New Year’s Prayer
I’ve admitted before that I often feel that I don’t really understand prayer. I think over the years I’ve accepted that I never will. Which doesn’t mean there isn’t more to learn. There is. A lot. And it doesn’t mean I won’t keep trying. I will. Prayer is important and, frankly, fascinating.
But I don’t think I’ve ever really understand it. And I think that’s okay. I can practice it without understanding it just as I keep loving, and accepting the love of, my family though I’ll don’t fully understand love either.
One thing I have come to believe about prayer, though, is that – as we were told as children regarding life in general – honesty is the best policy. Prayer, that is, should be a time when we can be most honest, striving to put into words our heartfelt feelings about our ups and down, dreams and disappointments, hopes and fears, and more. And when words fail, then we have the promise that God’s own Spirit intercedes with us and for us, and that even our sighs and groans become prayers.
So in that spirit, here is a prayer at the close of 2012. It won’t be the same as yours, but I hope you find time this day to reflect on and give thanks for the year past and anticipate the one to come, all in prayer. In the meantime, here’s mine; it’s not elegant, but it is honest.
Dear Lord,
A lot happened this year that was good, and I am thankful for all of it:
Friendships renewed or strengthened;
good work to do and good colleagues to do it with;
good health and a loving family;
books written, essays published, and lots (and lots!) of blog posts completed;
great students and a church and school committed to your mission;
vacation, travel, Outlaw Ranch, a family trip abroad;
an election and one more peaceful transfer of power;
the Olympics this summer and Adrian Peterson this fall. ☺
There’s more, of course, things I should remember but don’t, but that doesn’t mean I’m not grateful, just that my memory isn’t what it should be.
And a lot happened this year that was hard, and some of it still hurts:
Super storm Sandy and damage to countless millions;
bloodshed and misery in Syria;
too many campaign promises and not enough action;
too much hunger at home and abroad;
too much unemployment and too many families without homes;
too much illness and depression and hurt, in people I know and so many I don’t;
the loss of dear friends, some taken much too soon;
and the massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary. Dear Lord, that still hurts and will for so long to come.
Which reminds me of more for which I’m grateful:
All those people who reach out and help when things get hard – folks that volunteer after a storm, folks that send prayers and gifts, folks that go themselves just to hold onto families in distress, folks who send their dogs to bring comfort to scared kids, folks that give of their time and talent and money to make a difference.
I see you in those people – people of all different faiths and backgrounds committed to reaching out to those in need. I see you at work in and through them whether they know it or not, for wherever harm is done you suffer with us, and wherever good is attempted you encourage us.
A lot happened this year, Lord, and I commend it – good and bad, delicious and difficult, and everything in between – to you.
Let 2013 be better – for us, all of us, in this world you love so much.
Use me to make it so.
In the name of Emmanuel, Amen.
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