Dear Family of Love!
Happy Take Care Tuesday! Today is the anniversary of my late beloved Steve's birth. Lots of memories flow in and flow out. Not sad ones but fun ones. That leads me to the one question of the night for you to ponder and ponder well: Who is the keeper of your life's story and the family lore? As the newsletter editor for our parish newsletter we now have a special section called "Remember When......?" As we age we forget to tell the stories, do the reminiscences, enjoy wild tales, and wax nostalgic. Our family histories are kind of like early Bible stories, an oral tradition. Some of these stories have the qualities of the old rumor game and some are seemingly spot on in their detail. If you were writing your own Bible what kinds of things would you keep and what would you leave out? I know that this sounds crazy but tonight I want you to take time for introspection and see what you would put in your life's bible and would you add both positive and negative stories? Would you be able to tell your story from the perspective of a beloved child of God who does make mistakes now and then and be like the Prodigal Son and be welcomed home and also like the lost sheep that was found by the Good Shepherd? Where are you in these parables? Who are you ? Is your life story one where you can use elements to share the Good News with others? Tonight we will meditate upon the Parables of the Prodigal Son and the Lost Sheep
Here are the scripture links for meditation:
The Parable of the Prodigal and His Brother
The Parable of the Lost Sheep
It is time for our Virtual Candlelight Prayer Vigil. Let us light our candles for those who are ill and in the hospital and recovering from surgery. We pray this night for all of our family members who are struggling to fit in and make meaning out of their lives. We continue to pray for an end to hatred, violence, disunity, and fear. Let us see God in each other and remember to take care of ourselves so that we may take care of others.
Let us be at prayer as we reflect upon telling our stories,Our living bible stories that God wants us to share with our family members and spread the Good News of love to a fragile and broken world.
God we pray this night that we may be able with confidence to tell our stories and begin to live authentically with out fear.
God we pray, for all of our family members who are feeling invisible right now. Help them to see how beautiful and loving we are.
God we pray, for the healing of all of our family members who are ill that their bodies, minds, and spirits may be returned to health and wholeness.
God we pray for peace in the world's war torn areas and that divisions may cease and that they may be united in heart and spirit.
God of our being help us to move from fear into faith as we tell our stories from our hearts.
God of our being help us to listen to the stories of our family members without judgement and fear and listen with our heart's ears.
God of mercy help us to do justice, love, mercy and walk humbly with you and speak truth to power by sharing our stories of injustice, inequality, and invisibility.
God of all creation we pray for all living things in Your Cathedral of Life and that we begin to tell the story of the destruction of the resources on this Planet Earth Our Island Home.
God of all Goodness and love may we look into the mirror and see you with loving eyes, smiles, and tender glances. May we see your reflection in us and and in the eyes of our family members.
God we pray for ourselves and on behalf of our family members remembering especially________
Come Lord Jesus and accept our prayers in your most Holy Name. Amen.
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Good Night Family of Love! I love you and give thanks to God for you this night and always! Do you know why I call you Family of Love? I call you this because God is Love! So we are the Family of Love (God). May our hearts, spirits, and souls join together in love, peace, hope, joy, and harmony.
Love, prayers, blessings, and peace be always yours,
Sara
Sheep May Safely Graze
This is a really great blog post. It fits nicely with a few different things going on in my life. This past weekend, I participated in Trinity Institute's Sacred Conversations on Racial Justice. There was a lot of talk about how our stories, or perhaps more importantly, which of our stories get repeated widely, shape conversations about race and systems of racism.
ReplyDeleteI thought about this for my own writing. How does telling our stories help or hurt other people, not only directly, but indirectly.
This was important for me because I am currently seeking discernment about becoming an ordained Episcopal priest. Part of the process is to tell my spiritual autobiography. How is God working in my life? What am I learning about where God wants me to serve?
I've explored this a bit in a blog post from Sunday:
http://www.orient-lodge.com/node/5687