A Concord Pastor Comments: Monday Morning Offering: June 17

Image: George Mendoza

Good morning, good God!

How can it be Monday again, so soon, Lord?

Does time fly by as quickly for you
as it does for me?

I open my eyes from sleep
and I see a new week stretching before me...

What do you see, Lord?

This might be a Monday morning when:

(A) a new week is the last thing I want to face

-or-

(B) a new week is just what I want and need.

(A) Oh, God! not another week!
I've piled up enough hurt and uncertainty,
enough difficulty and confusion to last me a life time!

Please let this week be a lighter one, Lord...
Help me let go some of the burdens I carry...
Help me drop them into your hands, your lap...

Lighten the load I carry, Lord,
and help me find in the week ahead
some time in the warm sun,
moments of peace and prayer with you,
good work, well done,
openness to the love around me,
and new hope that, indeed, you walk by my side
and you carry me
when the going gets too tough...

-or-

(B) A new week: praise God!
I look forward, Lord,
to the opportunities this week offers:
opportunities for what I don't yet know -
but will soon enough find out...

Who knows what this week will bring?
Well, actually, you know, Lord!
And since you do,
please make sure I miss none of the gifts,
none of the grace,
you'll spread on the path before me...

You already know that path, Lord,
so give me a keen eye for any missteps
I might make along the way...

~ ~ ~

Perhaps the first grace of this week, Lord,
is noticing that both these morning offerings, A and B,
are my morning offerings:
maybe for different weeks or different days,
or perhaps both of them, for most days of most weeks...

One thing I know:
this moment with you on Monday morning
is a grace from your heart and a gift from your hand...Whatever this week may bring, Lord,
keep me on the path of truth,
the way of justice,
the highway of peace...

When I'm tempted to wonder if you're still by my side,
when I reach out but can't find your hand right away,
remind me of this morning offering,
of its prayer and peace and promise...It's a seven day week before me, Lord,
but help me take it a day at a time,
or an hour or a minute,
as I might need...Wake me each morning this week
to offer my day and my hope
into your heart and your hands...

Amen.