The Reverend Dr. William A. Evertsberg

Blessed are you Crown of Winter, you who whisper promises across the blistering cold. You grant gifts of stillness and snowflake without, fireplace within, shelter above, and your own near presence alongside. 

Thank you for gifts beyond counting: For keeping us safe from the elements, from vectors of illness, from falling on the ice, from want, from hunger, from boredom, from loneliness.  

In days like these we become aware as never before how much our lives depend on the courage, industry, honesty, and integrity of our fellow citizens. Thank you for the tireless compassion of our medical professionals, the shrewd science of the farmers who provide our food, the efficiency of the vendors who deliver to us the things we need to flourish. May we be mindful of their needs, grateful for their loyalty, and faithful in our responsibilities to them.

Divine Liberator, we pray for peace in Eastern Europe. Protect the innocent. Remove aggression from the heart of the imperialist, and grant crafty diplomacy to the negotiators. The Hebrew prophets declared that you shall judge between many peoples, and arbitrate between strong nations far away, so that erstwhile warriors shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks, so that nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.

Source of Every Mercy, some of our friends face dire straits. Gather them in to your gracious safekeeping. We pray for our friend Jeanne—faithful chorister, beloved friend, dedicated teacher, lifelong learner. We barely know what plea to pray at an hour such as this, but you know what is right for her life. If a sad farewell be imminent, we will weep our tears but also choir the proper praise for all in her, which was good, and kind, and faithful and gentle. We are grateful that our various paths crossed hers for a time, each in our several ways.

There are others among us who need an extraordinary measure of your grace just now. Sometimes it seems like there are a lot of others. We pray for our friend David facing serious illness. Inspire his physicians to discover a therapy that will work for him. 

All these thanksgivings and petitions we offer to the throne of grace in the strong name of Jesus our Lord, who taught us to pray…Our Father…. Amen.