This is a prayer I shared on Facebook a week ago.

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Heavenly Father, thank you for a brand new day. I pray that I will make the most of it. I pray for healing for the sick. I pray for people who are struggling emotionally and/or financially.

Lord, despite all the bad news I hear every day, I woke up this morning thinking about how pleasant it was to go for a walk yesterday. Kids were out drawing on the sidewalks. Neighbors were out walking or playing golf. Last week, I really enjoyed going to the state park and seeing bison and antelope. I’m not the only one who is enjoying nature. Lynn, a photographer I follow on Facebook, couldn’t contain her joy at seeing a cedar waxwing in her yard. I feel her joy.

Lord, how I love the seasons. I don’t mind winter but eventually I tire of the snow and the grayness. I delight in the spring. Plants that lay dormant under a blanket of snow come back to life. Crocuses pop up like clockwork. They know when it is their time to bloom.

Long ago, Solomon wrote one of my favorite passages of scripture:

There is a time for everything,
and a season for every activity under the heavens:
a time to be born and a time to die,
a time to plant and a time to uproot,
a time to kill and a time to heal,
a time to tear down and a time to build,
a time to weep and a time to laugh,
a time to mourn and a time to dance,
a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,
a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing,
a time to search and a time to give up,
a time to keep and a time to throw away,
a time to tear and a time to mend,
a time to be silent and a time to speak,
a time to love and a time to hate,
a time for war and a time for peace.

Lord, this is a season for weeping. It is a time to pause and to reflect and to evaluate what is really important. It is a time to heal and a time to rebuild. It is a time to come together in unity even as we maintain our physical distance. Father, I pray for the strength and patience to endure this season.

Amen.

Photo by Anders Nord on Unsplash