Thursday, November 6, 2014

A Prayer for Thursday, November 6, 2014

Matter

O God,

On the one hand, everything in life matters because every moment of life is unique and precious. Even that which is simple and seemingly trivial—watching a favorite television show with our spouse, talking with our child about her or his day, listening to the morning birds sing, sitting in silence, for examples—can be filled with meaning. Teach us to celebrate such simple meaningful moments.

On the other hand, some things in life matter more than others. Sometimes we lose perspective and give way too much of our time and energy to things that are so trivial as to be nearly meaningless. The tragedy of it is that we then have way too little time and energy to give to things that are truly meaningful.

Perhaps it is the case that the more we focus on ourselves, the smaller and narrower and less meaningful our lives will become. It’s not that we don’t matter; it’s just that our calling is to love you with all we are and to love our neighbor as we love ourselves. It’s not that we are not to be self-aware; it’s just that our lives matter more when we focus on giving ourselves away for your sake and for the sake of others.

Remind us that to grow in Christ-likeness is to grow in our desire, willingness, and commitment to serve rather than to be served and to give our lives away rather than to hold on to them greedily and fearfully.

Remind us that living lives in which we give grace because we have received grace and give love because we have received love is what matters most …

Amen.

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