A Prayer of the Day for a Service of Gratitude & Advent 1a Mashup Sunday

 Peace, all. 

This Sunday, Advent 1, is a Sunday in which many agricultural societies gather to give thanks--for the harvest, and for the abundance of God. At our church, the candle of the day is peace (every tradition has a different order - don't get hung up on this). I think the gratitude of harvest and the anticipatory emotions of Advent 1 are wonderful together. Here's a prayer if you're planning to do that mashup, too. Use as you will. Copyleft (by me, Tom Gaulke). 

Peace!

Tom

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Prayer of the Day for Advent 1 & A Service of Gratitude

We are awestruck, O God. And our hearts are warmed. By each breath. And each neighbor. By each sunrise. And each act of love. In all of these, we testify. We proclaim the greatness of your gracious presence. We lift praises for your peace which surpasses the understandings of all. It moves in us. It stirs us, perpetually warming our hearts.

 

And we are struck with grief, O God—awful, relentless, and raw. Violence infects our families, a pandemic in our homes. Fingers pull triggers. In closets. And in crowds. Neighbors become targets. We become targets. Heart after heart grows cold. We cry out in a wilderness. And hear but an echo in return.

 

It is here that we meet you. Stuck. Between the awful and the awe. In a world we love, we wait for you. In hope and in fear we gather. To celebrate you. To invite you. To implore you. O Immanuel, come.

 

Amen.