Our Extravagant God!

Waken in Me a Sense of Joy
By Ted Loder

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 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 wagging tails and kids’ smiles
    and in this spunky old city;
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.

(From: Guerrillas of Grace)