I’d like to offer this prayer from Walter Brueggemann as a focal point for us today. I hope it is a blessing for you and a source of encouragement and strength.

WE are still people in the dark.
The darkness looms large around us,
beset as we are by
fear,
anxiety,
brutality,
violence,
loss–
a dozen alienations that we cannot manage.

WE are–we could be–people of your light.
So, we pray for the light of your glorious presence
as we wait for your appearing;
we pray for the light of your wondrous grace
as we exhaust our coping capacity;
we pray for your gift of newness that
will override our weariness;
we pray that we may see and know and hear and trust
in your good rule.

WE ask you, Father, that we may have energy, courage, and freedom
to enact your rule through the demands of this hour.

WE submit this time to you and to your rule,
with deep joy and high hope.

Amen.