By Katie Harmon-McLaughlin, director of Disciple Formation Ministries
Hear, O my people of the church, I am Jesus Christ of whom you have sung and testified and in whose name you pray. I am the spirit of love and peace which is in the world and yet not known by the world.
What do you need, I ask the friend
Across the miles, in her hospital bed
Awaiting an unexpected surgery.
Just a prayer is all, she replies,
I’m ready for this to be over.
I sit on the porch in the morning
And feel my love for her
Gently sweeping through
My whole being, holding her
With great tenderness and care.
Words feel insufficient.
Prayer is presence in the heart,
Awareness of another, space made
To hold with care and concern
What can be love passing through
Like a breeze and sometimes
A long embrace, lingering.
It is rarely precision of language
And more about a turning toward
Each other, a decentering of self
Long enough to bring into the center
Of awareness the one who most
Needs that wordless presence-mystery
That may be healing or not,
But is attuned nonetheless as
an act of Love, as a reminder
That we are not separate.
Across the vast expanse of space and time we
Hold each other with tenderness and attention
Even if we can’t explain why it matters,
Or how it works. There is a purpose
In the holding, and in the knowing
That another’s heart has opened
To bring you safely, in whatever condition,
into its presence and warmth.
A deep grace that utters in a
Holy, mystery language,
You are not alone.
Prayer Phrase
“Bear one another’s burdens…” (Galatians 6:2).
Spiritual Hunger
Jesus discerned hungers of body and spirit, and he fed them through a physical, verbal, spiritual ministry of presence. In a time of listening prayer, ask God to help you discern physical or spiritual hungers of people in your congregation, community, and global family. Invite the Spirit to move you to one hospitable act that “feeds” someone’s hunger today.
Today’s Prayer for Peace
Engage in a daily practice of praying for peace in our world. Click here to read today’s prayer and be part of this practice of peace.