Riding the Roller Coaster of Life!

For four weeks we’re going to ponder together this powerful mixture of feelings and challenges we all face in the world today, like: Feeling Anxious and Finding Calm; Feeling Fearful and Finding Hope; Feeling Exhausted and Finding Endurance; Feeling Frustrated and Finding Patience.

This is a both/and reality of life and faith right now! We seek to be calm, but there is much that makes us apprehensive! We strive to be hopeful, and there are some real fears out there and within! We have some capacity for endurance, and yet we can admit to being exhausted. We can muster some level of patience, and at the same time we can be quite frustrated! What shall we do?

Let’s turn to the gifts of scripture, prayer, songs, and our faith community! We’re all in this together, and Jesus has come to be with us in the thick of life’s ups and downs.

So here are some thoughts for today on being Calm AND Anxious! (As we pray for ourselves, let us remember also to pray for those who struggle from Anxiety Disorders, which is such a common affliction in our society. Pray for enough wise and caring mental health workers as well. Their work is as endless as that of First Responders and ICU staff.)

Prayer: God, who holds us in our anxiety God of grace and mercy, be present with us as we face an unknown future and as we walk paths untrodden. In the ever-changing and uncertain world where we find ourselves, help us to know and be assured that you are sovereign,
that you are all-knowing, all-powerful and ever-present. We know you are a good God who holds us in our anxiety and distress and who has a plan for our future. Calm our hearts and minds and give us hope in you, our only certain hope. We pray in the name of our Lord, Jesus Christ. Amen. ~ The Rev. David Loleng

Learn Psalm 131 (today’s first reading!) It’s one of the shortest, sweetest, easy-to-memorize Psalms!