December 16, 2021
Shock. Confusion. Frustration. Anger. Fear. Relief. Prayers. …. and more.
Your pastors, Grace, and Jane are offering space in the courtyard of First Church to all students, parents, and families tonight from 7-7:30 p.m.
We have no grand plan. We only know that being with each other and standing with each other is critical in such times as this. Please dress for the weather as we will be outside the entire time.
Come with your lament, with your rage, with your cries and with your sadness. You are not alone.
-Pastors Grace and Jane
Lord, carry us now as we cannot stand,
hold us up when we can’t support the weight of our world.
In the midst of the sirens, the alerts, the breaking news, and the breaking hearts,
The tests where we pray for positive outcomes
and the tests where we pray for negative ones.
We live in a world where we are deemed too young to be taken seriously
But not too young to be burdened with our own survival,
Our community’s survival,
Our world’s survival.
Be the silence when there’s just too much noise
And the voice of comfort when the silence is too much to bear.
When our days are measured in death counts,
Let it be enough to just survive.
When we are terrified or, worse,
Too tired of being terrified to even feel the fear or the surprise,
Let us not cling to the expectations of a different world.
Give us hope for we cannot prosper in a world so full of pain.
Give us rest so we can take time to simply exist.
Though we be young, we have experienced pain and death to saturate lifetimes.
Provide us with healing and life so your children can simply be children
For just this moment.
Amen.
Prayer written by Alexander Dungan on 12/16/2021