Beloved Friends-
We have now journeyed through another season of Lent and are approaching the last full week before we arrive at the door of Holy Week. And while we still have a week left, I am already aware of how this year’s journey feels different for me. What I have been more mindful of this time is that I am in good company. What I mean is that as I look around in my mind’s eye and my experience these past few weeks, what I see are more and more spiritual companions. As we continue to walk our own journeys we are also deeply tied together, as our community of faith is growing and digging in deeply to hear and see how God is calling us to live out the gospel imperative of love.

Whether it has been on Sundays at our Lean-in sessions where we have engaged the questions of who and how we are called to live and love both inside and outside of the walls of Trinity, or Sunday evenings during our tender Film and Faith Series, or at the Wednesday noon Eucharists where we have gifted each other the time to sit quietly together, all around I feel more together and deeply connected. Thank you for opening your hearts and showing up for God and for each other. What a gift, what a blessing, what an amazing time and place we have all stumbled into together during this time in the wilderness.

This week I offer another prayer for each of us to use during the week ahead in any way that feels good and right and grounding to you and where you are on your spiritual journey. These prayers come from Calling on God: Inclusive Christian Prayers for Three Years of Sundays by Peter Bankson & Deborah Sokolove.

May this prayer help you breathe deeply, right where you are on your journey, for a few minutes each day, opening yourself to the immensity of God’s goodness inside of you and connecting you deeply to those places in need of tender care.

Prayer of Petition and Intercession

Everlasting Fountain, renewing Breath, living Word,
        you have promised to make a way in the wilderness
       to fill the desert places of our lives
       with cool, running rivers of delight;
       to save the lost, heal the sick
       and restore the fortunes of those who have nothing.
And still everywhere we look there are people in need,
       people whose lives are broken
       by poverty, war, disease and violence.
And so, in our weakness, we cry out to you,
       may those who go out weeping,
       come home with shouts of joy.
Aloud and in silence,
       We pray for all whose lives are filled with tears
       and need the reminder of their goodness this day. Amen.

May you never forget that you are loved,

Lisa

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