Monday Prayer

Monday Prayer: a prayer for dear seniors Dear Lord, thank You for dear seniors. Thank You for years of wisdom and time well spent. Thank You for frolic, foolishness and time well wasted. Help me to listen well when they reminisce, again. Help me have compassion when they cannot remember. Lead me to special conversations,… Read More

Narrative Lectionary: Rituals Then and Now (Luke 2: 21-38)

This week’s lectionary passage, saturated in ritual and tradition, invites us to consider the rituals of our own lives. Read More

Thursday Prayer: the blessings we wish for

Dear God Sometimes I wish you were in the business of giving the kind of blessings that would protect us from the vulnerability of being human. No more painful emotions, no more suffering, no more conflict, no more prejudice. I hear your promise of salvation, that there will be no more crying, no more death,… Read More

Narrative Lectionary: Days of Blessedness Have Begun

At the end of last week’s passage, the Narrative Lectionary takes us from Jesus’ temptation in the wilderness to the beginning of his ministry, saying “repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven has come near”. In this week’s passage, we start to get a sense of what the Kingdom of Heaven (or commonwealth of heaven, as… Read More

Thursday Prayer: a blessing for a clergywoman

May God bless you this day: May God’s presence undergird your days: sustaining you in hope, indwelling you in peace, encouraging you in faith. May you find freedom and room to breathe when the space seems narrow; may you find boldness and clarity when you are called to speak truth to power;  may you find… Read More

Saturday Prayer – Blessing

May you hear the Voice calling, “You are my beloved.” And if you cannot hear it just now May you hear our voices instead. “We will hear the Voice for you, beloved, until you can hear it for yourself.” Amen.     ____________________________________________________________________________________ Jennifer Garrison Brownell serves as pastor at First Congregational Church -UCC in… Read More