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The Reverend Christine V. Hides

God of Grandeur, how majestic is your name through the earth; your glory higher than heaven (Psalm 8).
The greening world around us a “translation of life’s tenacity” into grace.
The “perfect contrast” of sky and ridgerock a wordless testament to your peace.
The “bisecting arcs and pitches” of migrating birds a dance of divine joy.

You give us this moment and the next and the next,
“Voids which we are free to fill,”
these “singularly glorious gifts.”

And so we fill each moment, searching for glimpses of grandeur in the grit of everyday life:
The beautiful bouquet delivered to a recovering neighbor,
The scent of clean-snapped sheets as we care for the ones we love,
A friendly hand extended as we lug our laptops to work,
The warm embrace of a knitted blanket as we settle in to binge the next show,
The poem or prayer that arrives in our grief
The experience of giving and receiving mothering love, that tender, self-giving care among the deepest yearnings of our heart.

For these among “10,000 definitions of the divine” and more, the infinite moments of grandeur that grace the gritty, everyday moments, we are truly grateful.
You care for your people; you pay attention to our humanity. Every moment you meet us; Christ’s abiding love is present with us in our homes, our communities, and in the care extended from this congregation. And so we trust you with the closest cares and concerns of our hearts:

We ask your blessing upon those for whom this day is joyful and for those for whom this day is tender beyond words; and for those members named and unnamed who weave a wonderful web of congregational care.

We ask for your healing and strength for those who are ill, facing surgery, awaiting diagnosis, and recovering; and for those who await reconciliation with loved ones.

We ask for your peace, especially for the Ukraine, for an end to war, and for all those displaced to find safe haven until they may return home. And we ask that your deepest peace and wisdom be upon all those you have entrusted to care for your creation, for the skies and oceans, for the sandpiper and the salamander, the wild animals, whales and creatures of the deep, and every living thing, that life might continue to thrive on this planet for generations to come.

Holy God of grace and grandeur, you are our Easter hope, our Lord and our light, our shepherd and savior. With the company of heaven and earth we praise your holy name and entrust our lives to you, through Jesus Christ who teaches us to pray…Our Father…Amen.

End Note

Quotes are from the poem, “The Greatest Grandeur” by Pattiann Rogers