Let Us Pray: For Everything Else

As I emerge from my writing hermitage, and run smack into the realities of daily life, I am reminded that, in the midst of overwhelming global and national events, we must not ignore the tender places in our lives that continue to need our attention.

Let Us Pray . . .

God of the swirling chaos,
With strife and suffering surrounding us
With terror and violence taunting us
With despair and desperation laying claim to our spirits.
God, we cannot hold everything all at once
Because we are barely holding on to everything else —

For loved ones who are struggling with health:
mental, emotional, and physical.

For relationships that need time to be tended:
family, work, and friends.

For the things we often never share:
our heartaches, our diagnoses, and our anxieties.

For the parts of ourselves that seek liberation:
creation, curiosity, and rest.

For the daily frustrations of life
For the things that never take a break
For everything else, we lift these all to you.

God, remind us that we need not hold everything on our own.
Grant us the humility to believe this to be true.
Allow us the wisdom to know when and how to hold the struggles of others.
And bring our collective spirit calm out of the chaos of the day.

For all of these things we pray.

AMEN.

It is my intention to offer a prayer every Thursday as my own spiritual discipline, addressing an event or issue of the day. For paid subscribers and last-minute worship planners, I'll soon include a few liturgical resources and sermon prompts based on the week's readings from the Revised Common Lectionary. If there is anything I can offer that might be helpful, please let me know.

Peace,