Hallowed be Your Name

First I must be hollowed:

From the twisted maze of wanting,

From my grasp of rags of comfort,

Ointment for the ego

And a pillow for my head.

Backwards, untwisting,

The subtle machinations,

The coil of self-deception,

The scaffolds masking fear,

(My intellectual lumber).

Let Your clean wind blow through my bones,

Piping desolation

Through the thin marsh, breathing

How all living comes undone.

And I bow my head.

The ground must be cleared

Before the cornerstone is set.

Let me rise, exulting,

Not in my own cleverness, but the foolishness of God.

Laughing as the winged birds laugh

High on the driving wind.

Your praise in every stone.