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By Jess Wall,
prayed during Family Worship on Sunday, 8/7 Dear Lord, We come before you in all states. Some of us are rested and healing, while others are strung out and bone tired. Some of us are sitting comfortable and infant-like at your feet, and some of us are wandering a spiritual wilderness, wondering if we’re even in your eye-line. Some of us are buoyed by good news, and some of us are bowed with a broken heart. And many of us are sitting in the complexity of joy tempered by sorrow, or sorrow tempered by joy. Thank you for being the God who is present with us in all seasons, who has a place for us in every state. We come before you this morning on the brink of transition. We are anticipating the return of students to campus, of teachers and learners to classrooms, of minds to work, of hearts to new and renewed relationships. God, we recognize that with any change in our lives there arises the fear of the unknown, and in the face of fear, we desperately try to catalog what we can control. While we teeter at summer’s end, we want to do so with open hands. Thank you for being a God who thwarts the purposes of people. Thank you for being the God whose plans alone stand firm forever. We come before you this morning as children before a father. Thank you for lifting up our chins and reminding us of our potential, made in your image. We are both humbled and convicted by the trust that you have placed in each of us to do good works in your name. As we sit here in all states of being, on the brink of transition, we do not sit alone. We are not “only children” but a many-siblinged family. Thank you for being the God who created the ultimate community. We pray that while we prepare for what comes next, we may also be present to attend to the hurts and hopes of the people in this room here and now. So many of the personal prayers we pray can be answered through others in this room — companionship in loneliness, wisdom in face of hard decisions, comfort in heartbreak, generosity in the face of scarcity. We pray for the eyes to see the opportunities to love better within this safe hearth, so that we may be strengthened as a community to lift our eyes outward this coming fall. In Jesus’ name, Amen |
About our spirituality blog:Our congregation is full of incredible, thoughtful people who love Jesus and reflect deeply on the work of God's Spirit in the world. These posts are written by members of all ages. Some of them are thoughts shared during a worship service, and others are reflections written specifically for this blog. We hope you enjoy getting to know each other in a small way through these posts!
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