Dear ,
It has been a hard week for me. What about you? I could barely push myself out of bed this morning. All week I have been part of hosting spaces for people. My class of seminarians learning to respond to crisis (how appropriate). Individual
student meetings. Larger campus gatherings online. In-person coaching. Online coaching. Texting friends and family. So many calls with my daughter. My God, how we are letting her generation down.
And there
was Writing Table each morning. On the morning after the election, about the most any of us could do was raise a hand in silent acknowledgement to each other. Then breathe together and attempt to write, journal, pray, or touch our projects, so that the tyranny of these days doesn't steal our joy or momentum entirely.
It was a tremendous relief to connect in each of these ways. I did not neglect my own needs. I let the tears come. I did a little escaping into my books and tv shows of the moment. I took naps and walked the neighborhood this week. Yet this morning the exhaustion and unease all weighed so heavy on me even as I wake.
After this kind of week, why even set an alarm on Saturday morning? Well, because I promised my spouse months ago that I would go with him today to walk in a 5K fundraiser. But that knot of anxiety in my gut makes me wonder if I can do it. Knowing that moving will help,
but even after eight full hours of sleep, I feel unsure about how to make it happen.
This is not just dread. It is history repeating. Knowing what kind of vitriol, policy change, damming rhetoric, and
climate of violence is coming. We've seen it all before. It was horrific. There is a game plan. We don't need to wonder. But we do need to resist. We do need to preach and pray and organize people and money for the ongoing work ahead.
, will you be setting an alarm tomorrow? Sunday morning for preaching, praying, and leading worship? Or perhaps Monday, you will be teaching, visiting patients, making a presentation, or running a meeting?
If you are reading this, you are likely someone who will need to rise and dress and go somewhere in the coming days to make space for people who are feeling that same ball of anxiety in their gut. Or the heaviness of dread or depression. They may be asking hard questions. Or they may not be showing up at all.
But you are their leader. Their teacher or pastor or chaplain. Their friend, mentor, or co-worker. Maybe their boss or their supervisor. They are looking to you to set the tone. They are hoping to be seen and heard by someone, and that someone just may be you.
So today, one small thing I can think to do is to write a prayer for you. I am offering this prayer for your well-being and strength. You are often the one caring for everyone else, and today I want to extend my care to and for you.
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God our Amma and Abba,
I am asking your love, guidance, and care for today. This is a time of uncertainty and disappointment. The world feels impossible and far beyond our reach. Yet our vocations call upon us to hold fast to love,
and guidance, and care for those who depend on us to teach, lead, preach, and pray. Help us to rest deeply in your care and rise to the occasions of our calling. God, our Amma and Abba, we pray for the tenderness of your love, the gentleness of your guidance, the unshakable hand of your care.
God of the Pit and the Wing,
I ask your Christ-light of presence to shine this day on . Whether this day feels like a pit of sadness and despair or more like a bird in flight, your presence and mercy are fitting for
each instance. Life's lows take many forms, and they often leave us feeling alone and bereft. Life's highs come in surprising moments like fluttering leaves, quiet smiles, purring cats, rolling laughter, jumping dogs, a well-timed joke, or a well-turned phrase. You are in each of these places and moments. You are God-with-us in the pit or on the wing. Help us to be present and bear witness to others in their highs and in their lows.
God of Justice and Imagination,
I am inviting your inspiration and asking your Spirit to bring vision to
. When the times call for more than we feel like we can give, we need your vision of justice. When we are overwhelmed by new situations, we need your wisdom to spark our imaginations and give us clarity to respond. Listen with us to the cries and the laments. Give us strength to see the world as it is. Open our hearts and minds, our relationships and our deep embodied wisdom, all gifts of your Spirit. Help us imagine a world woven with your justice and your love. Give us courage
to participate in your very life, O God, and in the lives of our siblings, and yes, even our enemies, so that together we might make this new world.
God, bless us, keep us, guide us, uphold and inspire us,
this day and evermore. Amyn.
