God of grace and tenderness,
We come before you today carrying the worries of our lives and the worries of our world.
Your Word tells us, “Do not worry about tomorrow,” and yet, God, tomorrow can feel very frightening. We worry about our families, our finances, our health, our children, our communities, and the future of a world that seems increasingly uncertain. So today, we listen for that gentle invitation that Softly and Tenderly, you are calling.
Not calling us away from the world, but calling us more deeply into it. It feels like an invitation to call us away from fear and toward courage. Away from indifference and toward compassion. Away from division and toward beloved community.
So today, God, we pray for our nation. In a time when political disagreements can become personal hatred for some, when immigrants and their families live with uncertainty, and when many people struggle with the cost of simply getting by, remind us that our neighbors are not statistics, problems, or political talking points. They are your beloved children..
Teach us to seek not simply our own security, but the well-being of everyone. And when we are tempted to retreat into our own little corners, softly and tenderly call us back into community.
We remember those in our community today who are not able to be with us in person. Remind them they are not alone and that they are loved by us, and especially by You. We pray for those who are suffering from cancer, those who feel the sting of death in their families, those suffering from the pain of depression and loneliness, those who are estranged from families and friends and aren’t quite sure how to reconnect to healthy relationships.
When tomorrow feels overwhelming, remind us that we are not called to solve the whole world today. Give us today’s courage, Today’s compassion. Today’s bread. Today’s work for justice. Today’s opportunity to love someone who needs to know they are not alone.
Not that we might become people who never worry, but people who refuse to let worry have the final word. When fear calls loudly, may we hear your voice softly. When hatred calls for more hatred, may we hear your invitation to love. When despair tells us nothing can change, may we hear you calling us toward hope.
And when we have wandered too far into fear, division, or loneliness, may we hear that familiar invitation to come home…to grace, to love, to one another, and to the beloved community you are always calling us to become.
Softly and tenderly, we know you are calling. May we listen.
We pray this in the name of the one who taught us to pray saying…
Our Father, who art in heaven,
hallowed be thy name.
Thy kingdom come, thy will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our trespasses,
as we forgive those who trespass against us.
And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory forever.
Amen.