Thursday, December 23, 2010

Advent Prayer

Dear God, the troubles of our world have left many of us speechless. We don’t know how, in the numbness around jobs lost, illnesses we don’t have the resources to cure, a planet imperiled by the accumulated effects of our greed, and the seemingly endless presence of war and violence, to say our prayers. We are lighting candles, though – in our Advent wreaths, quietly, in side chapels of our churches, in our rooms where no one else but You can see. The candle flame is our prayer, wordless but filled with meaning, with petition, hope, and faith. And the candle flame is your answer to our prayer. You lighten our darkness, O Lord. Amen.

-- Marc Andrus, Bishop of California

With thanks to Ellie at The Anchorhold.


3 comments:

LutheranChik said...

Please pray for our friend Joan, who is dying of metastasizing lung cancer and whose time is growing short; and for our son-in-law's stepfather Dave, who also has cancer, who is in the hospital with complications from his cancer, who's in a coma and not responding well to treatment, who was given 50/50 odds of recovering from this setback. Thank you.

Terri said...

LC - so sorry to hear of these sad illinesses for family and friend...holding all of you in prayer.

Dorcas (aka SingingOwl) said...

Praying, LC. And thank you, Jan, for the prayer. Watching the Today Show review of 2010 and then the current news was a bit overwhelming this morning. Pictures of pregnant Army wives, blood stained floors in an Iranian church, a weeping doctor in Haiti--a sad time for so many. Thankful for those quiet Advent flames--a reminder of the Light.