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Sending this message today seems a futile exercise considering the media deluge of our national distress. Nevertheless, perhaps something small and quiet, a reminder of who we are and Whose we are would help center our hearts and minds on things that matter most as we make our way into the day.
I suggest at some point you carve out a quiet moment, say, 15 minutes even. This will take some effort to decouple from technology and the media hysteria. Become still. Clear your mind. Yes, we’re in the midst of a political crisis. Disorientation and powerlessness swamp consciousness. Time to pause, take a breath and take heart from the core of faith.
There are things to be done by faithful people, but they won’t be found in the grand and noisy gesture. They’ll likely be quite small and very local. As a personal matter, over the years I’ve discovered that crisis moments are susceptible to spiritual intervention. I’m cast back into remembering that, “The eternal God is your refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms.” (Deut. 33:27)
So, I pulled out an old standby as my meditation this morning, The Prayer of St. Francis, so-called. Simple and accessible works well for me when my heart and mind are racing. Maybe the same is true for you.
Lord, make me an instrument of your peace.
Where there is hatred, let me bring love.
Where there is offense, let me bring pardon.
Where there is discord, let me bring union.
Where there is error, let me bring truth.
Where there is doubt, let me bring faith.
Where there is despair, let me bring hope.
Where there is darkness, let me bring your light.
Where there is sadness, let me bring joy.
O Master, let me not seek as much
to be consoled as to console,
to be understood as to understand,
to be loved as to love,
for it is in giving that one receives,
it is in self-forgetting that one finds,
it is in pardoning that one is pardoned,
it is in dying that one is raised to eternal life.
Seems to me that if I set to living in this manner today I will have done my very best to be a light in the midst of the enveloping storm. God is. Love loves. God saves. Remember that. Take heart. Do some good.
Rev. Dr. Stephen P. Bauman is the Senior Minister at Christ Church.