A Concord Pastor Comments: Pause for Prayer: FRIDAY 10/19

Words can be so clinical, Lord:
words like substance abuse and addiction,
dual diagnosis, treatment and habit...

And these sound particularly cold
when they echo in the hearts of those
who've lost a loved one to these realities...

This impersonal, analytic, detached vocabulary
grates on hearts grieving the life and love
of a real human being,
one of your own beloved, Lord:
a son or daughter, a grandchild,
a family member or friend
lost to the hellish pit of addiction
and the cycle of finally getting clean,
finding sobriety and then slipping
and sliding in a downward spiral,
wanting desperately to reach for help,
even if unsure of where and how to reach...

Friends of mine, Lord, have suffered just such a loss
so I lift them up to you in prayer today
even as they lift up their Jeremy,
returning him to you from whom all blessings flow
and every gift of life and love...

As Jeremy returns to you, Lord,
be as gentle, strong and merciful,
as compassionate and understanding,
as patient and as loving with him
as were all his family and friends...

Rescue him, Lord, finally free him
from everything and anything that plagued him,
haunting his soul, robbing him of the joy he truly sought,
the love he certainly desired,
the peace he so much craved...

His burdens were many, Lord,
and many, too, were the burdens
of those who loved him, stood by him, reached out to him
and held him in their arms and in their hearts...

Let your healing mercy abound here, Lord,
and strengthen our faith in you
and in your desire that all that you've created
come home to you,
to live with you, in peace forever...

Such a loss leaves those who mourn
with questions begging for answers:
if not answers, Lord, then give us your peace,
your consolation and your healing:
help us entrust Jeremy to your arms,
to your heart and to your gentle love...

Help all who miss him heal, Lord:
strengthen our trust and faith in you
and make firm our hope
that one day we shall see Jeremy again
and enjoy his love
when your mercy gathers us together
in the peace and joy of your kingdom...

Amen.