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Prayer List
Friends, as we approach Independence Day, may we ponder how to engage our privileges and freedoms to make life abundant a reality for all with words from poet Amanda Gorman:
When day comes, we ask ourselves, where can we find light in this never-ending shade?
The loss we carry. A sea we must wade.
We braved the belly of the beast.
We've learned that quiet isn't always peace, and the norms and notions of what "just" is isn't always justice.
And yet the dawn is ours before we knew it.
Somehow we do it.
Somehow we weathered and witnessed a nation that isn't broken, but simply unfinished.
We, the successors of a country and a time where a skinny Black girl descended from slaves and raised by a single mother can dream of becoming president, only to find herself reciting for one.
And, yes, we are far from polished, far from pristine, but that doesn't mean we are striving to form a union that is perfect.
We are striving to forge our union with purpose.
To compose a country committed to all cultures, colors, characters and conditions of man.
And so we lift our gaze, not to what stands between us, but what stands before us.
We close the divide because we know to put our future first, we must first put our differences aside.
We lay down our arms so we can reach out our arms to one another.
We seek harm to none and harmony for all.
Let the globe, if nothing else, say this is true.
That even as we grieved, we grew.
That even as we hurt, we hoped.
That even as we tired, we tried.
That we'll forever be tied together, victorious.
Not because we will never again know defeat, but because we will never again sow division...
We will rise from the golden hills of the West.
We will rise from the windswept Northeast where our forefathers first realized revolution.
We will rise from the lake-rimmed cities of the Midwestern states.
We will rise from the sun-baked South.
We will rebuild, reconcile, and recover.
And every known nook of our nation and every corner called our country, our people diverse and beautiful, will emerge battered and beautiful.
When day comes, we step out of the shade aflame and unafraid.
The new dawn blooms as we free it.
For there is always light, if only we're brave enough to see it.
If only we're brave enough to be it.
~ Amanda Gorman, from "The Hill We Climb." Read the full poem here.
This week we pray for:
Dave Noble
Prayers for strength and comfort for Dave who is receiving radiation treatment (he has 3 more to go); we pray also for Gayle as she offers support and care to Dave.
Jim Collier
Prayers for gratitude for successful hip replacement surgery, and for smooth recovery; prayers also for Janelle as she cares for Jim.
Amanda Hilty
Continued prayers for Amanda who is in a 3-week training in California to get a guide dog.
Lucy Ewing, Erica Ewing's mom
Continued prayers for healing for Lucy, who is recovering from a hip surgery.
Deb Hostettler
Continued prayers for Deb, who is hoping to regain her appetite and energy following an adjustment in her medication to reduce side effects.
Barbara Mykkanen
Continued prayers for Barb as she participates in a study to help others with similar cancer diagnosis.
We pray for
- all those struggling with stressful situations that weary the heart;
- those facing ongoing recovery, pain management, and health issues;
- peace and a lasting end to violence and injustice;
- rest, time of replenishment with family, friends, in nature;
- prayers for those who seek asylum from political violence and a better life from economic oppression across the world;
- as the Canadian wildfires continue to impact air quality in our region and beyond, we pray for leaders to enact policies locally and globally that protect the wellbeing of creation;
- for the children and activity leaders at the Open Arms Summer;
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