Reflecting on the Psalms this week, our hearts and minds are with our brothers and sisters along the Saint John River. The last few weeks have seen the waters rise beyond record levels, and changed the lives of so many forever. In the midst of this we are reminded of how important it is to be there to support our neighbours, to lift one another up when they have fallen. We must also remember the truth that sits at the core of our faith, that no matter where our lives take us, no matter what happens, we are never alone because God walks beside us.
In God, as the Psalm says, we find refuge, but as we read and pray this day, let us remember that as children of God and as co-creators, we are called to care for one another. Let the prayers we lift this day drive us to action. Let us embrace one another even as we are embraced by God. Let the steadfast love that we read, sing, and pray about flow through us as we build one another up in the days and week that follow.
Let us pray
Psalm 36:5-7
Your steadfast love, O Lord, extends to the heavens, your faithfulness to the clouds. Your righteousness is like the mighty mountains, your judgements are like the great deep; you save humans and animals alike, O Lord.
How precious is your steadfast love, O God! All people may take refuge in the shadow of your wings.
Holy God, in days when we feel lost and broken, we call out to you for help, for your saving hand. Move in and through those who are responding to this crisis, speed the healing of your people. Be a light and a guide for those whose lives are changed forever, those who feel lost and alone without direction. Work in us, O God, making us your hands and feet. In our embrace of those who are suffering, may your love be felt. In our volunteering to help rebuild, may your love be seen. In all things, O God, we come before you in prayer with the strong name of Christ on our lips. We come in the name of the one who calmed winds and settled waters with a word. May he speak now to calm our hearts, and settle lives that have been upturned. Come now, O God, send your Holy Spirit into this time and place, into our very lives. AMEN
Blessings,
Rev. Richard