Thursday Thoughts for February 25, 2021

Thursday Thoughts for February 25, 2021

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February 25, 2021
Dear Congregation:
The weight of the anniversary of one year being in this time of pandemic is wearing on many of us including the knowledge that more than 500,000 people have died from COVID 19.
This week, I share a prayer by a favorite writer, UCC minister, Rev. Maren Tirabassi. Hope it comforts you as it did me.
Prayer for Grieving 500,000 Dead of Covid-19 in the US
Holy One, who blesses those that mourn and do not hurry into being comforted, we sit down into the loss of those we know, and those that now we’ll never have a chance to know. We grieve the stories they will not live, the songs they will not sing, the children they will not have, the hope they will not offer to those around them, the inventions they will not patent, the art, poetry, ink, music, shingling a house, legal argument, good tune-up and tire rotation, diagnosis, surgical procedure, gentle placement of a ventilator, dental cleaning, quilt, strawberry picking, produce counter stocking, life-guard undertow rescue, lullaby, recipe and vote that will never be made. We grieve the birthday candles on cakes they will never taste. We grieve for their parents and their children, their families, their colleagues and their friends. We grieve memories slipping away waiting for memorial services. We grieve that the very sadness ebbs away from weariness or the new whisper of good news. O God, our masks are wet with tears and our fingers shake holding balloons at nursing home windows. Comfort us, we pray. amen
Worship Notes: Second Sunday in Lent
Our first scripture reading for this Second Sunday in Lent is Genesis 17: 1-7, 15-16, and speaks to trust in God’s promises. Abram and Sarai are childless; yet God makes a covenant, promising Abram he will be the ancestor of many nations. In Mark 8: 31-38, Jesus and his disciples are near Caesarea Philippi. For the first time, Jesus teaches that he will suffer and die. Today we will be honoring our young people and their families involved with Scouting.
Food for Thought:
“Carve your name on hearts, not tombstones. A legacy is etched into the minds of others and the stories they share about you.” –Shannon Alder
Rev. Dr. Barbara Kershner Daniel, Senior Pastor
Evangelical Reformed Church, United Church of Christ
15 West Church Street, Frederick, MD 21701
301-662-2762
E-mail: bkdaniel@erucc.org

 

Article by Evangelical Reformed UCC