Day 363
Tuesday, October 31, 2023

Scripture

And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people.  —Ephesians 6:18

Wisdom

This is for anyone who feels breathless. Maybe moving through this world, in your body, is enough to make you feel constriction in your chest. Maybe you’re holding someone close to you who is struggling and suffering. Maybe you are reeling from the latest mass shooting, or the refugee crisis at the border, or the looming threat of climate change, or the blistering pace of a global pandemic. Maybe like me, you’re breathless from all of the above. I thought my breathlessness was a sign of weakness, until a wise friend told me what I wish to tell you: Your breathlessness is a sign of your bravery. It means you are awake to what’s happening right now: The world is in transition. —Valarie Kaur, See No Stranger: A Memoir and Manifesto of Revolutionary Love

Prayer

For the latest this or that which has unfolded just now, which consumes my consciousness and holds sway over my worry, let there be peace, let there be bold action, let there be a way through. And in the seasons where it all causes me to hold my breath, let me be in tune with my body, aware that you are building something new within me so that I might breathe, so that I might act, so that I might awaken to the possibilities before me. Give me a way. Amen. —The Reverend Dr. Katie Snipes Lancaster