Prayer for Strength to Do Justice (adapted from Psalm 104)
O Lord our God, you are honorable and majestic, surrounded by all good things.
You have stretched out the heavens to cover us,
set the sunbeams on the waters to warm us,
and blown sweet winds to refresh us.
When life feels shaky and everything is uncertain,
you stand by me.
You fill my life with hope.
You make water flow in the oceans,
filling up rivers and springs.
You even make mountains to stop the waters from covering all.
You give grass to the cattle,
sunlight to the trees, seeds for the birds.
Give me also all that I need.
Lord you know I think I need things, money and position,
Help me to see what is truly good:
share with me the provisions for life,
the intimacy of friends and family,
the strength to seek your good,
the power of your Holy Spirit.
When you send forth your Spirit, life is created.
You renew all things from the ground to the living creatures to the skies.
Our prayer is that all things bring you joy, God of love.
Make us part of your work.
Cleanse our hearts from sin into pure love,
Attune our energy to the needy crying out for mercy
Make our soul gentle and full of your justice,
Make our souls firm and full of your compassion.
When I have no answer, send me your wisdom.
For you came and walked with us, teaching, and healing and loving.
Do not stop now but remain with us, teach and heal and love.
Bless you, O, Lord
I will sing to you as long as I have breath
Praise you with all of my being.
Praise you, O, Lord
- Audrey Krumbach
Tuesday, May 19, 2009
Monday, May 04, 2009
“There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear…” - I John 4:18
Back in October I wrote this post for another blog... Someone commented on it today so I had a chance to go back and re-read it. Wow. Definitely something I needed to hear and remind myself about again. Just one piece of this gigantic Twilight Zone puzzle I've been dealing with this past week. Hope you all enjoy it too.
POST:
I don’t know about many of you, but it is really easy to be scared these days. In a world where war is not just something happening between nations across the ocean but between neighbors down the street, it’s easy to fall into a pattern of hiding under the blanket with our headphones and books, blocking out the world. How do we live a life of love when all around us Wall Street crises threaten our financial security, the divorce rate is at least half the rate of those getting married in a given year, and over 67% of Americans in 2006 were unhappy in their job situation? These American statistics and events give a brief glimpse into many of the social issues plaguing our world. Living a life of love means living a life without fear, living a life fully dependent on God’s goodness and mercy, living with complete trust that God will provide and protect.
John’s letter continues to say that fear has to do with punishment, so one who fears is not perfect in love. John hits it right on the nose - we punish ourselves by being afraid. We paralyze ourselves, and don’t believe in our true goodness and our limitless potential. We do not trust that God can work miracles, move mountains, and do all manner of great things in and through us by his perfect love. But humans are flawed. We try to do so much on our own. We try to be the strong ones, the brave ones, the intelligent ones, and we try to do this all on our own. We do not understand that setting high expectations is good, but counting on ourselves alone to achieve them is only going to set us up for failure. By committing ourselves to follow in God’s footsteps, we will not fail. We will continually be working for his greater glory, whether there are setbacks or detours or a straight-arrow path!
I didn’t meant to get so philosophical. I am not the most up-to-date on current events, but I do come across questions and quotes like this that get me thinking about society and how people, especially young adults, live and think and interact. We’re all about questioning and searching - trying to identify our life’s ambition, trying to figure out what we want to do with our lives and where God fits in. If we weren’t seekers, we wouldn’t be God’s people, striving to live a life of love.
POST:
I don’t know about many of you, but it is really easy to be scared these days. In a world where war is not just something happening between nations across the ocean but between neighbors down the street, it’s easy to fall into a pattern of hiding under the blanket with our headphones and books, blocking out the world. How do we live a life of love when all around us Wall Street crises threaten our financial security, the divorce rate is at least half the rate of those getting married in a given year, and over 67% of Americans in 2006 were unhappy in their job situation? These American statistics and events give a brief glimpse into many of the social issues plaguing our world. Living a life of love means living a life without fear, living a life fully dependent on God’s goodness and mercy, living with complete trust that God will provide and protect.
John’s letter continues to say that fear has to do with punishment, so one who fears is not perfect in love. John hits it right on the nose - we punish ourselves by being afraid. We paralyze ourselves, and don’t believe in our true goodness and our limitless potential. We do not trust that God can work miracles, move mountains, and do all manner of great things in and through us by his perfect love. But humans are flawed. We try to do so much on our own. We try to be the strong ones, the brave ones, the intelligent ones, and we try to do this all on our own. We do not understand that setting high expectations is good, but counting on ourselves alone to achieve them is only going to set us up for failure. By committing ourselves to follow in God’s footsteps, we will not fail. We will continually be working for his greater glory, whether there are setbacks or detours or a straight-arrow path!
I didn’t meant to get so philosophical. I am not the most up-to-date on current events, but I do come across questions and quotes like this that get me thinking about society and how people, especially young adults, live and think and interact. We’re all about questioning and searching - trying to identify our life’s ambition, trying to figure out what we want to do with our lives and where God fits in. If we weren’t seekers, we wouldn’t be God’s people, striving to live a life of love.
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