Set Prayer in Motion

set, oh set, the prayer wheels turning  [i]
light in dark a candle burning
tell the beads in groups of ten
chant the songs in groups again
 
in case Attention slips away
or we forget, or cease, to pray
though Holy Spirit’s prayer is heard  [ii]
when we find no word
 
for we must leave our quiet space
and work and play in time and place
so – let invented substitutes
flag the path and count the route
 
while we accept the human aid
of devices we have made
to stand for us who cannot stand
to mark the way we cannot plan

Upon a mountain stony
a little wheel, all lonely –   
my mind sets it to spin
my heart with it turns round again
 
                                                                        (1990s)
 
 
[i]   Footer Illustration:  Bikrampratapsingh, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons. “Prayer Wheel”.  Wikipedia.org. {https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/64/Prayer_Wheels.jpg}  (accessed January 14, 2022)    

[ii]    Romans 8:26,  USCCB   –  United States Catholic Conference of Bishops. {https://bible.usccb.org/bible/romans/8}  (accessed January 10, 2022)   –
“In the same way, the Spirit too comes to the aid of our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but the Spirit itself intercedes with inexpressible groanings.”