Presence 9: Arts That Inspire Reflection & PrayerSample

 Wide Open Spaces

I have heard the key turn

and the cell door unlock

Yet the prisoner remains within,

Ensnared by the familiarity of confinement,

Fearful of walking free.

I have seen the traveller

Linger in the gathering gloom of the valley

Long after light has dipped

Below the skyline,

Ignoring the glory of the sun

Resplendent on the hilltop above.

I have witnessed the bitterness of hatred,

The dreary grind of life-eroding resentment,

A diminishing of dreams, a withering of promise;

The call of mercy and forgiveness ignored.

Yet still you call us to the wide open spaces

Of grace and truth,

To the vast uncluttered landscape of liberty,

The regenerating brilliance of light,

Hope restored,

Dancing, unrestrained, in this place of overwhelming love.

Chris Matthews