December 27, 2020 Peace Moment
12/27/20 Prayer for Peace (from Worship Helps) and Peace Moment with introduction
Each week during Advent and beyond we will hear a Peace Moment in addition to the prayer for peace. Hopefully you will be blessed with these devotional thoughts.
Today’s Peace Moment was written by Lisa Stobbe. She writes:
Guided by the Spirit
By Lisa Stobbe
Spring 2004 arrived, and I was no longer teaching. I was in the middle of graduate school with only a few classes left to take. I would then have my master’s degree in Science Education, but no teaching job. The uncertainty of what lay ahead was overwhelming. I decided to go ahead and take the summer courses even though I did not have a teaching job lined up in the fall. The attitude of why bother finishing the program nagged at me. But something nudged to keep going, something would happen I just needed to keep moving forward. At the end of the summer session I still did not have a clear view of the immediate future. Then in August 2004 I got a call from one of my professors and she said that they needed a graduate student to teach labs. It did not pay much but it did include tuition benefit for the remaining classes of my degree. I decided to take the job. I wanted to finish my degree and then figure out the next step. That opportunity, of teaching labs, guided me down a path I never expected. I was able to mentor other teachers, I was able to grow lasting friendships, I was able to teach several college courses until my retirement from the university in 2018.
Here at the end of 2020 many of us have faced dramatic changes. We have been trying to find new ways of living. We have had to adjust many things in our lives and learn new skills. Uncertainty is evident at every turn. The thought of why bother has crossed our minds. But something nudging us, guiding us forward, helps us to continue, to grow. We need to allow ourselves to be guided into the new year by the spirit of love from our Creator. We need to be guided to help ourselves and help others find peace and equity in our new uncertain circumstances. Be guided by the spirit and be led into the light of God.
Prayer for Peace
Loving God, we come to you acknowledging how much you have loved us. You sent your son, Jesus, to show us how shalom can be lived in our families, neighborhoods, churches and world. We have your Holy Spirit always present with us as we look for ways to respond. We pray that those working for peace feel your Spirit present with them. May they be strengthened and comforted as they seek to find ways to meet the needs of the
poor, hungry, displaced, or amid political strife in the places they live. In the name of the one who is shalom, Amen.