As the year is drawing to a close, I invite you to think about your families. If you are like most other families, there are unresolved issues. Now might be a good time to try to reconcile, or, if that is not possible, to forgive them in your heart. A wise person once said that it is by forgiving that we grant ourselves freedom. I offer you this prayer from A Concord Pastor to help you focus on what really matters in our families.
Hold my family in your arms, Lord:
may your embrace bring peace and healing
to any hurt and grudges keeping us
from loving one another…Give each of us the grace to pardon and forgive
and, graciously, be pardoned and forgiven…Help us think of others, sisters, brothers,
before we tend to our own needs;
and in our sharing and forgiving
help us make and be a family in your love…Amen.
