~A PUMPKIN PRAYER

The following "Pumpkin Prayer" was written by Liz Curtis Higgs.  I came across it online, and it might be included in a children's book which she wrote: The Pumpkin Patch Parable.  I think this pumkin-carving-poem is perfect for those who are young--and those who are young at heart.

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{cut off top of pumpkin}

Lord, open my mind so I can learn new things about you.

{remove innards}

Remove the things in my life that don’t please you.

Forgive the wrong things I do and help me to forgive others.

{cut open eyes}

Open my eyes to see the beauty you’ve made in the world around me.

{cut out nose}

I’m sorry for the times I’ve turned my nose at the good food you provide.

{cut out mouth}

Let everything I say please You.

{light the candle}

Lord, help me show your light to others through the things I do. Amen

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~ANSWERS

I shall know why, when time is over,

And I have ceased to wonder why;

Christ will explain each separate anguish

In the fair schoolroom of the sky.

He will tell me what Peter promised,

And I, for wonder at his woe,

I shall forget the drop of anguish

That scalds me now, that scalds me now.

~Emily Dickinson~

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This poem reminds me of a song which is entitled, "Somewhere Down the Road," which I discovered when I bought a used "The Prince of Egypt" soundtrack for a few dollars years ago.  This 1998 animated movie, which I have not seen, was the inspiration for three soundtracks.  Faith Hill sings this beautiful song on the Nashville version, and her earthy, soulful rendition is moving.  I've discovered that the song was written by Amy Grant and is on her 1997 CD, "Behind the Eyes" and her 2010 CD, "Somewhere Down the Road."




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In turn, this song  reminds me of the following verses...

"The eternal God is your dwelling place,

and underneath are the everlasting arms."

~Deuteronomy 33:27a (RSV)~

"For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall understand fully, even as I have been fully understood."
~1 Corinthians 13:12~

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*I can't figure out to what Dickinson is referring in the first two lines of the second stanza of her poem.  I have skimmed through Peter's appearances in Scripture (in the Gospels and Acts) and read through the epistles he penned, but to no avail.  I'll have to do some asking around to see what I'm missing.

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