Holy and Redeeming God,
I want to bask in the glow of Easter Sunday a while longer.
I want to believe that things are miraculously better in this world you created.
I want, long for, and hope for your presence to rain down and water my weary soul.
I look around and find there are still struggles and trials in the world seemingly unchanged by your resurrection power. Even so, there is reason for hope.
God who walks with me in all of life, help me to sense your presence, even as I work to infuse your wholeness and healing into hurting spaces.
Keep me aware, Ever-present God, of the challenges and triumphs in the world around me:
- The intense fighting in and around Khartoum, Sudan, as the army headquarters and airport are under attack.
- The families and friends of the seven murdered and others seriously injured after a shooting at a pool in Mexico City, Mexico.
- The hundreds of families in Columbia who are facing the devastating choice to abandon their homes and livelihoods or face the devastation of a predicted volcanic eruption in the coming weeks.
- The families and friends of the 29 people who died in a hospital fire in Bejing, China.
- All the people, animals, and habitats facing Cyclone Ilsa as it makes landfall in Australia with record-breaking wind speeds.
- The 1200 immigrants encountering dangerous sea conditions in the Mediterranean that Italy’s Coast Guard is escorting.
- The success of, and continued need for, conservation efforts that have helped the tiger population in India more than double in the last 15 years.
Keep me aware, God, of the needs and successes of others, even as the tasks of the day swirl around me, buffeting me, calling for my undivided attention. Fix my gaze on you, Creator, Redeemer, and Sustainer, so that all I do is filtered through your grace and mercy.
Amen.
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