Summer sun sends its heat
and the earth lays wide.
Flat fields shimmer, tall wheat ripens,
the earth bakes.
All creatures seek shade
as the haze builds and thickens.
This summer day compels repose.
This heat a benediction,
a heavy warm hand
pressing down….
I weave a circle of prayer around this sanctuary
Protect, dear God, this space from sin.
Let evil thoughts be dropped in the parking lot
along with petty quarrels and all bitterness.
Let selfishness be relinquished on the steps
and pride be renounced at the threshold.
Let quarrelling be left at the door
and all hard feelings be hung up in the cloakroom.
Help us enter this hour of worship simply,
as children, eager to meet you here….
God who sees the heart of things,
who sees my heart,
you know the love still lodged
for friends long absent.
Once, long past,
we found a home
in each other’s presence.
A genuine meeting then
a parting of ways,
the currents of life and time…
On this wind-swept day
my prayer is a kite
rising from outstretched arms
stringing taut and fast
up with sailing clouds
up with soaring hawks
my kite swoops
in the high blue
writing thank-you
thank-you.
A loved one’s heart attack is like a closed door;
he is on that side and we are on this side.
The door opens with the sudden collapse.
Ambulance attendants act as ushers.
Now we are in the waiting room waiting
and he is on the other side of the door
in ICU having a heart attack.
The waiting room is suspended in time….
For the starry host of heaven
for the velvet black of night
for the moon a brilliant circle
for the clouds reflecting light
for the land in silence resting
for the stillness everywhere
for the dew like grace descending
for the fragrance in the air;
for God is in the evening
for Christ is drawing near
for the Spirit now is longing
to make beauty’s presence clear.
We love our friends,
we think the best of them until
their actions bring us up short.
The fall from high regard
leaves us dizzy and disoriented.
Esteem and trust plummet
as deep disappointment blossoms.
God, can you fathom the human heart?
Is our dismay a faint echo of your own?…
Hear now, God, the prayer of hostages!
Prayers spoken through teeth clenched in fear,
prayers courageously floating on a tide of despair,
prayers that are a slender thread of hope.
Lord, we join our voices with all captives,
crying for freedom and return.
We cry for an end to the nightmare
of each soul in captivity….
When I am beside myself with grief–
Jesus, you are there beside me.
When my mind reels and I feel like I’m falling—
Jesus, you are the fixed point that does not move.
When grief’s bands tighten around my chest—
Jesus, you are the oxygen I breathe.
When the ache in my heart is the only thing I feel—
Jesus, save me.
You who wept with sorrow and with fear,
thank you for staying with me in this hour,
this hour of grief.
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.
I love to write and to lead worship! If you are finding my writing helpful, I would love to hear from you! Feel free to use or adapt the material here, it is all written by me. If printing material, please credit “Copyright Carol Penner www.leadinginworship.com” (and say whether you modified it). If publishing, please contact me for permission. Contact me at carol@leadinginworship.com
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