Last Sunday we wondered with Hannah if God would ever come through, and with the disciples if all the calamity Jesus predicted would ever amount to any good. Out of despair comes many frustrations, but also many new gifts. Here’s a prayer for transformation and for hope, whatever your circumstances might be this week.
Lord, beset with turmoil within and without, still we come to you full of thanks. Despite our despair, our deep and dark nights of worry, inspite of the terror and tragedies that have shaped us, you have not abandoned us. You have called forth strength; you have marshaled the angels in our need, and have brought morning light to days we never thought would dawn. We are not unscathed, we are not unscarred. You know our wounds and bruised places of the spirit. But we are also not destroyed. You hand upholds us, your word transforms us, your Love redeems us. Whenever the time or the hour, however our end shall come, or the end of the world should unfold, we pray to be born from despair to light and living. Knowing what it is to be wounded, let us strive to heal others. Knowing what it is to lose, help us help others “find.” Knowing what it is to cry in the night, transform our weeping to the comfort of all who mourn. With your transforming love, transform even our failures, fractures, and feuds, that we may come home rejoicing, thoughtful and thankful, bringing home the sheaves of grace gathered even from the fields of despair.
–Rev. Kent
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