God of love and God of all, We enter into this election with more anxiety than hope about the future of our country. We are battling for the soul of America, but we have very different ideas of how that soul should look, feel and behave. We fear for the safety and peace of our nation, as many have already threatened violence if the results are not the ones they want. We ...
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We believe in children whose excitement and energy and creativity inspire us all to be more childlike in our lives and in our faith. We believe in teachers and in their call to nurture and educate amidst increasingly difficult circumstances. We believe in the grown-ups who wake up the kids, fix the lunches, volunteer at the schools and help with the homework. We believe in friends and co-workers and neighbors who step in ...
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We see you and we celebrate you We see the good you do We see the love you share We see the people you serve We hear the names people call you Names that we do not recognize or publicize, lest we legitimize For those names don’t define you We know you by one name: Beloved Child of God Created in God’s own image We don’t pretend to know your pain But when you hurt, we hurt, too We may not ...
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The church where my friend, Rev. Dr. Robert Lowry, serves has created a litany to be used in homes and churches and any place people may gather in the wake of yet another school shooting that has taken away so many lives. They have come up with words that so many of us are at a loss for and have graciously shared them. A Litany Against Gun Violence Composed Following the Robb ...
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Fitting prayer into a busy life can be hard. And it's not just finding time for prayer--it's having peaceful, quiet time to pray. Good news! You don't need quiet and solitude to pray. Okay, there are ways we can be more in tune with how God is speaking to us and more open with our own authentic prayers, but prayer time can be anytime. In fact, the noise and ...
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Jesus, Gentle Healer, our pain is piled on top of pain We've just about done all we can do. We've worn our masks. We got our vaccines. We've kept our distance. We've missed out on so much. We thought we were done. But it keeps coming back. Another cancelled trip. Another missed event. Another season of missed revenue. Another distance learning day. Another friend who is no longer with us. The pile of grief and pain and ...
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We believe in children whose excitement and energy and creativity inspire us all to be more childlike in our lives and in our faith. We believe in teachers and in their call to nurture and educate our children in-person and online. We believe in parents who wake up the kids, fix the lunches, adjust the masks, volunteer at the schools and help with the homework. We believe in friends and co-workers ...
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Note: this prayer is not meant to exclude the unvaccinated. It is to give voice and vocabulary to the frustrations and struggles I am hearing from those who are vaccinated (and am experiencing myself). I believe our prayers are most effective when we can be honest with God and ourselves about what we are thinking and how we are feeling--especially when we wish weren't feeling and thinking those things. God, ...
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May we mindful of the myriad of emotions Mother’s Day stirs up for people we love. Today we pray for moms. We pray for the moms who bake cupcakes, wait in car lines, pack lunches, juggle sports schedules and preside over petty playground squabbles. We pray for the moms who struggle to feed their children, worry for their safety and hope for a better tomorrow. We pray for moms who never intended to ...
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I tried to write a prayer for today--not so much for our leaders, but for our country as a whole. But I found myself writing different words (plagiarizing?) from the prayer of St. Francis of Assisi. So I thought I'd just share the original. It really conveys everything I hope for our country in the days, weeks and years to come. I hope St. Francis will permit me the ...
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