Morning Prayer Friday, 11 September 2020

Good morning, Cornerstone friends and welcome guests!

We begin today with verses from Psalm 143:

I call to mind times long past;
I think over all you have done.
The wonders of your creation fill my mind.
I thirst for you like a thirsty land.
I lift my outspread hands to you.

Lord, answer me soon;
my spirit faints.
Do not hide your face from me
or I shall be like those who go down to the abyss.
In the morning let me know of your love,
for I put my trust in you,
show me the way that I must take
for my heart is set on you.

Psalm 143: 5–8

Nineteen years ago today I was at work, sorting out my desk in preparation for a week away.
Our daughter had been married that May and my sister’s boy was to marry that Saturday, 15 September.
We would have two transatlantic celebrations in one year. It was going to be wonderful.
Suddenly I was called into the boardroom, full of my colleagues watching television.
I was just in time to see the second plane arrive at the World Trade Centre.
Since then my life, our life, has never been the same.
The whole world has been engaged in some kind of conflict for almost a generation.
Thirty-seven million people have been displaced: the triumph of bigotry over compassion.

The wedding was a great occasion which we shared through photographs some time later (no Facebook or You Tube back then).
My sister and I are now grandparents of lively teenagers whose lives have never known real peace,
who have never enjoyed a world free of threat.

Thank you Lord for this new day and all the memories tied to this date.
Thank you for the joy of family, especially our Cornerstone Family.
We pray for people whose memories can only bring sadness.
Fill all our hearts with your wonder, enliven our spirits with your hope and our day with your wonderful love.

Amen

A reminder from Lamentations:

Our Lord’s love is surely not exhausted
nor has his compassion failed;
they are new every morning,
so great is God’s faithfulness.

Lamentations 3: 22–23

Now we are caught, my sister and I, in a global pandemic sharing our coping strategies long distance.
Judy makes quilts and goes camping with her husband in the wide-open places of State Parks and the National Forest.
I stitch, tend the garden and allotment and stay put with mine.
Different governments, different rules.
I pray for her safety every day but don’t overly worry about mine.
The grumbling wars, far away or on the streets of our big cities, keep cooking up the hatred soup.
I can only rely on the inexhaustible love of the Lord.

Lord, in a world troubled by wars, cruelty and injustice,
where fragile peace is still wracked by hatred of your skin colour,
the way you walk, the voice of your speaking, the way you dress or don’t,
help us live fully in the diversity we share.
Give us courage to speak out against bigotry,
lift up the eyes downcast by oppression
and support the offended with actions and words of justice.

Amen

At Cornerstone we are a community from every corner of the earth. Isaiah reminds us:

‘I took you from the ends of the earth
and summoned you from its farthest corners;
I said, “you are my servant”,
I have chosen you and not rejected you.
Have no fear for I am with you;
be not afraid for I am your God.
I shall strengthen you and help you
and uphold you with my victorious right hand.’

Isaiah 41: 9–11

So how to meet this brand new day?
Well, not rolling in the dust of despair nor treating every stranger with fear.

Lord, let me know you are beside me today, keeping me safe.
Light up my smile with genuine joy, help me be a good part of today for the people I meet.
You have called me here from halfway round the world – I am yours.

Amen

I’ll finish my tea, put shoes on my feet and get this Friday morning on the road!
God bless us all.

Cheryl Montgomery