1/27/26
NIGHT PRAYER: Tuesday 1/27
I see with eyes of faith, Lord, and so I see
what many others might not see...
I see you in the scriptures,
in chapter, book and verse and every word...
I see you in the saving waters
flowing from baptism's font...
I see you in the bread and wine
become your blood and body...
I see you in your people gathered,
one in praise and prayer and peace...
I see you where love may be found
for you are God and God is love...
I see you when a word, a deed of mercy
mends and heals...
I see you in creation, Lord:
dying every winter and rising every spring...
I see you in the pain I know
in body, mind and spirit
and I see you in the grace
that lifts me up and sets me free...
I see you when my eyes are closed
as well as when they're open;
I see you in the light of day
and in my sleepy dreams...
And in those times when I can't see
- when fear and worry blind me -
it's then I see most clearly,
when I see with eyes of faith...
Protect me, Lord, while I'm awake
and watch over me while I sleep
that awake, I might keep watch with you
and asleep rest in your peace...
Amen.
We Walk By Faith by Marty Haugen
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1/26/26
Pause for Prayer: TUESDAY 1/27
Over the next 24 hours,
Lord,
open my eyes and open my ears
to all you want me
to see and hear…
Open my mind
open my eyes and open my ears
to all you want me
to see and hear…
Open my mind
to what's wise and true
and my heart to all
you call me to love…
Open my hands
and my heart to all
you call me to love…
Open my hands
to help those in need
of my presence and strength,
compasion and comfort...
Open my mouth
to speak the words,
the healing words,
that others may need
that others may need
to hear from me...
Open my soul
Open my soul
to find a time, to make the time,
to find a place to sit with you
in the silence
where I might open my heart to you
where I might open my heart to you
and all you're waiting to give me...
And when I want to give in,
when I want to give up,
when I want to shut down
then open me up and refresh my spirit
and help me begin again and again
- and again and again and again -
when I want to shut down
then open me up and refresh my spirit
and help me begin again and again
- and again and again and again -
to open my heart to you...
Amen.
Amen.
Here's My Heart by Casting Crowns
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NIGHT PRAYER: Monday 1/26
You've spent the day snowing us in,
slowing our steps
- and hitting our pause button...
And sometimes, Lord, that's just what we need.
We need to be interrupted,
inconvenienced, stopped in our tracks
by the pure, soft beauty of your presence,
settling gently, flake by snowy flake,
dressing us and all around
in a garment of pure grace...
Let the snow fall on our upturned faces, Lord,
and like children catching snow flakes on the tongue,
we'll taste the sweetness of your wintry gift...
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| Photo: Jeff Holmes |
And snow angels, Lord!
Have we grown too old
for making angels in the snow?
Send some snowy angels, then,
to make of us the children
you made us all to be...
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Let your touch melt our souls, Lord,
as the snow chills our limbs
and draw us to your heart
where the fire of your love
burns with snapping, crackling beauty,
bright and warm, this wintry night...
And remind us, Lord,
of those burdened by the cold
and those who serve and shelter them,
- and those who plow and clear our streets
making safe our way from here to there
and back to home again...
And when the snow's been shoveled
and our pace is quick again,
keep us mindful of these moments
when the blanket of your presence
calmed and warmed our shivering hearts
and brought us close to you...
Protect us, Lord, while we're awake
and watch over us while we sleep
that awake, we might keep watch with you
and asleep, rest in your peace...
Amen.
(Two musical offerings tonight: the first as playful as snow angels - enjoy! and the second, as prayerful and reflective as new fallen snow...)
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Let It Snow by Alfonso Gugliucci
Winter Solitude by Ekaterina
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1/25/26
Pause for Prayer: MONDAY 1/26
Monday Morning Offering will return next week!
Forgive us, Lord, when we allow
the snow to rule our lives
the snow to rule our lives
even when it measures not in inches
- but in feet...
Forgive us, Lord, for stocking up
on comfort food and alcohol
when all year 'round, without relief,
so many perish, hungry...
when all year 'round, without relief,
so many perish, hungry...
Forgive us, Lord, for griping
'bout the frost and wind and chill
when we have so much warmth to spare
and others - none at all...
when we have so much warmth to spare
and others - none at all...
Forgive us our obsessing
over troubles small and passing
when neighbors 'round the world
over troubles small and passing
when neighbors 'round the world
are struggling daily - to survive...
Forgive us our not knowing
names of countries torn by war,
where danger fear and terror
threaten life each night and day...
names of countries torn by war,
where danger fear and terror
threaten life each night and day...
Forgive us our anxiety
for football and the playoffs
when greater crises everywhere
deserve our keen attention...
for football and the playoffs
when greater crises everywhere
deserve our keen attention...
Give us some perspective, Lord,
to see how blessed we are:
how much we have to give away
and all we have to share...
Make us grateful and aware, Lord,
of all that we've been given:
all we have in great supply,
the bounty that is ours...
Make us generous, freely giving, Lord,
until we really we feel it,
'til we feel the want ourselves and know
'til we feel the want ourselves and know
at last - we've served you well...
Amen.
NIGHT PRAYER: Sunday 1/25
This Third Sunday in Ordinary Time is annually observed (more often in theory than in practice) as Word of God Sunday Our prayer this evening asks the Lord to speak a word, a word of good news, a word we need, a word we can hear and understand...
A word from you always lifts me, up, Lord
so I'm praying for a word or two night...
Lift me up with a word of faith
to help me trust in your presence,
and your desire to free me from fear...
Lift me up with a word of love
to help me see your image
dwelling in my soul...
Lift me up with a word of hope
to cut the darkness with your light
and help me trust the peace you offer...
Lift me up with a word of light
to help me see where you would lead
and what you ask of me this day...
Lift me up with a word of healing
to soothe the ache within my soul,
the hurt within my heart...
Lift me up with a word of trust:
trust in those who counsel me, who care for me
and guide me when I'm lost...
Lift me up with a word of peace
to free my soul from all that troubles me
and locks me in my fears...
Lift me up with a word of wisdom
to clear my mind of all that keeps me
from trusting in your promise...
Lift me up with a word of strength
when I am weak and cannot move
for fear of stumbling, falling, failing...
Lift me up with a word of mercy:
refresh my heart and soul
with the grace that only you can give...
Lift me up with a word of wonder
to open my mind and heart again
to believe in beauty wherever I find it...
Lift me up with a word of courage
to speak what's in my heart today
and take the path I need to walk...
Lift me up with a word of joy
in play and laughter, prayer and song,
in friendship, care and love...
Lift me up with a word of faith
to help me trust in your presence,
and your desire to free me from fear...
Lift me up with a word of love
to help me see your image
dwelling in my soul...
Lift me up with a word of hope
to cut the darkness with your light
and help me trust the peace you offer...
Lift me up with a word of light
to help me see where you would lead
and what you ask of me this day...
Lift me up with a word of healing
to soothe the ache within my soul,
the hurt within my heart...
Lift me up with a word of trust:
trust in those who counsel me, who care for me
and guide me when I'm lost...
Lift me up with a word of peace
to free my soul from all that troubles me
and locks me in my fears...
Lift me up with a word of wisdom
to clear my mind of all that keeps me
from trusting in your promise...
Lift me up with a word of strength
when I am weak and cannot move
for fear of stumbling, falling, failing...
Lift me up with a word of mercy:
refresh my heart and soul
with the grace that only you can give...
Lift me up with a word of wonder
to open my mind and heart again
to believe in beauty wherever I find it...
Lift me up with a word of courage
to speak what's in my heart today
and take the path I need to walk...
Lift me up with a word of joy
in play and laughter, prayer and song,
in friendship, care and love...
Lift me up with a saving word
to raise my soul from loneliness
and fill my heart with peace...
and fill my heart with peace...
Lift me up with a word from you, Lord,
to help me trust you know my name
and all I need to live and love...
Protect me, Lord, while I'm awake
and watch over me while I sleep
that awake, I might keep watch with you
and asleep, rest in your peace...
Amen.
Your Words by Third Day
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1/24/26
Pause for Prayer: SUNDAY 1/25
In the last couple of days, a friend posted the photo above, taken at Plum Island Beach in Newburyport, MA, and I immediately wrote asking for his permission to post it on my blog - Mike Sierra graciously said yes. I wasn't sure when or how I'd use the photo but it's stark beauty told me I'd find a way, a reason. Then another friend posted the reflection below and, upon request, Gregory Maguire told me I could share it on my page. It didn't take me too long, then, to pair the picture with the words. I find each of them alone and both of them together to be a rich source for prayerful reflection. I hope you do, too.
"I now think of the time ahead
as less of an ocean and more of a receding sea,
perhaps sooner or later turning into quicksand..."
This is the day the Lord has made.
A day I might have rued.
Not a summer's day, to which
comparison is a dicey proposition
- almost nobody can win in that beauty pageant.
But as I once noticed an elderly Cambridge friend of mine
drawing in her horizons
- finding Norway too far away, then Manhattan,
and then even the Harvard Faculty Club by taxi
a bit of a campaign, so let's eat in
- I now think of the time ahead as less of an ocean
and more of a receding sea,
perhaps sooner or later turning into quicksand.
I don't have a five year plan,
but usually I have a five minute plan.
And sometimes do something else
because I get distracted, like a dog on the sidewalk
sensing something unnerving or curious.
A conundrum, a holy mystery,
this mathematical proposition:
regard and gratitude for the time to be lived in
doesn't shrink with the portion size.
Not unlike, I suppose,
the capacity to take a new person into your love
regardless of how committed you are
to everyone you've ever met.
"The heart has infinite room inside it."
Today the volume expands to include
a five year old boy with a backpack
and his family.
So the day is full of sorrow.
And yet I'm still grateful for the daylight,
which seems obscene.
This is not a poem.
Just some thoughts
as I'm in a doctor's examination room
in a holding pattern.
Waiting for therapy, relief, good news, and mercy.
NIGHT PRAYER: Saturday 1/24
The forecast is calling for snow, Lord,
- 8 to 22 inches of snow -
so let the preparations begin!
We'll rush to the stores for bread and milk,
chips and dips, beer and wine
- all manner of tasty comfort foods -
as we hunker down for what's to come,
our shovels set by our doors....
We'll prepare for the worst:
for the deepest, iciest, heaviest snow
the skies might dump in our laps...
Would that we'd ready ourselves this well
to prepare for the weather that comes without fail:
gusts of pride,
clouds of war,
gales of greed,
squalls of anger,
drifts of lust,
from blizzards that cripple our fragile lives
and our efforts to live in peace
with our families and neighbors and enemies, Lord,
with nature, ourselves and with you...
Prepare us, Lord - make us ready -
and strengthen our will to do what's right
and give us wisdom to make good choices
and give us faith in you and your word
and plant your love deep in our souls
and brace us with grace
for whatever weather may come...
Protect us, Lord while we're awake
and watch over us while we sleep
that awake, we might keep watch with you
and asleep, rest in your peace...
Amen.
Tonight's music, a powerful song, will touch us all and especially the hearts of those who are living through a storm right now...
Through The Storm by V. Michael McKay
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The storms of life will blow
They're sure to come and go
They meet me at a time
when I'm calm and doing fine
But the captain of my soul,
he's always on board
He rocks me in his arms
While riding through the storm
While riding through the storm
Jesus holds me in his arms
I am not afraid
of the stormy winds and the waves
Though tides become high
He holds me while I ride
I found safety in his arms
While riding through the storm
I have no fear of the raging sea
Knowing Jesus is there with me
He can speak to the winds and the waves
And make them behave
All power's in his hand
On sea or dry land
I found safety in the master's arms
While riding through the storm
While I'm riding through the storm
Jesus holds me in his arms
No, I'm not afraid
of the stormy winds and the rains
Though the tide becomes high
He holds me while I ride
I found safety in the master's arms
While riding through the storm
Yeah, while I'm riding through the storm
Jesus holds me in his arms
while I'm riding through the storm
Let the winds blow, I don't care,
I'm riding through the storm with Jesus
Let the rains fall down,
I'm riding through the storm with Jesus
Jesus is the captain of my soul
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