The faithful pilgrims from all over come to the Holy Land. They pray, they worship, they bow down, they cry, they kiss the ground or stone or icon, and they light candles in all the holy sites. To many of us, these practices are strange, odd and even off-putting. But I find a beauty and a sincerity in all the familiar and unfamiliar prayer.
As YOU pray this morning, in whatever tradition and language and practice that is yours, light a candle for Ferguson, for the US House and Senate, for Syria, Lebanon, Egypt, Israel, Palestine, for Turkey, for the Ukraine, for the homeless, for those with mental illness, for addicts and prisoners, for the hungry and homeless, for your own vacant heart, for the newborn and the aged, for the forgotten and the lonely, for the one sitting next to you and the one far away, and for any and all of the prayers of your own heart. Pray and pray and pray. Pray as if your life depended upon it. It does.
I Thessalonians 5 (The Message)
Final Instructions
12 Now we ask you, brothers and sisters, to acknowledge those who labor among you and preside over you in the Lord and admonish you, 13 and to esteem them most highly in love because of their work. Be at peace among yourselves. 14 And we urge you, brothers and sisters, admonish the undisciplined, comfort the discouraged, help the weak, be patient toward all. 15 See that no one pays back evil for evil to anyone, but always pursue what is good for one another and for all. 16 Always rejoice, 17 constantly pray, 18 in everything give thanks. For this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. 19 Do not extinguish the Spirit. 20 Do not treat prophecies with contempt. 21 But examine all things; hold fast to what is good. 22 Stay away from every form of evil.
Conclusion
23 Now may the God of peace himself make you completely holy and may your spirit and soul and body be kept entirely blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. 24 He who calls you is trustworthy, and he will in fact do this. 25 Brothers and sisters, pray for us too. 26 Greet all the brothers and sisters with a holy kiss. 27 I call on you solemnly in the Lord to have this letter read to all the brothers and sisters. 28 The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.
Photo: Lights at St. Peter of Gallicantu
