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The Reverend Dr. Katie Snipes Lancaster

I carry now ten thousand prayers
to your throne of grace:
a thank you for the wide
“flock of colours” (John O’Donohue)
that folded night into day,
a thank you for this staggering stretch of life
received as gift,
a thank you that on this day,
we awaken to this absurd beauty,
a thank you for the plenty and peace
I find again
when I stop whatever I’m doing.
Clarity reveals an abundance.
Beauty spills out.
Another breath fills my lungs.
A kind of peace reaches that deep down place.

Open unto us comfort and solace
when the rough edges of the world
bruise and break us.
For the days when I need your consolation,
when I need you to bear the weight of the world,
when our hearts spill out with worry and need,
be with us.

At times, our grief does not (cannot)
decay and disappear,
but is only rearranged.
“The ghost of loss” (John O’Donohue) follows.
Let the broken pieces fall gently.
Let there be a soft landing place for our tears.
Let us find a fluency,
an articulate eloquence,
for the sorrow I hold and the sorrow you hold,
so that we might understand each other
across the distance and find rest.

Be my rock and home, O God.
Let something of your presence shelter me.
Rearrange my worry.
Find me.
Hold me.
Open my eyes,
for though we never have enough days,
we still have enough.

Hear the prayers of our hearts,
spoken in the depths of our being,
and hear us as we pray the prayer
Jesus teaches us saying: Our Father…. Amen.PHA+Jm5ic3A7PC9wPg==

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