God of grace and mercy,
We gather today out of hope and good will.
We come together as a strange and wonderful amalgam of health and brokenness,
relying upon your divine spirit to strengthen and comfort us.
We lift up the joys and concerns of this congregation:
[read aloud the prayer cards]
And you know the intentions of our hearts:
you know those treasures and delights which bring unspeakable joy
and you know the fears and troublesome concerns which carry a fragility too delicate for words.
Hear us in our silence. Know our best intention.
[pause for silent prayer]
Recognize our silence as an act of faith–as a prayer–as well.
And remind us that new every morning is your love,
O great God of Light,
and you are always already working for good in the world.
Stir up in us a desire for service
and the peaceable life.
And to devote our ways to the living traditions of Jesus
to welcome the excluded
to expect the best from one another
to care for the poor and those in need.
Teach us how to best love one another.
Blessed Be.
Prayers of the People 