I pray you are having a good start to your weekend and are enjoying the cooler temperatures. It finally feels like Fall! And I’m looking forward to celebrating our Stewardship Season and Fall Festival with you this Sunday. We’ll gather for worship and be invited to return our commitment to giving cards. (Many thanks to all of you who have already returned your card!) Following worship we’ll enjoy visiting, activities for children, and plenty of good food provided by some of our microloan recipients. I hope to see you there!
As I prepare for the conclusion of Stewardship season this Sunday, I am also in the middle of worship plans for November and December. This is how life is lived for all of us, it seems. We look to the near future while also looking to events further down the road. On Sunday, October 27, I’ll begin a short three-sermon series on Grief and Loss. And then, on December 1 we kick off the Advent season. As I research ideas for these sermon series, there is an additional season that seems to be looming in my mind - Election Season. No matter how much there is to juggle on any given day, the presidential election weighs on me. I know I’m not alone. For reasons we know well, these next several weeks are filled with anticipation among other intense emotions. A few weeks ago when I was having difficulty sleeping, I tossed and turned with worries and hopes about the future. I finally got out of bed and wrote down this Prayer Psalm for Election Day that came to me during the night. As I wrote and prayed, you were never far away from my thoughts. The prayer concludes,
“Thank You for this community we know and love called University UMC. However our tomorrows turn out, may we continue to say yes to this chosen family. Wherever our tomorrows lead, remind us that Your Love and Light go with us. And whatever our tomorrows hold, remind us we are held by You.”
May it be so!
What a joy to be your pastor!
Teresa
A Prayer Psalm for Election Day
by Teresa Welborn
Election Day is coming and all the earth is expectant
The anticipation of Good News fills the air
Worry about the worst does, too
And so, we turn to You, Our Creator and Sustainer.
Give to us the peace that passes this world’s understanding.
You have the strength to receive all of who we are into Your Holy
Presence
Cradle all we hold and carry in Your gentle care
Our emotions stirred up in our souls
Our thoughts racing through our minds
Our bodies that know
Our bodies know this moment carries with it the future.
In our waiting, we have different needs and wants.
Some of us need to watch the news. All of it. So we don’t miss anything.
Some of us need to turn it off. At least some of the time. So we don’t go crazy.
Some of us need to be alone. Cocooned in a place filled with quiet and stillness.
Some of us need to be with others
Finding shelter in a place filled with noise and people
Some of us need to run around the block. Fast. Multiple Times.
Some of us need to light a candle and watch it burn.
The needs of your people are many, O God.
Hear us as we pray through these hours and days in our various ways.
As You, Heart of the Beloved, hold us
We bring the prayers held in our hearts.
When we lament our part in the brokenness of the world,
Have mercy upon us.
When we look upon neighbor and family as enemies,
Have mercy upon us.
When we hope for what could be and fear for what might be,
Grant us Your peace.
In all our expectations and in all that’s unexpected
We trust Your good gifts of Hope and Healing are birthed among us
When we resist injustice
When we believe love is stronger than hate
When we show up for one another
When we follow the Jesus Way of Peace right where we are.
Thank You for this community we know and love called University UMC.
However our tomorrows turn out, may we continue to say yes to this chosen family.
Wherever our tomorrows lead, remind us that Your Love and Light go with us.
And whatever our tomorrows hold, remind us we are held by You.
