Good Evening Dear Family!
Here at Walk With Me On Our Journey, we are going to make this a season of prayer for social justice! No ifs, ans, or buts about it! We need this time to refocus our energy and re-prioritize what matters most. Our energy must be on what we talked about last evening and that means we must walk the walk and talk the talk. Our priorities must match what God is always calling us to do and to be and that is the compassionate, accepting, loving, and merciful family of God who genuinely care for each other no matter who we are, what faith we belong, sexual orientation, gender, race, and residency, or economic and social status. Earlier today, I pulled out our virtual prayer walk and meditation having to do with walking in the footsteps of the refugees for our early prayer vigil. We are going to repeat this tonight because I would like us to walk into this weekend of Self Care and Sabbath Rest retreat time with a sense of purpose and also the need to be dialed in with the least of these. We must remember that Jesus was a refugee when he was young and also hadn't any place to lay his head while he was going from place to place proclaiming the God News and Good News to the world. So dear family let us begin as we usually do on Fridays and place all our worries into the Worry Sabbath Jar/ Box. Let us take a few necessary breaths and pray the "Be Stills!"
Be still and know that I am God.
Be sill and know.
Be still.
Be.
Tonight let us carry our lit candles and walk together as refugees and also let us put rough sand and pebbles in our shoes to remind us what it feels like not to walk on easy ground and terrain.
Our music for tonight comes from "Schindler's List"
Schindler's Soundtrack
Let us light our candles and be on our way a holy way like none other!
This evening we continue our nightly prayer vigils and they will be coinciding with this season of prayer for social justice.. They are going to be devoted to praying for refugees, peace in the world, and the need to be CALM (compassionate, accepting, loving, and merciful). Our aim is to dedicate these hours to the holiness of time and space. We have an opportunity to be at prayer with each other mindfully, intentionally, and interconnectedly. I invite your prayers during these time periods as part of going off the grid and being at one with God and creating a time of sacred conversation with God. Tonight's prayer focus is devoted to the many refugees who are seeking a better life and the need to flee from oppressive regimes. We remember the Syrian refugees this evening.
Walking in the footsteps of a refugee
A Guided Meditation and Virtual Prayer Walk
Let us imagine ourselves through the eyes of a refugee and pray along the way.
Imagine you have decided to leave the only home you and your family have ever known.
God I don't want to live in this country where my children and husband and I are having to dodge bullets and face daily fears. God help us to have courage to leave this war torn city and country and find safety.
Imagine having to carry a loaded backpack without any of the usual comfort items.
God I'm not ready to become homeless but in order to find a better life for my family I must Give me courage to take what I really need for my husband, children and myself.
Imagine the first day on the road by foot. How do your feet feel and what does your body feel like going long distances?
God my feet feel like they have become calloused, blistered, and in a lot of pain. Give us courage to honor our bodies, minds, and spirits when we need to as we flee our country of origin.
Imagine not having enough warmth on these cold nights out in the open.
God help us to find a suitable place of shelter for the night and that we may find warmth.
Imagine meeting up with other refugees and telling your stories and developing a new kind of family.
God we thank you that we have met many of our fellow refugee families and that we finally realize that we are all in this as one big family. God help us to find and make lasting friendships and that we may find safety together.
Imagine being in danger and seeing lawless gangs.
God help us to remain safe and secure and we pray for our enemies and those who wish to do us harm.
Imagine us having to find shelter, clothing, and food everyday on the road and there aren't any refugee camps nearby.
God help us to find shelter, clothing,food everyday. Help us to keep our eyes and ears open to finding refugee camps that are run by compassionate, accepting, loving, and merciful people.
Imagine becoming ill on the road.
God help us to find ways to cope with illness each day that we are not in familiar territory.
Imagine having a loved one die on the road.
God help us to mourn our loved ones loss on the road and that we may honor their bodies by burying them reverently in the ground. Help us to always to remember to carry white sheets for burial shrouds along the way.
Imagine you have finally reached the refugee camps and are awaiting resettlement.
God we thank you for finally reaching the camp and we pray that we may have patience to wait our turn to go through the resettlement process.
Imagine the day when you meet your sponsoring family.
God we thank you for our new family. Help us when it is our turn to welcome the stranger that we may model our lives after you Jesus and remember that you, Mary, and Joseph were refugees too.
A Prayer for the Refugee Crisis -From the Church of England
Heavenly Father,
you are the source of all goodness, generosity and love.
We thank you for opening the hearts of many
to those who are fleeing for their lives.
Help us now to open our arms in welcome,
and reach out our hands in support.
That the desperate may find new hope,
and lives torn apart be restored.
We ask this in the name of Jesus Christ Your Son, Our Lord,
who fled persecution at His birth
and at His last triumphed over death.
Amen.
Matthew 25:31-40
Jesus said, "When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on the throne of his glory. All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats, and he will put the sheep at his right hand and the goats at the left. Then the king will say to those at his right hand, `Come, you that are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world; for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me.' Then the righteous will answer him, `Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry and gave you food, or thirsty and gave you something to drink? And when was it that we saw you a stranger and welcomed you, or naked and gave you clothing? And when was it that we saw you sick or in prison and visited you?' And the king will answer them, `Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me.' "
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