December 8, 2021

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Eternal God–
parent, child, and spirit–
to whom a day is like 1,000 years,
teach us patience
teach us presence
teach us to see and know and love
the people all around us,
teach us to recognize
that we are bound together
because then, maybe then,
we would begin to live as you do:
in communion.

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2 Peter 3:8 Don’t overlook the obvious here, friends. With God, one day is as good as a thousand years, a thousand years as a day.

Ephesians 4:5-6 You have one Master, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who rules over all, works through all, and is present in all. Everything to are and think and do is permeated with Oneness.

December 4, 2021

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Word of God,
let us come to you when we have no words
when the world in all its brokenness, nonsense, injustice and horror
overwhelms us.
Let us come to you
so that your word
can fill us up
with
prayer
petition
hope
and right action.

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John 1-5:
The Word was first,
the Word present to God,
God present to the Word.
The Word was God,
in readiness for God from day one.

Everything was created through him;
nothing–not one thing!–
came into being without him.
What came into existence was Life,
and the Life was Light to live by.
The Life-Light blazed out of the darkness;
the darkness couldn’t put it out.

November 30, 2021

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Creator of darkness and night,
of crickets and quiet,
of moon and stars and cool breezes through cracked windows,
God of rest and restoration,
we ask for your respite tonight.
We ask for rest for our bodies, hearts, minds and souls
we ask for your peace
because we need to know
that we are held in your goodness and grace–
because true rest is found in you.

Genesis 1: 16-19
God made two bight lights, the larger
to take charge of Day,
the smaller to be in charge of Night;
and he made the stars.
God placed them in the heavenly sky
to light up Earth
and oversee Day and Night,
to separate light and dark.
God saw that it was good.
It was evening, it was morning–
Day Four.

November 26, 2020

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Jesus,
you told the world the truth,
and most of the world did not understand
and crucified you for it.
Help us to act and love
from the truth we know in our hearts,
even when no one understands,
for that is your way
and your life.

John 14:6
I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

November 20, 2022

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All expansive God,
there is no corner or crag
hidden from your care and love.
Help us to live open and expansive lives
welcoming in all that would come our way,
seeking out your will,
and all that would help us to live
as you have called us to live,
for that is the example you have given us.

Psalm 36: 5-6
God’s love is meteoric,
His love astronomic,
His purpose titanic,
His verdicts oceanic.
Yet is His largeness
nothing gets lost;
Not a man, not a mouse,
slips through the cracks.

2 Corinthians 6: 11-13
Dear, dear Corinthians, I can’t tell you how much I long for you to enter this wide-open, spacious life. We didn’t fence you in. The smallness you feel comes from within you. Your lives aren’t small, but you’re living them in a small way. I’m speaking as plain as I can and with great affection. Open up your lives. Live openly and expansively!

November 18, 2021

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Our creator
who made something out of nothing,
we pray that you would fill
the voids in our hearts.
Meet us in our grief and yearning
because, though it’s often hidden from us,
you are the deep desire behind the desire.
You are wholeness and home.

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Psalm 63:1
O God, you are my God, earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you, my body longs for you, in a dry and weary land where there is no water.

November 16, 2021

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All perfect one,
you do not call us toward perfection,
but toward faith.
Help us to cease striving for perfection
and instead trust
that your love is enough–
because your love is enough.

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2 Corinthians 12:9
But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.

November 13, 2021

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Father of lights,
One who delights in your children,
thank your for blessing us with the children in our lives–
the wonderful, wiggly, curious, stubborn, playful, infuriating, irrational, original, loving,
little people created in your image.
Teach us to parent, grandparent, aunt/uncle, and friend them well.
Guide us in love
because they are yours.

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James 1:16-17: So, my very dear friends, don’t get thrown off course. Every desirable and beneficial gift comes out of heaven. The gifts are rivers of light cascading down from the Father of Light.

Psalm 149: 1-4:
Hallelujah!
Sing to God a brand new song,
praise him the company of all who
love him.
Let all Israel celebrate their Sovereign
Creator.
Zion’s children exult in their King.
Let them praise his name in dance;
Strike up the band and make great music!
And why? Because God delights in his
people;
adorns plain folk with salvation
garlands!

November 6, 2021

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Creator of all, eternal life-source,
may you dwell within us.
May our lives become your well traveled roads.
May our unique and individual selves
be your congested highways and interstates at rush hour,
your boisterous city streets busting with activity,
your quiet country roads and residential cul de sacs,
your well-trod hiking trails and new trails blazed through the brush–
so that
you presence
your work
your glory
your justice
your grace
may be in full view.
Teach us to be roads and paths of you,
open to blazing a trail in whatever direction you choose,
for your map is true, and your destination:
love.

Psalm 84: 5-7
And how blessed all those in whom you
live,
whose lives become roads you travel;
They wind through lonesome valleys,
upon brooks,
discover cool springs and pools brimming
with rain!
God-traveled, these roads curve up the
mountains, and
at the last turn–Zion! God in full view!