“I will create a pathway in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.” Isaiah 43:19
Beloved Holy One,
Amidst the muted roar of nighttime and early morning traffic on highways, the stench of diesel and gasoline, the noise of human living, You are here. YOU ARE. Praise be!
Whatever our situation – in town, village, city, desert or on the high sea, in peacefulness or war – calm us, Lord, as you calmed the storm, and help us to rest in Your holiness and wholeness.
Be still, for the presence of the Lord, the holy One, is here;
Come bow before him now with reverence and fear
In him no sin is found we stand on holy ground.
Be still, for the presence of the Lord, the holy One, is here.
We read of war, and rumor of wars, in Syria, Iraq, Somalia, the West Bank, Egypt, Afghanistan, Ukraine, the sad litany seems endless as does the suffering of our brothers and sisters… Might as ever tries to inflict its right over all who differ from them … We name before you Meriam Ibrahim and her family currently released for a second time in Sudan and all who are suffering fear and persecution whatever their faith or none.
We hold before you in sorrow so many young people being deceived by false teachings to lose all sight of love, peace and compassion.
You are our suffering Lord and even in the darkest place, your inextinguishable Light and Love offers hope and release. Be very close to all who suffer in body, mind or spirit, and hear our soul-deep cry to lighten the darkness around so many of us.
Be still, for the glory of the Lord is shining all around;
He burns with holy fire, with splendour he is crowned
How awesome is the sight our radiant king of light!
Be still, for the glory of the Lord is shining all around.
Beloved Holy One, we give unbounded thanks and praise for so many unsung folk, young and old, rich and poor who unstintingly day in and day out love, care and enable so many others around them to survive and even develop their potential. Bless them, multiply their work so it becomes like an unstoppable tide of love and life throughout the world.
We give thanks for the beauty all around us, if we can only open our eyes to see, our ears to hear and our senses to perceive. My latest teacher is a small long-tailed bird who sings and goes ahead of me and seemingly checking I am following – every time I cut through the garden here at Burnham Abbey near Windsor, UK. This small house of prayer, beneath a flight path to Heathrow Airport, shines out like a beacon not due to its size but because each person here is seeking, however imperfectly, as are we all, to unite with Your heart.
May each one of us grow ever closer to You, today and all our todays however many or few they may be. Help us to become the persons You have created us to be in You, through You and for You.”
Be still, for the power of the Lord is moving in this place:
He comes to cleanse and heal, to minister his grace
– No work too hard for Him. In faith receive from him.
Be still, for the power of the Lord is moving in this place.
We ask this in and through the power of Your Holy Name, AMEN.
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