Prayer

Creator,

As we mark these new first steps into Spring, open our eyes to see your creation for the wonderful gift that it is. A gift that you are intimately and personally involved with each day, however much we may overlook the natural cycles we have grown so accustomed to. You spoil us with beauty! As we strive to restore our vision of your glory in creation, empower us to do all that we can to protect and preserve the natural beauty around us. For our own sake and for the sake of generations to come. Amen.

Prayer

Healing God,

Our priorities and pursuits in career and society often belie the reality of our creation: we are still and always are bodies—creatures of the earth, ever dependent on nutrients the ground provides in the form of healthy and accessible food. During National Nutrition Month we grieve that so many in our communities and our world struggle to access healthy food options, even as the rest of us take such access for granted. May we all, therefore, commit ourselves to stop now and take the time to put our priorities aright, focusing together on advancing our health and well-being through food that’s nutritious and accessible for all. With thanks and recognition for the many who are devoted to such a cause, we pray. Amen.

Prayer                                      

God in our journeys,

Today we take inspiration from the life of your servant, Patrick, and give thanks for the treasures of Celtic spirituality that he helped to advance. Grateful for Patrick’s example, we invite you to guide us today as sojourners, pilgrims, and companions in ministry, striving to move in our service forward by the rhythm of your own spirit. Guide us to a bright future that is just as wondrous and awesome as it is effective, serving the real needs of a world waiting for healing and liberation, mercy and compassion. Amen.

Prayer

Gracious God,

Life presents us with plenty of opportunities to learn how to hold things loosely. Help us each day, to grow in our discernment of what in fact needs to be taken seriously and addressed, versus what we can and should let go of, as we strive to keep our balance and move forward with grace. Make us slow to take offense and quick to forgive, either way. As we pursue your calling today, we pray. Amen.

Prayer

Gracious God,

We all face challenges in the course of a day. Yet sometimes we compound them by shutting our eyes to the beauty and grace you are constantly, faithfully, and needlessly offering us. Day in and day out, you have laced our worlds with moments that have the power to refresh us for being so gratuitous, if only we would notice. Who are we to demand this morning’s sunrise? What right have we to see new life spring forth among us, in families and nature, or in the lives of those we see restored to wholeness? As people called to extend your compassion, empower us to be present and attentive to the beauty and grace you are performing all around us, sometimes when we least expect it. Amen.

Prayer

Source of rest,

Many of us serving in health care are chronically deprived of that soul-satisfying, life-giving, body-renewing kind of rest that we need to feel whole and complete. We pray especially today for colleagues who are especially weary right now. Bless them with peace beyond understanding and remind each of us again of your own example of labor followed by rest. Help us discover new opportunities to enter your sabbath, even if only in brief spans of time. Maximize every opportunity by your spirit, so that our service for others will be as life-giving for us as it is for those we have the privilege of serving each and every day. Amen.

Prayer

Loving God,

What a gift it is to realize, in the depth of our being, that you love us simply for who we are and who you made us to be. It is truly “good news” to live in the truth that we don’t have to earn your affection or satisfy a list of demands before we receive your attention. Heal us, then, from the fallacy of thinking our identity is a function of our performance and that our value as persons depends on what we do. Instead we pray for good works to flow from us naturally, like fruit from a tree, as we commit to being true to who we are and living authentically before you. Amen.