Inspired by reading An Astronaut's Guide to Life on Earth by Chris Hadfield. I began following Chris Hadfield's astronaut life in 2013 after he posted the first-ever music video to be recorded in space: a cover of David Bowie's Space Oddity (proudly called by Bowie, "possibly the most poignant version of the song ever created"). I got goosebumps. The familiar 1969 lyrics, "Ground Control to Major Tom" seemed hauntingly beautiful sung with acoustic guitar by a man whose life was held precious by that same ground control. The "glow-blue" of morning light in this prayer is really Hadfield's glow-blue view of earth from above, the "star-strewn night" so obviously immense from beyond earth's orbit.
God of star-strewn night,
where morning emerges
as scarlet clouds break up
and light pours forth in illuminating glow-blue:
your abundance spills into every nook and cranny of this radiant morning.
The strong current of your presence permeates our reluctant and muted response,
so that we cannot help but collide with the eternity of your enduring love.
When we lack conviction,
you make one transparent attempt after another to connect with us.
Your love is like a storm of generosity.
Every heartbeat and breath,
unending daily kindness,
basic human connection:
these essentials sing of your love.
We cannot help but seek refuge in the unseen shelter of your presence.
We need you.
In you, wounds are healed,
grief is soothed,
suffering is endured,
hunger is met,
human longing is stitched together with meaning.
We inherit the simplicity of your deep and durable love.
When we wander from you,
you cast the widest net and we arrive again in your spiritual current.
So, hold what makes us uneasy,
whether the urgency of money
or the shame of scandal,
or the sting of defeat.
Let grace and forgiveness slide into the wounds we never intended.
Give us the kind of kinship that makes it possible for us to build a durable future together. Transform our nation.
Unmute our apathy.
Extend our vision beyond what is happening now, toward a future with hope.
Hold, too, today’s weary hope,
so that we might love in the way you love,
and live in the way you hope us to live.
God, give us the strong current of your presence,
and permeate every nook and cranny of our lives.