Starter Prayer: God of our Stories, give me tireless curiosity to find the meaning in your story, my story, our stories. Give me the courage to ask, “What happened?” and the compassion to show mercy. Focus Phrase: Wonderful World Yesterday, we read Lauren Wright Pittman’s reflection on her oil-based ink drawing, “In Our Hands” (pp. […]

Starter Prayer: God of Mercy and Promise, help me join you in loving the earth and all her inhabitants. Lead me into new actions, expressing my gratitude for the wonder of creation. Focus Phrase: Creation Care Last summer I was sharing a reflection on Facebook Live. The topic was wisdom for discerning one’s vote in […]

Starter Prayer: God of Salvation, teach us to see you and feel your presence in the shifting circumstances of our lives. Focus Word: Shift God was close to Jesus in moments of shift. Rev. Denise Anderson ends her commentary on Jesus’ closeness with God writing: Again and again, God meets us where we are, but […]

Starter Prayer: God Who Meets Me at the Edge of Things: Help me allow your favor to fall on me like rain. Give me a vision living as the “beloved.” Make this identity Real to me. Focus Word: Beloved May the painting and commentary on Jesus’ Baptism from Rev. Lisle Gwynn Garrity open your eyes […]

Starter Prayer: God of good memories, help me perceive your closeness in our sweetest moments and in our boldest acts for justice and mercy. Amen Focus Phrase: Remember When I remember when I was struggling with an important decision and asked my spiritual director for help with how to pray. He suggested I ask God […]

Starter Prayer: Gracious God. Give us the ability to sense your presence in both momentary and monumental divine meetings. Focus Word: Meetings And so we begin the First (full) Week of Lent. May you be blessed with restful and rejuvenating days.  (By the way, we haven’t talked about “giving things up” for Lent. Have you […]

Starter Prayer: God of Discovery: Give me the imagination to see “I’m worth” the Invitation. Teach me to trust that “I’m worth it.”  Help me establish an identity of “Worth It”, once and for all. Focus Phrase: I’m worth it. This Weekend, Ryan is wrapping up the week of Ash Wednesday with a reflection about […]

Starter Prayer: God of effortless rising: Give us boundless energy to break the yoke of oppression, again and again. Holy Spirit, move in us, “pushing back, spinning out and rising.” Focus Phrase: Salvation is magical. Today’s scripture passage is as good as Bible poetry gets. And the artist, Hannah Garrity presents a glorious commentary on […]

Starter Prayer: God of genuine spirituality: Lead us through the steps of recovery from our addiction to approval. May we risk being real and present with you, ourselves and others. May we know the reward of deep connection. Focus Phrase: Connection with God I’ve studied Jesus’ warnings against spiritual grandstanding for most of my life. […]