Dear All,
This coming week on Tuesday there is a Day of Prayer for all those who have survived sexual abuse so let us pray for them & particularly for those who suffered abuse by people in our churches.
The attachments this week once again remind us we are still in Eastertide but also relate to part of Sunday’s Gospel. John 13.
“A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”
The blessing is ‘May the Mind of Jesus’ from ‘In Tune with Heaven’.
Let’s pray it for those we don’t find easy to love & ask for generosity of heart in their regard, knowing that God created each of us in God’s likeness. It takes a lot to find likeness to God in those we find difficult.
May the mind of Jesus renew my mind.
May the wisdom of Jesus enlighten my thoughts.
May the words of Jesus be in my ears & on my lips.
May the cross of Jesus be my strength.
May the forgiveness of Jesus free me from sin.
May the healing of Jesus bring me to wholeness.
May the peace of Jesus still all my fears.
May the love of Jesus fill my whole being.
May the risen Jesus enrich me with joy, hope & new life.
For those who join us for Evening Prayer, there will be no ‘zoomed’ Evening Prayer on Thursday this coming week – the 19th.
With our love & prayer
The Trouble with Easter
When the light breaks in
at the break of dawn
things get broken.
My fear is shattered, anxiety demolished.
Death and suffering, those fine excuses,
stolen right out from under me.
A hard, crusty way of living, on the defense,
trying to stay one step ahead of loss,
all messed up now.
Into the shadows and their blind alleys
you come with your light, splitting the darkness
wide open.
You rise up out of the grave—sometimes
sneaky slowly, sometimes lurching—
and haul me out, like it or not,
robbed of old ways, that life
we have to leave behind, that safe, familiar life,
into this new, wild, free, scary one.
Steve Garnaas-Holmes
The Hardest Part
The hardest part is people.
so, my God, help me face them
without rancour or disappointment.
Help me see the pain behind their actions
rather than the malice;
the suffering rather than the rage.
And in myself as I struggle
with the vise of my own desire –
give me the strength to quiet my heart,
to quicken my empathy, to act
in gratitude rather than need.
Remind me that the peace I find
in the slow track of seasons
or an uncurling fern frond,
is married to the despair I feel
in the face of nuclear war.
Remind me that each small bird shares atoms
with anthrax, with tetanus, with acid rain,
that each time I close my heart
to another, I add to the darkness;
Help me always follow kindness.
Let this be my prayer.
Karen Holden
A Prayer
In the twisting, turning, and tumbling of everyday comings and goings,
in the joys and sorrows that visit me,
may my love deepen and expand.
In the voices of people who have become central in my heart,
who tame the rough edges of my hidden self,
may my love deepen and expand.
In the faces of strangers and passers-by, in each human
whose spirit joins invisibly with my own,
may my love deepen and expand.
In the lonely, distraught, and disdained persons longing to be
respected and treated compassionately,
may my love deepen and expand.
In the unity that resides among everything that exists upon
and within this beloved planet we call “our Earth,”
may my love deepen and expand.
In the moments when the truth of my inherent goodness reveals itself
and sends me forth to be kind to others,
may my love deepen and expand.
In the silent prayer of my heart when I pause to be in deliberate relationship with you—the Holy One who guides my life,
may my love deepen and expand.
In graced situations when the truth of my unfinishedness
and the lack of being all I could be comes to greet me,
may my love deepen and expand.
In the motivation found inside the journey of Jesus, his compassionate life,
and the generous way he responded to others,
may my love deepen and expand.
In the heartbeat of hope coming from stories of the Risen Christ,
a steady Light-filled presence living on within me,
may my love deepen and expand.
In this moment, this day, this place, this time, this body that is mine,
when I repeatedly open my mind and heart to you,
may my love deepen and expand.
Joyce Rupp