In the midst of doing hard things, hard times can come and come heavy. God often works through surprising communities of care in those circumstances and speaks in, through, and around the sound and fury of other, even demonic, voices. Here is the prayer written by Rev. Kent and offered so graciously by worship leader the Rev. Dr. Hazel Morris:
In the silences and the furies of living, still you are there, Holy One. Threaded in among all the calls and challenges, yours is the voice of healing, yours is the call to just action, you are the holder of the broken pieces. As we name our hurt places, our stuck places, our places of worry or loneliness, guilt, or shame or doubt: be with us.
We need the balm of Gilead to still the frenzied voices in our heads, and like the deer yearn for clear water, we yearn for the reminder of work that is more important than our tired and tiresome struggles. We are the children of a Great God, and from those who have much, much will be expected. We are the reminders of one who conquered even death, and so from deathly problems can come living, loving answers to our pains. Heal and hold your people, Lord, whatever those pains may be. Comfort us in this community of care, and center us in the joys and delights of our lives. Send us to work, even when we don’t want to go, and through you, may we who are weak, wounded, confounded and confused build the peace of Christ in our souls and in the hearts of those who meet us. We may have many voices, but we are one in you, O Lord, One in the spirit of a living Christ…. Who taught us to reach to you as our Mother, our Maker, and our Father who art in heaven… (continue with the Lord’s prayer). –Kent Gilbert
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