Dear Friends,
We pray you are safe and well.
Today's Meditation offers a Morning Prayer and Evening Prayer written by Fr. Austin Fleming, A Concord Pastor.
We invite you to join us as we commit ourselves to working tirelessly to end systemic and structural racism in our society, in healthcare, in the workplace, in the Church--wherever it shows up so that everyone may come to have more abundant life. May this meditation nourish our contemplative-active hearts and sustain all of us in action.
In the spirit of our philosophy of co-creating community and our awareness that the Spirit speaks through each of us, we invite you to share your meditations with us as well. We truly believe that in God’s economy of abundance, when we share our blessings, our thoughts, our feelings, we are all made richer.
We hope and pray that you and your loved ones experience genuine peace of mind and heart, and remain in good health during this challenging time.
May this Advent Season be a time of peace, of healing and hope, of the infusion of joy in your life!
With our love and care,
Ron & Jean
MEDITATION 213: Morning Prayer and Evening Prayer by Rev. Austin Fleming, A Concord Pastor
Monday Morning Offering: 11/30
Posted: 29 Nov 2020 07:47 PM PST
Morning Coffee by George Mendoza
On the church calendar, a new "year of grace" begins on the first Sunday of Advent as once again, over the course of a year, we unfold the mystery of Jesus in word and sacrament, in history and in our lives. So, we've just began a new year - thus, this morning's offering...
Good morning, good God!
With Advent comes a new year of grace,
grace that's yours alone to give and mine to receive...
In this new year I want to offer you
an open door to my heart
for you to enter and make your home there...
I offer you the corners of my heart's garden
where I let the weeds grow wild:
help me weed out and prune away
whatever fails to nourish my spirit, my soul...
I offer you the closets of my heart,
stuffed with old grudges and resentments:
Lord, help me discard anything
that fails to help me heal and grow...
I offer you my heart's boxes of wasted time,
bags of foolishness
and suitcases of misspent effort:
Lord, help me clear out the trash of my mistakes
and give me a new beginning...
I offer you the cellar of my heart, Lord,
where a locked trunk of hurt and anger
aches to be opened with the key of your healing grace:
unlock what keeps me prisoner
to my memories and disappointments...
I offer you my heart's hopes and dreams, Lord,
for this new year of grace:
my pledge to pray more regularly;
my desire to grow in your love;
my need to rely on your wisdom and word;
my promise to ask for your help each day;
my hope to be more forgiving of those who offend me,
more faithful in serving others' needs
and more welcoming of those who are alone...
I offer you this new year of grace, Lord,
and ask for the strength and resolve I need to live it
as one worthy of the name Christian,
ready for the work of a disciple,
confident of your presence in everything I do
and in all I meet and know...
I offer you the new year ahead, Lord
- one day at a time -
and I pray for the serenity and grace
to accept the things I cannot change,
the courage to change the things I can
and the wisdom to know the difference...
Amen.
NIGHT PRAYER: Sunday 11/29
Posted: 29 Nov 2020 05:13 PM PST
I wait for you, Lord,
as I've waited for so long
and waited in so many ways…
I wait to find you, to know you,
to believe in you...
I wait for you to show yourself,
to show your face and let its light
shine bright upon my own…
I wait for you to speak to me,
to speak a word I understand:
a word my heart can grasp,
a word my heart can hold,
a word my heart can keep,
a word that brings me peace...
I wait for your truth to set me free, Lord:
free from all that holds me fast
in my confusion, fear and doubt…
I wait for you to hear my prayer
- to hear my prayer and answer me...
I wait for your Spirit to move in me,
to nudge me and shake me awake,
to stir within and let me know
that you're with me and I'm with you...
I wait your word to tell me
where to turn, what path to take,
which choices I should make...
I wait for you to calm my fears,
my anxious, lonely heart,
my worried, troubled soul…
I wait for you to help me find
a little peace of mind, Lord
- even just a little...
I wait to find you in my daily rounds:
in the ordinary people, times and places
where I least expect to find you
but really need to see you...
I wait to know your mercy:
your pardon for my sins,
your cleansing of my soul,
your quickening of my spirit...
Even when I'm not sure why I wait
or why I still wait, even then
- I wait some more
for even in the waiting
I trust you're there, drawing near,
for it's only in the waiting, Lord,
I know that you will find me...
In the stillness of my Advent prayer
I wait for you
and I believe and hope and trust
that in my waiting, Lord,
you're waiting there for me...
Protect me, Lord, as I like awake
and watch over me as I sleep
that awake, I might keep watch with Christ
and asleep, rest in his peace...
Amen.
Wait For The Lord - Taize