Tuesday, August 12, 2014

A Prayer for Tuesday, August 12, 2014

Sad

O God,

There are days when everything is not all right;
there are days when everything is not coming up roses;
there are days when we are sad.

Maybe we are sad because someone has died;
maybe we are sad because someone has left;
maybe we are said because someone is sick;
maybe we are sad because someone has disappointed;
maybe we are sad because we have failed;
maybe we are sad because so many people are hurting;
maybe we are sad because of what so many children are going through;
maybe we are sad because war is so prevalent and accepted and desired;
maybe we are sad because people are hungry or homeless or impoverished;
maybe we are sad because so many people don’t care;
maybe we are sad because the world seems so sad.

Sometimes we should be sad;
sometimes sadness is the only appropriate response;
sometimes the only way to be human is to be sad;
sometimes to deny our sadness is to deny the truth;
sometimes to flee from sadness is to flee from life;
sometimes to deny sadness is to deny ourselves.

So help us to allow ourselves to be sad if we need to be sad;
help us to live into our sadness if that is what it takes to live honestly;
help us to accept our sadness as a gift that teaches us of our humanity;
help us to experience sadness as solidarity with others who are sad;
help us to learn from our sadness of your sadness.

Remind us that while
joy comes in the morning,
it’s not morning all the time—
and we don’t have to pretend that it is.

Amen.

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