A Concord Pastor Comments: Monday Morning Offering: 4/27

Good morning, good God!

Or is it?

Is it a good morning?

Right off the top of my head, Lord,
I can think of millions of people around the world
who woke up this morning
for whom this is not good morning:
- the sick and the dying
    - the recently diagnosed
- the vulnerable and compromised
- the quarantined in isolation
    - the selfless, exhausted caregivers
- the newly bereaved
- the heroic first responders
- the suddenly unemployed
- the perennial or just-now homeless
    - the poor standing in line for food
- the worried, the impatient,
          the anxious and the fearful...

These burdens are heavy, painful and universal, Lord:
    - our world has been humbled by a microscopic tyrant;
    - our expectations dismantled by a mindless virus;
    - our pretensions unmasked by a shared and common grief...

I don't blame you for any of this, Lord:
my faith and science more than assure me
that none of this is of your making --
which leads me to ask, good God:
   What will you make of all this/

How will you forge our fear into faith?
How will your touch heal the pain in our hearts?
How will your grace bring to life what we've lost?
How will your love keep us serving each other?
How will your word speak the wisdom we need?
How will your Spirit rekindle our hope?
How will your compassion relieve our grief?
How will your strength restore our vitality?
How will you bring us
    through sickness to health?
    through sorrow to joy?
    through distress to serenity?
    through darkness to light?
    through isolation to community?
    through want to abundance?
    through fear to trust?
    through death to life in you?

I believe you created the world out of nothing,
I believe you reap where you did not sow,
I believe that for those who love you
    all things work together for the good...

I believe it's your heart's desire, Lord,
    to make of our plight a path to your peace,
to make of our weakness the way to your strength,
to make of our pleading your answer to prayer...

So I offer a prayer this morning, Lord,
for what your heart desires and our hearts plead:
    your people healed,
    our faith refreshed,
and peace of mind and heart restored...

Make of us your own, Lord,
and in your mercy,
hear our prayer...

Amen.