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The Reverend Dr. Katie Snipes Lancaster

God we give ourselves over to you in this, our habit of prayer, and we feel the way in which this moment extends beyond into the lifelong conversation that we’ve been having with you all along.

We admit again, we find ourselves face to face with the powers of this world that are bigger than that which we have control over, and we long to discern your presence and activity in all that befalls us.

We bring mundane and extraordinary to you, Light of Life: the overwhelming joy of new life, in the wild sorrow of unexpected loss, in the push and pull of the office culture which consumes our day, in the unexpected unpredictability of the markets, supply and demand, global politics, the unfolding of far-off war’s impact on our daily lives.

Hold our hopes and worries, and spark within us a creative response.
Let us be grounded, anchored, rooted in your indivisible spirit.
Do not let us languish in isolation, friendless, unassisted, abandoned:
be with us and place the comfort of friends
and the surprise of unexpected guests in our midst,
so that we might be renewed in navigating every challenge, test, trial, and trouble.

We find you when we are knit together in community, the common ancestry of a shared humanity binding us across every difference.

And we take refuge in you when the sun and blue-sky of autumn place us under a canopy of trees, wildly alive with orange-red hues, squirrels scampering by burying acorns for winter.

In this we know that we are in your presence.
In this we are astonished by the gifts we are already receiving from you.
In this our spirits are lifted, renewed, awakened.
For this and more we give you thanks.
For this and more we sing our song of praise.
And we ask that you hear us as we join our voices
in the ancient prayer that unites us: Our Father…. Amen.