God our Shepherd,
you know the valleys we walk through,
the twisted roads of pain and suffering.
We want to fear no evil, we know that you are with us.
Today there are people in our congregations wrestling
with Medical Assistance in Dying;
considering it from every conceivable angle.
We need your assistance.
Assist us in important and sometimes difficult conversations
with dying people and those who love them,
and all of their many professional caregivers.
Help us walk with those who wait for death
and those who choose to step towards it.
Open our hearts to stories as we juggle
our principles, our reasoning and our emotions,
our reading of scripture and our medical knowledge,
trying to find practices we can live with and die with.
Holy Wisdom, can you lead us in ways that lead to life
even in the valley of the shadow of death?
When we don’t know the way, we turn to you,
longing for goodness and mercy in the congregation,
now and in our final hours.
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I am a Mennonite pastor currently teaching theology at Conrad Grebel University College in Waterloo, Ontario. I’ve served congregations in Ontario and most recently, Alberta.