Sundays in Lent
Prayer
Pastoral Prayers For All Seasons
Object:
O God, our Redeemer, in the silence of this hallowed place, we come to you filled with all the cacophony of our lives. Our thoughts are tumbling on one another, pushing us first this way and then that way. Even when silence fills the space about us, we can still be distracted by all that is happening within us. We don't always know how noisy our inner lives are until we come to a quiet place.
Quiet can be unnerving. So we turn on the television even when we don't plan to watch it. "It keeps us company," we tell our friends. It also ends the silence. We turn the ignition key to our car, squeeze the handle of our drill, push the button on our microwave oven, set the dial on our washer, pull the rope on our mower, talk to the cat, the dog -- even the fish, fold and unfold the newspaper, dial the telephone -- anything but silence, anything.
What is so fearful about silence? Will something come to mind that we don't want to think about? Is it loneliness we dread? Or is it emptiness that gives us chills? Perhaps it is simply that we haven't given quietness an opportunity to be a friend.
Quietness isn't our enemy. It is where you dwell, Savior, waiting for the time when your word can be spoken, when healing can begin, when forgiveness can be granted, when joy can give shape to the rest of our days. So we enter into silence waiting and listening.
In quietness you will renew our spirit. Amen.
Quiet can be unnerving. So we turn on the television even when we don't plan to watch it. "It keeps us company," we tell our friends. It also ends the silence. We turn the ignition key to our car, squeeze the handle of our drill, push the button on our microwave oven, set the dial on our washer, pull the rope on our mower, talk to the cat, the dog -- even the fish, fold and unfold the newspaper, dial the telephone -- anything but silence, anything.
What is so fearful about silence? Will something come to mind that we don't want to think about? Is it loneliness we dread? Or is it emptiness that gives us chills? Perhaps it is simply that we haven't given quietness an opportunity to be a friend.
Quietness isn't our enemy. It is where you dwell, Savior, waiting for the time when your word can be spoken, when healing can begin, when forgiveness can be granted, when joy can give shape to the rest of our days. So we enter into silence waiting and listening.
In quietness you will renew our spirit. Amen.
