Glimpses of God’s Love

“And the time comes one morning when you wake up and find that you have become irrevocably what you were preparing all this time to be.”

Katherine Anne Porter

I do not know if this is true for others, but for me, the older I get the more my life makes sense. I understand myself a bit more and can give myself a tiny dose of compassion and empathy around the choices I made that are, perhaps, regrettable.

Although I do not know if it is true, I feel the hands of God on my timeline. I sense his presence and even intervention. Rarely was this apparent in real time.

As I age I think less about what I might mess up and more about what I will miss if I fail to pay attention. I feel far less pressure to perform because I have lost all confidence in my ability to control.

There is peace in this. My prayer for us -

God, help us to believe in your presence even when we cannot feel it. Help us to trust in you even when we do not understand you. Give us glimpses of your love for us so that we might carry on with courage.

Amen

Moments of Merriment

Just as water mirrors your face, so your face mirrors your heart.

Proverbs 27:19

Let’s pray!

Father, grant us the awareness of our face and what it shows the world. May we show kindness and grace and mercy. May we find moments of merriment. And if on this day our heart is sagging a bit, maybe our face can remind our heart to sing again.

Father, our face counts. It affects others. May we be mindful of what our face is telling those we love, and Father, if at all possible, may we be a bit of sunshine in the life of someone else.

Amen

May you stand close to someone today who feels like sunshine!

A Prayer For When It’s Too Much…

Some days are just TOO MUCH! Too much arguing, too much paranoia and suspicion, too many labels and judgments. TOO MUCH! When those days hit me full in the face, I often grow withdrawn and silent. Prayer seems like a thing other people do. When this happens to me, I turn to the scriptures. Inevitably I find a passage that matches my state of mind. If the pandemic and political unrest feel like TOO MUCH - here is a psalm that soothes me into prayer. It reminds me that God is listening even if he is silent. God has habits I can count on - inevitable, true things about God - that I can trust in, even if I lose trust in everything else. Let us pray...

Help, God—I’ve hit rock bottom! Master, hear my cry for help!

Listen hard! Open your ears! Listen to my cries for mercy.

If you, God, kept records on wrongdoings, who would stand a chance?

As it turns out, forgiveness is your habit, and that’s why you’re worshiped.

I pray to God—my life a prayer—and wait for what he’ll say and do.

My life’s on the line before God, my Lord,waiting and watching till morning, waiting and watching till morning.

O Israel, wait and watch for God— with God’s arrival comes love, with God’s arrival comes generous redemption.

No doubt about it—he’ll redeem Israel, buy back Israel from captivity to sin.

Psalm 130, The Message

A Prayer for Us as We Navigate Life…

Lord, may I be at peace.

Father, may my heart remain open.

Holy Spirit, guide me as I seek to know myself, experience healing, and draw near to you.

Grant that I might be a source of healing for others.

Even as I am grateful to those who support my healing.

Amen.

A Pause…

“Every action you take is a vote for the type of person you wish to become.”

James Clear

For today, let’s take a pause and consider our vote in light of our faith - our certain way of seeing.

Be still, and know that I am God.

Psalm 46:10 NIV

Let’s pray.

Father, how often we get caught up in our own certainty; our visions and dreams of the future; our schedule and routines; our insecurities and our creature comforts. Today, in homage to you, I sit. I breathe. I pray.

May your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

May it bear fruit in my life.

Amen