Prayer of Hope and Healing -by Crystal

This prayer, written by Rev. Crystal Shepherd and offered during our Service of Hope & Healing, invites us to remember the suffering in the world around us while remembering that God is always near, bringing hope and light.

This prayer was written by Rev. Crystal Shepherd and offered during our Service of Hope & Healing.

We hear the echoes as the 24 hour news cycle shouts about broken bodies, broken spirits, a broken world.

Shootings take the lives of children, people who are caught in revelry, or the partner a person swore to love.

Hatred begets hatred as white supremacists carry torches that cast angry shadows or as missiles are aimed across seas.

We see the polar bear as he struggles to find food on a melting planet or a pregnant mother who is months away from delivering and is denied access to the healthcare she and her unborn child so desperately need.

The collective groans rise in a cacophony until they merge to find one holy chorus that sings its way to your presence.

And you remind us that you abide.

Emmanuel, God with us, God who suffers alongside us, God who knows each human heart and whose love casts such a light that cannot be extinguished.

We walk in darkness, Lord, but we have seen the great Light.

We pray that you continue to illuminate the darkness of this world.

Continue to plant peace, cultivate joy, spring up hope, and harvest love in us.

That we may, in turn, share each piece of light you have given us to cast out the shadows that creep in.

For you are light and life and in you all of Creation moves and finds its being.

In the name of Emmanuel, God with us, we pray.

Amen.