Reflection “In examining disease, we gain wisdom about anatomy and physiology and biology. In examining the person with disease, we gain wisdom about life.” –Oliver W. Sacks Prayer Personal God, As we strive to extend your healing

Prayer

Personal God,

As we strive to extend your healing compassion in the world today, we boldly ask you to bless us with greater skill and wisdom in treating the diseases that rob so many of wholeness. At the same time, we pray you would bless us with the even more creativity and insight, that we might integrate all we have learned within the whole-person approach to care that makes us unique. May we see our patients and their families in all their depth and learn from their wisdom, even as we commit to providing the highest quality care. Amen.

Reflection “Many of us have been running all our lives. Practice stopping.” –Thich Nhat Hanh Prayer Gracious rest, We run in so many ways and in so many directions. From the past and from our mistakes and almost aways just to mak

Prayer

Gracious rest,

We run in so many ways and in so many directions. From the past and from our mistakes and almost aways just to make it through the busyness of our days. Yet whatever our reasons, help us to find the healing rest that comes from learning to stop. Stopping so we can live more fully within each precious moment we’ve been given. For the sake of those we have the privilege of serving as much as ourselves, help us all grow deeper in the peace that comes from truly being here, now. Amen.

Reflection “Humankind has not woven the web of life. We are but one thread within it. Whatever we do to the web, we do to ourselves. All things are bound together. All things connect.” –Chief Seattle Prayer Creator spirit, Across

Prayer

Creator spirit,

Across the globe we have gained a new degree of consciousness about our interconnectedness. Such awareness comes with a deeper responsibility for us to participate together in new ways of healing and restoration, taking account of the systems and processes affecting all of our livelihood. Help us in this effort, to collaborate in new ways to promote the health and well-being of the entire web of life you have woven. As a ministry, lead us further in our advocacy of ecological justice, reflecting your love for all things in a spirit of unity. Amen.

Reflection “People rarely succeed unless they have fun in what they are doing.” –Dale Carnegie Prayer Loving God, As we serve those you put in our path today, we pray for the grace of a deeper camaraderie within our teams and amon

Prayer

Loving God,

As we serve those you put in our path today, we pray for the grace of a deeper camaraderie within our teams and among our colleagues. The kind of camaraderie that makes our work a source of joy, satisfaction, and even at times, fun. May the compassion we offer our patients and families extend to each other as well, that we might create a workplace culture that prizes “success” in terms of our faithfulness to improve the health and well-being of all. With gratitude that such a calling includes all of us, too, we pray. Amen.

Reflection “Do nothing out of selfishness or out of vainglory; rather, humbly regard others as more important than yourselves, each looking out not for his own interests, but also for those of others.” –Philippians 2:3-4 Prayer Se

Prayer

Selfless love,

Even in the midst of doing good our motives are so often mixed. We like the recognition that comes from success and achievement, sometimes too much. Help us purify our hearts more and more, so that all we do and say comes from an authentic spirit of humility. A spirit that recognizes our interdependence upon one another and is always on the lookout for ways to meet the needs of others, especially those who are most vulnerable among us. Amen.

Reflection “If beating ourselves up worked, we would all be thin, rich, and happy, wouldn’t we?” –Cheryl Richardson Prayer Loving God, Lead us into a healthier form of self-regard than we often possess. To love ourselves with the

Prayer

Loving God,

Lead us into a healthier form of self-regard than we often possess. To love ourselves with the kind of love that you have for us and that we are right to have for ourselves. Yes, we make mistakes, yet you forgive us freely and lovingly. May we receive that forgiveness as we should, so we can stop beating ourselves up and learn to move on, having grown somehow through our weakness, by the power of your grace. In the hope of transformation, we pray. Amen.

Reflection “The best way to convince a fool that he is wrong is to let him have his own way.” –Josh Billings Prayer Always good God, As our parents used to say, we can learn life’s lessons the easy way or the hard way. Most of us

Prayer

Always good God,

As our parents used to say, we can learn life’s lessons the easy way or the hard way. Most of us know the latter path of foolishness already. Empower us, therefore, to walk in the way of wisdom and to encourage those around us to avoid our past mistakes. Forgive us for those times when we remain bullheaded, that we might embrace a deeper humility. A readiness to learn from those gone before us and to locate our place in a much broader tradition of wisdom. As we strive together, to follow your way above all, we pray. Amen.