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The Reverend Dr. Katie Snipes Lancaster

Summon us to prayer O God. Give me the breath in my body as an ever-present reminder to give thanks. Let your presence dawn again in our midst. As our minds wander from this to that circumstance in our life, let us cover it all with praise, let us hold every person and situation as a treasure, beloved. Let your presence arise amid all of this, regardless. Hide us in the mystery of your love. Shelter and protect us and those we love.

For we have been combing our minds for meaning, and the abundance of fragile love has turned us toward praise. The simplicity of morning—sunrise and birdsong—calls us to attention. The clarity of daybreak showers us with gratitude. The commonplace sparrows and seagulls zoom and streak past, reminding us that the world is alive with beauty duplicated and multiplied.

We call on you because we see you at the core of this ordinary beauty, and because you are in the whisper and deep sigh of life. When the day dawns more muddy than clear, we are primed to shelter in your presence. When the absurdity of yesterday and last week and last year makes us feel off-kilter, primed for aching sorrow instead of deep joy, we trust you, we need you to move from the periphery to the center, we long for you to inundate us with your presence. So we hand over to you our worries O God. We hand over our sorrows and grief. We hand over those we love, our very tenderness embodied. We invite you into all that seems to defy our expectations for this life. Help us to hold sacred the path ahead, trusting that more life, more love, more gentleness will come.

We pray for those we love and know and hold most dear, and we pray for people and places across the globe, that your presence might be made known in places where war rises unexpectedly, or where violence continues predictably. Establish justice. Bring peace. Bear forth renewal and possibility. Set your incarnate presence in the midst of the hardest situations. And let us, your people be called to participate in your vision of love and peace in the world.

Our Father…Amen.PHA+Jm5ic3A7PC9wPg==

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