THE HEART OF GOD

SOMETIMES WE FEEL FAR FROM YOUR HEART

 

Sometimes, O God,
we feel far from your heart.
When bombs blast buildings
killing and terrorizing innocent people.
When wars rage and people starve
are raped and suffer.
When children are abandoned in streets
and refugees pile together desperately in the holds of unseaworthy boats.
When drugs assault our teens and joblessness threatens our security
and old loves grow cold.
O God, sometimes we feel far from your heart.

May this season
be a time of faithfulness
as the short days lengthen.

Help us face the dark places in our lives
to gather up raw edges
to feel the roughness
to walk into the unknown with all its fear
And trust that you are there:
weeping
guiding
creating out of
what we had forsaken
loving still
anew
always.

Embrace not only us
but the whole world in your arms.
So that as we go forth,
we do so with courage
with strength
with conviction
with trust in ourselves
as people of hope
for we have much to offer this hurting world
that it desperately needs.

O God,
bless us,
bless our children
bless those we love
bless the stranger
bless our enemy
within and without

For all are precious in your sight
held in and sent forth
from your heart.

Amen

 

 

(With thanks to Shubham-Raikwar from UnSplash for the heart-image)