Meditation/prayer for 2018-10-21 based on lectionary reading Mark 10:35-45

Spirit of Endless Love

Who is with us in all things, who knows our thoughts and our desires, those things we are afraid of, and those things we hope for:

We are here with you today in hopes of finding our way through the week ahead of us.  We have been challenged by events and persons of the week gone by, and admit in this quiet space that we are at times overwhelmed by the enormity of this pressure. 

Some of us have experienced unfamiliar feelings in response to a changing world.  Some of us have taken on new ways of managing our lives, responding to outside forces that we can’t seem to control.  We brace our bodies against the weight of these changes, these obligations, and look to You this day for guidance, for solace, for understanding of our condition.

 We who are created in your image are yet imperfect in the way that we live out your vision.  We see others around us who are self-centered, or unaware of others.  We notice those who have abundant resources to meet their own lifestyle, yet unwilling to share a small amount to help the needs of others.  We find many among us are like those ancient tyrants, who want to lord it over everyone, and strain to be thought of as the greatest or the best. 

We catch ourselves measuring ourselves against these accomplishments of power and control, oh God, despite our awareness that these mean nothing in your eyes.  We forget that you have called us with the example of your Son and his ultimate sacrifice, that in an imperfect world we are to be servants of all. 

Help us to remember the reason that we are placed on this earth is to love one another, to cherish and support each other in times of trouble and the challenges of life.  Give us the awareness of our selves as instruments of your peace, and not some goal of money and success.  For we see so many among us who are your children in need, so many who do not have the resources to face the challenges that overwhelm them.  In our imperfect world help us become the instrument of your loving presence, that all might know that You are with us in all things, at all times, into eternity.

For we ask this in the Name of your Son, Jesus, our Strength and our Redeemer.  Amen.