Today's author is the Rev. Eric Anderson, Minister of Communications and Technology for the Connecticut Conference, UCC.
On this mountain the Lord of hosts will make for all peoples
A feast of rich food, a feast of well-aged wines,
Of rich food filled with marrow, of well-aged wines strained clear.
And he will destroy on this mountain
The shroud that is cast over all peoples,
The sheet that is spread over all nations;
He will swallow up death forever.
Then the Lord God will wipe away the tears from all faces,
And the disgrace of his people he will take away from all the earth,
For the Lord has spoken.
It will be said on that day,
Lo, this is our God; we have waited for him, so that he might save us.
This is the Lord for whom we have waited;
Let us be glad and rejoice in his salvation.
We are shocked and horrified, our God, at the violence at Fort Hood yesterday. So many torn from life; so many sorely wounded; so many scared and grieving; so many who will mourn.
We struggle to make sense of senselessness. We grasp for each new piece of information in the hope that here, at last, will be that piece which "fits," that will explain and somehow dignify the wounds, the grief, the death. We pray that, by your grace, we may, in days to come, learn better how to care for those who serve our nation in its most perilous places. We pray that, by your grace, we may learn better how to care for ourselves, to step away from violent despair. We pray that, by your grace, we may learn better how to care for those around us, to share the strength you give us and to feed their inner hopes.
But those prayers, and those learnings, Holy One, belong to future days. Today our hearts are with the wounded, with the grieving, and with the dead. We ask that you bring healing to the injured, for their bodies, minds and spirits. We ask that you bring tenderness and comfort to those who mourn for one they loved. We ask that you embrace the souls of those whose home is now with you, to wipe away every tear, and give them joy of their salvation.
Accept this prayer, and the prayers of all our hearts, in the loving spirit by which you sent our savior Jesus Christ. Amen.
To read previous editions of the Spirit Calendar, visit:
http://www.ctucc.org/fido/spiritcalendar/
To learn more about or subscribe to the Spirit Calendar, visit:
http://www.ctucc.org/fido/
The Spirit Calendar: November 06, 2009 by Rev. Eric S. Anderson, Minister of Communications and Technology
