Streams of Mercy

In the life of our nation, we find ourselves in a strange and unsettling place these days. We’re shaken by the events of the past week with the violence at the Capitol. We’re shocked and saddened that circumstances have brought us to this point. We’re concerned about how, with all the differences among us, we can find the way forward together. We’re anxious about where our country goes from here, about what our future will be if we cannot find ways to end divisions so deep that some justify violence as the way to overcome them.

“We’re all in this together!” This thought has encouraged me in recent days. Another helpful thought concerns what has been called our “Declaration of Inter-dependence.” While we have our differences and our conflicts, we are not at war with each other; together we must focus on solutions to bring us together, not divisive acts to keep us apart. “We will influence change with these guiding principles: no enemies, no denial, no excuses, and no delay.”

Theologian Frederick Buechner puts it this way: “Your life and my life flow into each other as wave flows into wave, and unless there is peace and joy and freedom for you, there can be no real peace or joy or freedom for me … Unless we live for each other and in and through each other, we do not really live very satisfactorily.” Truly we’re all in this together!

This “Prayer of Thanksgiving for a New Year,” from the Iona Community is helpful:

Lord of Hope

we give You thanks for a new day.

We arise today to a horizon guiding our eye beyond the everyday;

to a dawn gently lighting up the wonders of Your creation;

to a whispered dew rooting us firmly to this precious earth.

For this and more we thank You.

Lord of Hope

we give You thanks for a new year.

We arise today to the knowledge that Your Son, our Lord, goes before us;

to the hope that through His presence all people will be transformed;

to the promise of salvation for all.

For this and more we thank You.

Lord of Hope

we give You thanks for a new start.

We arise today turning our backs on the ways of judgment and criticism;

sloughing off narrow-minded assumptions;

reaching out to enemy and friend with generous compassionate hearts.

For the promise of a new start, a new year, a new day,

for these gifts and for so much more we thank You. Amen.

Let us give thanks for the words of others that help us find our way, and pray for our nation, that in spite of all our differences, we may find the way forward together.

Elizabeth