SERENITY

Eternal God, our Father, we thank you that in the stillness of this hour we can gather together with Thee and one another. The world is so noisy, and we are so busy! Here we can find ourselves again, and better still, we can be found of Thee. We believe it is this place where we pray and hear your gospel that enables us to hear your voice out in the world above the noise of selfish strife.

We thank you today for thy hand of love which guides our lives, even when we are not aware of it. We confess our sin of willfulness. We have acted as if life were created by us, belongs to us, and is under our control. But when we live like this for long, we come to know how wrong we are, for our lives break down without and within. We have discovered, our Father, through bitter experience, that when we will not be governed by God, we will be ruled by tyrants--tyrants in government and tyrants in our own selves. We know the power of selfishness over us--our tempers, our greed, our self-indulgence, and we know what things like drugs and alcohol do to us. We are seeking meaning for our lives and release from our tense ways, but the things we resort to bring only hurt to ourselves and others. O Lord, may we have the strength and wisdom this very hour to forsake the artificial and unhappy life for the life that is life indeed within the love of Jesus Christ our Lord.

What we pray for ourselves we pray for all of our strife-torn world. Teach us how to seek peace and pursue it--in the world and among the races in our own land--and even in our neighborhoods and in the circle of our own families and friends.

We pray today for our loved ones who are away from us in military service. It is hard, our Father, to know peace when those we love are far away, but help us to know that in Jesus' keeping we are safe, and they. We pray for those who are bereaved--may they be comforted with the comfort which has comforted us in our own time of desolation. Bless the sick with your healing touch--and the aging and lonely with your companionship. And above all else, may any here today who know they are lost and wandering, find their true home in you and your salvation. All that we ask is in His name. Amen