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The Reverend Christine V. Hides

Everlasting God of life and love, you are our beginning and our end. You are the deep well of love that satisfies our deepest need for belonging. In you we find companionship; your spirit lives and dwells among us. You desire every goodness for us, your children.

As spring bursts forth, you are making everything new. 

We awaken to the songbirds’ tune, eager to greet our neighbors on our walks,

Where crabapples, lilacs, and redbuds bloom with your glory

And you lead us to the shaded places where treasures of mayapples and jack in the pulpits are hidden.

And so we ask you to continue to form us in grace, to recreate us in love, that we might desire every goodness for our neighbors, as you desire every blessing for us all. Knowing your steadfast love and your desire for the entirety of creation, knowing that you are merciful, just, and compassionate, we can bring every concern to you.

For those who hunger, bring relief. We pray especially for the shortage of baby formula and for foster parents with strict guidelines frantically driving from store to store to feed those in their care. We pray for food and the communal desire for change so that the 17 million hungry children in the US and close to 6 million around the globe at risk of starvation be fed.

We pray for justice for those who await and receive court decisions which impact their ability to live and thrive as the people you created them to be. Restore checks and balances where those in power have overstepped. Renew our commitment to use our knowledge for the flourishing of humanity and your creation.

We cry out to you O God, for an end to gun violence. We ask that you draw near the loved ones of those killed yesterday in Buffalo. Send your helpers to tend to the trauma of racial violence. When mass shootings occur daily, we cannot help but cry out, “how long, O Lord. How long until the tools of war are surrendered?”

For our neighbors in Evanston and far too many other places where symbols of hate and evil are left in public spaces we pray for your love and grace to transform hearts and to create communities of peace where all are welcome. 

We hold close in our hearts those who endure chronic illness and pain, shocking diagnoses, multiple surgeries, and accidents. May your faithful presence make a way for strength, comfort, and healing as we long for the day when pain will be no more.  

Everlasting God, God of life and love, you are our beginning and our end. As you continue to bring your vision of this world into reality, inspire us to lifelong discipleship, a commitment to love without reservation as you command, by your spirit guide us to follow the way of Jesus Christ who teaches us to pray…

Our Father…Amen.