Here we are together.
A flock near this watering hole.
We long for living water from you
And sustenance from those around us.
We delight in belonging to each other.
Teach us, Oh God, to love those who are
the same and those who are different.
Show us the limits of our own understanding
and the vast reality of yours.
We call to one another.
Voices are all around us, both familiar and strange.
We follow those who resonate with us
And even gather on the road less traveled.
We are drawn to those who are like us.
Teach us, Oh God, to love those who are
the same and those who are different.
Show us the limits of our own understanding
and the vast reality of yours.
This is human survival.
And also human limitation, as we do what is done.
We listen to those who think what we think.
We find comfort in knowing we are not the other.
We turn away from the ones outside.
Teach us, Oh God, to love those who are
the same and those who are different.
Show us the limits of our own understanding
and the vast reality of yours.
In the name of God, the creator of all,
Christ the reconciler,
And the Spirit of all Truth.
Amen.
(Vox Prayer Team)
Scripture
We invite you to hear from the book of 1 Samuel 8:4-9
4 Then all the elders of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel at
Ramah 5 and said to him, “You are old, and your sons do not follow in
your ways; appoint for us, then, a king to govern us, like other nations.”
6 But the thing displeased Samuel when they said, “Give us a king to
govern us.” Samuel prayed to the Lord, 7 and the Lord said to Samuel,
“Listen to the voice of the people in all that they say to you, for they have
not rejected you, but they have rejected me from being king over them.
8 Just as they have done to me from the day I brought them up out of
Egypt to this day, forsaking me and serving other gods, so also they are
doing to you. 9 Now then, listen to their voice; only, you shall solemnly
warn them and show them the ways of the king who shall reign over
them.
The Word of the Lord.
Thanks be to God!
The grass withers and the flower fades,
but the Word of the Lord endures forever. Amen.
Homily and Reflection
Podcast: Forfeiting Our Peculiarity
Where might you acknowledge your own understanding as partial and incomplete?
Have you experienced co-creating understanding with someone?
What might it look like for you to take one step closer to someone important to you, who you disagree with this week?
Resources
- Book: I Never Thought of It That Way: How to Have Fearlessly Curious Conversations in Dangerously Divided Times by Mónica Guzmán
- Video: Belonging: The Science of Creating Connection and Bridging Divides by Geoffrey L. Cohen
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=shqgkOTeS6U - Video: How to Understand and Be Understood by Dr. Ruchi Sinha
Benediction
May you be filled with everything you need:
Love, acceptance, food, rest.
May your connection to God and others be so rich
That you have room for those who are not like you.
May you have opportunities to co-create understanding
With mutual respect, grace, and love.
May you be solid in who you are made to be
And ever open to change and growth.
In the name of God who provides,
Christ who connects
And the Spirit who shapes us.
Amen.
(Vox Prayer Team)
[Photo by Rasa Kasparaviciene]