Candle Lighting
We light this candle as a people of faith, remembering that we find belonging in family and in community.
May the burning flame remind us that, in this (virtual) space, as we join together for conversation and connection in the awareness of God’s presence…
All are welcome;
All are bearers of God’s light;
Everyone and everything belongs here.
Opening Prayer
We confess to you, Lord, what we are: We are not the people we like others to think we are;
We are afraid to admit even to ourselves what lies in the depths of our souls.
But we do not want to hide our true selves from you.
We believe that you know us as we are, and yet you love us. Help us not to shrink from self – knowledge; teach us to respect ourselves for your sake; give us the courage to put our trust in your love and tenderness towards us.
We also confess to you, Lord, the unrest in our world, to which we contribute and in which we share.
Forgive our reliance on power and violence; our cool indifference to the needs of others;
our discrimination against people of different race, social means and sexual orientation; our preoccupation with material standards;
Forgive our being unsure of the good news about you and about us.
Raise us out of the paralysis of guilt and shame into the freedom and energy of people forgiven, graced and embraced.
And for those who through long habit find forgiveness hard to accept, we ask that they may find courage to break their bondage and be set free.
Through Jesus Christ our Lord, Amen.
A few thoughts on the art of conversation
When we gather in small groups to talk and to listen, we have the opportunity to understand each other better, to be understood ourselves and to grow closer to one another through this shared telling and hearing.
We also have the opportunity to judge one another, dismiss each other, to hide by dominating or to hide by shrinking.
The art of conversation is like a tennis match where the idea is not to score points and so win, but just to keep the ball in play. Engaging in conversation, when we do it well, is is like being on a carefully balanced see saw of open sharing and open listening. But this can only happen when we feel safe – when we feel others really are listening, and when we risk sharing honestly a little bit of the truth of who we are (not too much at once!)… I think everyone is finding that this is especially difficult in a virtual forum because we miss having the non verbal cues of body language and ‘presence’ that tell us when it is safe and when it is not safe.
So perhaps you might bring an extra layer of awareness to your conversations this week – whenever you are talking and whoever you are talking with – and aim to let your listening build a safe space for everyone to share and to be present with each other.
As we gather this week to reflect on Julia Grace’s message about mental health and wellness, it may be even more important than normal that we listen and speak kindly, gently and with openness and acceptance. We are so accustomed to the idea that being strong means not needing help, that being successful (whatever that means) is the most important measure of a life, we can really struggle to admit that we struggle with anything.
Questions for conversation
- What in Julia Grace’s message spoke to you today? Is there a story to tell behind that?
- What was one helpful thing that you’ll take away to think about or put into place in your own life?
- Was there something that might help you journey better with others?
- Was there anything that gave you pause/ made you stop and think/prompted a question?
- What intentional things have you been doing during lockdown to take care of your sense of wellbeing? What has been especially challenging for you?
Prayers of the people
Loving God, you call us in love, to love you and one another. Love is your way and your will for our world. Love is your invitation and love is your remedy. When we pause to consider all the things that we would bring to you in prayer today we become aware that so often, it is love that is missing.
Silence
- We pray for families where relationships are strained and unhappy, where people do not talk or seem to care, where hurt is constant and healing seems far away.
May your love and touch and transform their lives.
Silence
- We pray for the world wide family of your church – the church which professes your love and yet where love is sometimes missing; where relationships between those of different traditions is not easy; where disunity is fostered more than unity.
May your love touch and transform the life of the church.
Silence
- We pray for the nations of our world where broken relationships have caused trouble, and strife and war, where people use violence to get their own way and where love has little chance of breaking in.
May your love touch and transform these places.
Silence
- We pray for those whose lives would be strengthened by the knowledge of your love and your presence at this time: those who face illness; those who have to deal with change that brings fear and uncertainty; those who are under pressure and feel as if life is closing in on them; those who are overwhelmed by worry and cannot break free.
May your love touch and transform their lives.
Silence
- We pray for those whose names we bring to you now in the silence of this moment……
God who is love, may your love touch and transform the lives of all those we have brought to you this day.
And may it touch our lives that we may live in ways that bring that same love to those around us.
This we ask in the name of Jesus the Christ. AMEN.
Blessing
May the blessing of the healing story of love be upon us and inspire our own living and loving.
May the blessing of joyful connections be upon us and move us to delight in our differences.
May the blessing of hope be upon us and lead us onward into this new day and fullness of life.
May the blessing of peace be upon us and draw us towards wholeness and justice.
And may the Faithful, Joyful Living God bless us and keep us this day and evermore. Amen.
