with You.

Movement 2: the delicate dance of discipline and desire

My feet move my legs move my feet.
I am moved
by both desire and discipline.
When I merely want to want,
then I just put
one foot
in front of the other.

But.
When I see the setting sun;
a glimpse of hot Joy in the cool evening,
then my legs do the work all by themselves
and I run with giddy freedom.

Yes.
Walking has a certain nobility;
it keeps me moving.
But if that is all I do, all I want…
one day,
those feet will just stop
and my heart will forget
why
I was even moving at all.

God, paint me a sunset!
The reds and oranges you masterfully mix,
stained beauty into the ashen skies.
As I gaze on your glory
I always run to you.

Because.
When I hear you speak, I am undone.
Consumed but more fully alive.
And there, in that moment,
You tell me who I am.

So.
I will keep requiring my feet to move my legs,
whilst reminding my legs
that they were born to run.