Thanks to you, O God, that I have risen today,
to the rising of life itself;
may it be to your own glory,
O God of every gift,
and to the glory of my soul likewise.
O great God, aid my soul
with the aiding of your own mercy;
even as I clothe my body with wool,
cover my soul with the shadow of your wing.
Help me to avoid every sin,
and the source of every sin to forsake;
and as the mist scatters
on the crest of the hills,
may each ill haze clear from my soul, O God.
The above Celtic prayer is titled, Cover My Soul with the Shadow of Your Wing; Ada[ted from, Carmina Gadelica, from https://acollectionofprayers.com/tag/celtic/
When a mother hen senses danger she spreads her wings and starts clucking. As her little chicks scurry to safety, she draws in her wings to cover them. Any danger will have to come through her first, and she is willing to lay down her life for her chicks.
To see a hen protecting her chicks in action, watch: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ocvs3rKaWiQ
The imagery Boaz used in blessing Ruth in Chapter 2:12—a hen hiding her chicks—was also a metaphor for a responsible husband acting as the wings of God providing security for all in his home. This word picture is used throughout the Bible to show God protecting his people.
When I was growing up, most school playground provided tetherball. A tall pole had a round ball, similar to a soccer ball, tethered to a ring at the top of the pole. Two competitors stood on either side of the pole and tried to hit, sling, bash the ball so that it twisted around the pole. The other tried to catch, hit, or sling the ball back the other way. The ball took a real beating. The one who wrapped the ball around the pole first was the winner. I loved this game!
When I was challenged as an adult to explain what God meant to me without using any “Christianeze” (language that a non-church goer wouldn’t understand), I remembered this game: “God is the pole around which my whole life revolves. He is my base, my never-moving security, and He tethers me to Him so we are always attached. But life happens, and I get slung one way, and hit the other, but in it all I know that God will never let me go. As a matter of fact, the harder I get hit, the tighter I am wrapped around the pole that is God.”
Kathleen S Evenhouse 