June Prayers | For a season of rest
“Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly.”
As we enter into the slower summer months, we pray that you will find deep moments of rest and restoration. That you can come home to yourself, to God, and to those around you. That you can soak up the beauty of our fertile world in which you take your steps. That you can uncover a fresh understanding of both your belovedness and a love for the world around you. - Christy Yates, Associate Director
Enjoy this selection from “A Liturgy for Leaving on Holiday,” from Every Moment Holy, Vol. 1.
O, Christ Our Sabbath,
You have fashioned us to function best
in rhyming lines of work and rest;
our relaxations and recreations
like unspoken invitations
to that still greater holiday to come -
when all burdens will at last be shed
and weariness be put to bed,
and gladsome joy stretch endlessly before us.Bless now, O Lord,
this happy foretaste of that good end!…Bless the days to come:
the days of duties undone,
unbuckled, unbound.
Bless our pilgrim quest for restoration!…Waken our vision to perceive
such subtle expressions of your nature.
Rouse also our hearts
that we might be quietly shaped
by those whisperings of divine beauty…You are our rest, Jesus.
May this vacation serve your holy purposes.
May the deep enjoyment
and the grand adventure of it
stir within us eternal longings,
whetting our anticipation
of that best holiday celebration
that will one day
encompass all days,
and all of heaven
and all of earth.Amen.