DAY 18

Image by Bruce Guentner

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A Greeting
Listen to the sound of my cry, my God,
for to you I pray.
(Psalm 5:2)

A Reading
Answer me quickly, O God; my spirit fails.
Do not hide your face from me, or I shall be like those who go down to the Pit.
Let me hear of your steadfast love in the morning, for in you I put my trust.
Teach me the way I should go, for to you I lift up my soul.
Teach me to do your will, for you are my God.
Let your good spirit lead me on a level path.
(Psalm 143:7-8;10)

Music


Meditative Verse
Answer me, O God, for your steadfast love is good;
according to your abundant mercy, turn to me.
(Psalm 69:16)

A Prayer Story
Following a brief illness, my dad passed away in August of 2014. During his hospital stay, my mom and I were able to visit and spend time with him every day. In the days following my dad's passing, there was great tension and distance with my siblings and me, and after the funeral each sibling went on their own path with no communication for a number of years. Looking back, I believe I understand, my siblings had unfinished business with my dad. I was able to put our differences aside, make peace with him and spend the last thirty days of his life with him. I prayed daily for God to give us healing and bring family unity to us. I wrote countless letters to my siblings, expressing my forgiveness of them, only to receive no response. I felt frustrated, angry. Why was God not listening to me? I was lonely, I missed my siblings, did God not realize this? On the morning of November 29, 2017 I awoke with the words "you be the change". Those words rattled around in my mind all day. How could I be the change? Then it came to me, I needed to be the one to apologize to my siblings. I believe it was God that spoke to me that night. I texted each sibling, asking it they would be available for a phone call that day. Everyone responded and was agreeable. It was the longest, most emotional day of my life. I cried in joy and fell to my knees to thank God. It was selfish of me to think that because I was ready to move on, others should be too. It was not just about my timing, or my siblings timing but God's timing. It was about me having faith that God had control of the situation. Forgiveness gives us love and love is our answer in this world. I realize I was never alone, God carried me through this storm and was always listening to me.
- Marcie Klassen, Prince Albert, Saskatchewan

Verse for the Day
Show us your steadfast love, O God,
and grant us your salvation.
(Psalm 85:7)

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Image Source

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In today’s story, Marcie Klassen describes a time when it felt as if God was not listening to her prayer. Having prayed long and hard for healing in her family, nothing seemed to be happening. Answer me quickly, O God, says the psalmist in today’s reading and often this is how we feel: if God would just answer our prayer, things would be all right. But answers to prayer often do not come in the form we expect. When we pray, we are conditioning our hearts to be listening to the way that God walks with us and is always working in us. We are more likely to be experiencing a transformation within, whether we are aware or can feel or sense it — or not. Even as we struggle, God is there. “Each tear that falls is holy, each breaking heart a throne,” sings Madison Cunningham in today's music. “For there is One who loves me, His heart, it breaks with mine.” Advent is all about believing as Marcie tells us, that God is listening always, whether we hear an answer or not, and that God’s love always brings new life in some way. “Forgiveness gives us love and love is our answer in this world,” writes Marcie. When she finally heard a way forward, she realized she was never alone, and that God was always listening all the time. “You be the change,” she hears. Can we imagine God saying this to us too? Not only in our personal struggles, but in our role in the climate and ecological crisis? In your prayer today, consider asking God what is the change God wants you to be at a time when every moment counts. What is the path of transformation that your prayer invites you to today?


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LC† Praying for Creation is a project of
Lutherans Connect / Lutheran Campus Ministry Toronto,
supported by the Eastern Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada.
Join our Facebook and follow us @LutConnect

DAY 5

Image by Roberto García Ruiz

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A Greeting
"Come," my heart says, "seek God's face!"
Your face, oh Lord, do I seek.
(Psalm 27:8)

A Reading
God created me at the beginning before the first works of Creation. Ages ago I was set up, at the first, before the beginning of the earth. When there were no depths I was brought forth, when there were no springs abounding with water. Before the mountains had been shaped, before the hills, I was brought forth — when God had not yet made earth and fields, or the world’s first bits of soil. When God established the heavens, I was there.
(Proverbs 8:22-27a)

Music
Note: Today's music offering is two songs.


Meditative Verse
What has come into being in him was life,
and the life was the light of all people.
(John 1:3b-4)

A Prayer Story
About a month after my surgery for prostate cancer, I found myself on a trail near Dovrefjell Norway. A group of us had long planned to walk the St. Olaf Way, a path from Oslo to Trondheim, tracing the mountainous spine of “the roof of Norway”. I had been looking forward to it so much that when my hospital date interfered I was determined: if the surgery went well – and even more if it didn’t - I would walk with the others. Being only a few weeks out from the operation meant no one was sure yet if the surgeon “had got it all”. I was in a fragile, tender place physically, emotionally, and spiritually. We had just finished a hard ascent over rocky terrain swollen with spring run-off from the snowbanks still clinging to high ground. Then, over the treeless summit, and –- I found myself crying, and praying, and giving thanks to the Creator. Before our eyes, mile after mile of God’s creation stretched green and grey and blue to a far-distant ring of mountains. It was austere, and hushed, and haunting. Without thinking, my arms went up and out, as far as I could reach. “This,” I kept saying. I could think of no other words: “This.” And eventually: “thank you.” I’d been granted a vision that my little life was part of this beauty, and that whatever happened next, it was all pure gift. Now, almost seven years later, I still find myself, sometimes, stretching out my arms, walking with thanks while trying to take it all in. Part of the discipline of praying-walking, for me, is remembering with every step, the gift of now.
- Pastor Matthew Anderson, Montreal, QC
You can read more of Matthew's writing on his blogs: somethinggrand.ca
and unsettledwords.com

Verse for the Day
From God's fullness we have all received,
grace upon grace.
(John 1:16)

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Image by May Klausen

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Sometimes we lose track of the fact that we carry the burdens of our lives very physically in our bodies. In today’s prayer story, Matthew Anderson takes us on a journey from a challenging surgery to a walk through a mountain range in Norway. His soul desire to keep a planned vacation hike on an ancient pilgrim trail becomes even more important than it had been and he is determined to fulfill it. After a strenuous walk, his arms “go out and up” as he beholds a sudden sweeping vista. That remembered sense of joy continues in his times of prayer-walking, long after. We carry the burdens and griefs and hopes and disappointments of our lives in our bodies, and so did Jesus. The one who became flesh and dwelled among us experienced the pain and suffering that humans feel. If we associate Jesus with the Word and with the very beginning of the Creation story, if we consider Jesus as a very part of Creation itself, then is it possible to imagine the suffering of our planet as also the suffering of Jesus? What would Jesus say about our planet and the crisis we are in? And yet when we live in Advent hope, we are moving away from suffering and toward a deep commitment to new life. “We beheld the glory of the father”, sing today’s two choirs: the St. Olaf Choir from Minnesota and the Nidaros Cathedral Girl’s Choir in Norway. The two groups facing each other in a perfect blend of voices, sing first in celebration of the glory of God that is revealed by Jesus becoming human and dwelling among us. The second song takes us to the first verses of the Gospel of John that describe Jesus’ presence at the birth of the world. There is always the chance to make all things new. In his story, Matthew had to struggle up the mountain before he could find that place of hushed wonder with himself and God. We too have much work ahead of us in order to experience the joy that comes from surviving suffering. And it likely will be worse before it can be better. How can we lean toward hope while also holding in our hearts the knowledge of the work that lies ahead? What does the renewal of Creation look like to you, and how does it begin in your own world?


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LC† Praying for Creation is a project of
Lutherans Connect / Lutheran Campus Ministry Toronto,
supported by the Eastern Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada.
Join our Facebook and follow us @LutConnect