Sitting at my desk this morning, my coat collar turned up against the cold - the heating had failed again and it was minus six outside - I opened my first (work) email of the year. It was a leadership briefing from the Micah Network and the words which caught my eye were, "May God bless us with discomfort"!
Thank you Dino Touthang (chair of the Micah Network) for reminding us at the start of this new year of St. Francis' powerful blessing.
May God bless us with discomfort ... at easy answers, half-truths, and suferficial relationships, so that we may live deeply within our hearts.
May God bless us with anger ... at injustice, oppression, and exploitation of people, so that we may work for justice, freedom and peace.
May God bless us with tears ... to shed for those who suffer from pain, rejection, starvation and war, so that we may reach out our hands to comfort them, and to turn their pain to joy.
And may God bless us with enough foolishness ... to beleve that we can make a difference in this world, so that we can do what others claim cannot be done. Amen.
Dare I pray that?
Posts
Thanks for this - inspirational
ReplyDeleteMaybe we can post it on the Asia Prayer Blog to inspire others as well
I like that very much indeed and though it might well be a painful prayer for some in a changing faces context it might well work as a way of challenging others to think about face equality.
ReplyDeletewww.changingfaces.org.uk
Mark, have you ever come across prayers or liturgy that relates to facial or bodily disfigurement?
Colin Darling