A Mid-Week Prayer

Here in this mid-week, as school starts up again with a mix of trepidation and excitement, and we all witness the disturbing news from across the planet,
I offer this prayer:
 
Holy One,
There are many things to pray for now.
We could pray:
For parents searching the rubble in Haiti…
For parents hiding their children from the Taliban…
For parents whose home is now ash, inaccessible
because the roads are shut down,
or taken away because of eviction or repossession…
For parents sending their children to school because it is the choice between the risk of physical health and the certainty of mental health…
And, we could pray:
For those who work the disasters…
For the diplomats and aid workers
trying to bring peace in the midst of war…
For the myriad of healthcare workers in hospitals
and clinics begging for some sanity from the public
as they scrounge for beds and relief…
For the staff and teachers making the best plans they can with their hands tied and crossing their fingers while they go about doing what they always do
— put children first.
 
We pray for our children, and for the children of others.
We pray that we could become less concerned with our own “freedom” and more concerned with the well-being of others.
We pray that you would bring us peace, O God, and also that we would do the things that make for peace.
 
We pray for all of these things, and more.
We pray because there must be more
than the frustration and anger.
We pray because there are things we cannot change,
but that doesn’t change our desire for change.
We pray because in this time in which so many choices are in front of us…
we choose hope.
So let us pray.
And then we’ll do what we can, where we are, with what we have.
Amen.
 
 
Our best hopes and prayers go with students, faculty and staff as schools start,
with healthcare workers in month 18 of this pandemic,
and with all of those here and around the world in crisis.
 
Blessings to you all.
 
Pastor Chris