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nugget of nourishment
One of my favorite parts of fall are the amazing sunsets that come with the changing seasons. It reminds me of how intentionally God loves us. God loves us so much that even the changing of days are marked by art in the sky. Listen to this liturgy for sunsets from the book "Every Moment Holy" and maybe hang on to it for the next time you see a pretty sunset:
We make ourselves present to delight
in your handiwork, O Lord. We make ourselves
present to revel in this unique, one-time display
of your dynamic and infinitely-faceted glory.
We praise you, O God,
for what we are about to witness,
in patterns of cloud illumined and
crossed by a play of color and light.
You have infused your created order with
an inexplicable beauty that is inseparable from
the expression of your nature.
Open our hearts therefore,
to the work of your beauty
cast on the canvas of sky,
to the echoes of your glory
written upon this your creation.
May this mediation upon your glories not leave us unmoved.
May we receive the expression of this beauty as we would
the lavish endearments of a love letter.
Tender our hearts to receive it.
May the patterns of your eternal beauties
be fixed in our souls, O Lord.
That the lives we lead and the words we speak
might hereafter be infused with a grace
that would show forth your beauty.
May your people be as winsome as the sunset,
O God, and give as little cause for offense,
as they carry your name, your truth,
and your love into this world.
Our hearts and our lives
are your canvas, O Spirit of God.
We yield them to you.
Go forth, you image bearers of God.
Go forth bearing God's image
and sharing God's beauty.
Amen.
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