Tree of Life, who draws us to gather in all kinds of sanctuaries,
Guide us toward you in this silence. Encompass us with your gracious Love and unending mercy. Lessen our resistence to the unknown and loosen our tight grip on certainty. Help us to see the reality of our humanity and open us to the possibilities that exist in your Presence. Make the evidence of our prayer be realized as we come closer to you, finding ourselves closer to one another. Amen.
Constant Companion, who walks down every path we take,
Slow our hurried steps and steady our anxious souls in these moments. We seek your guidance on our Lenten journey. Help us to let go and carry only what is needed. Turn us to face ourselves admitting our tendencies toward greed and pride. Relieve our condemnation of others transforming our hearts with understanding. Restore our common communion. Illuminate our paths with the life giving words of those who walk in the ways of the One who is above us, within us, beneath us, behind us and beside us. Amen.
Holy God, who courses beside us every hour,
Draw us toward the light of your Presence as we delve into the details our our work this day. Move us from one grateful thought to another for all that you provide. Like the squirrels outside our windows, flirting from one golden tree to the next, release any fixation we have on our ideas or opinions so that love may flow freely upon our sisters and brothers amongst us. As the day begins to fade into evening, help us to carry home the tender ways your fullness is being revealed, sustaining us in the dark and accompanying our rest. Amen.
Giver of Life, who is as close as our breath,
We begin this day in your Presence, slowly finding the true source of our energy. Help us to simply be still in these moments; renew our vitality through resting in your peace. Give us a glimpse of your deep riches found in unexpected times and places. Increase our trust in all that you provide. Fill our soul’s with compassion, like your overflowing rivers, reaching beyond ourselves to satisfy the world’s people who are desperate for recovery in their lives. Amen.
Whispering Wind, whose language unifies us across boundaries and borders,
As this morning begins with the tending of kitchen fires, we pause to listen for the gift of softly cooing hens or the quiet rush or river water, any sound that creates a desire in our hearts to turn toward your Presence. Make it our intent to be open to new learning in our work and play. Use the voices of others to help us to see the poverty of our ways. Transform our experience to encounter your many riches in place we thought poor. Amen.
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Budding of New Life,
whose evidence surrounds us in this season,
Center our souls on your Presence to discover within whatever is struggling toward birth. As we explore new depths of intimacy with you, help us to admit how we fail at ceasing doing what is wrong and fall short of doing what is right. Then, guide us to your grace resurrecting our lives, bringing us out of dark discontent into freedom and glorious light. Strengthen us to bear this witness for others. Amen.
Servant of All, whose generous mercy creates unity,
Center us through this moment of silence. Let all else fall away except for an awareness of your Presence. Cleanse us with the purity of your love. Open our hands to surrender the things we grasp. Widen our hearts to release one another from intolerance. Create renewal within our communities through paths of acceptance and trust. Amen.
Community Builder, whose authority comes through love,
Use the silence of this morning to refresh our sense of your Presence. Our hearts are grateful every time we recognize your sustaining power is found both within and outside our lives. Restructure our sense of individualism into a willingness to lean upon one another. Remind us that the reinforcement that gives us strength is sometimes hidden from our sight. Inspire us to offer simple acts of kindness, today, encouraging the best in one another and turning us into a community of friends. Amen.
Innkeeper of Grace, whose love abides within and around us,
Before we begin our searching this day, use this silence to open us to the stillness of your Presence. Unify our bodies and souls with each breath. Increase our trust in responding to the guidance of your Spirit. Bring us to live between places of rootedness and places of mystery. Guide us to open spaces where previously we have found only walls. Strengthen our charity and understanding through this window of prayer. Amen.
Tree of Life, who justifies our lives through Spirit,
As a new day dawns and the soft morning air greets us, open us to take in all this day has to offer. Deepen our roots giving us courage and an increasing humility to both stand in the shadows when needed and at other times, to receive your brilliant, abundant light. We patiently wait for all that is to come listening for you in the ordinary birds full of song, the voices of those we speak with and the noise of work or play happening around us. Ground us in experiencing your grace so that we grow with passionate mercy becoming a place of healing and hope for the needs of our world. Amen.
Janet Salbert 