For May 2, 2021 Prayer for Peace and Peace Moment with introduction
Introduction
Each week we will hear a Peace Moment in addition to the prayer for peace. Hopefully all will be blessed with these devotional thoughts. This week’s Peace Moment is by Claudia Schooler.
Peace Moment
“…“I am the vine, you are the branches. Those who abide in me and I in them bear much fruit, because apart from me you can do nothing. . . . My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit and become my disciples.” John 15:5, 8
We have a little apple tree in our yard. I should say we have the remnant of what was once a bigger apple tree. A few summers ago under the weight of a bountiful crop of Jonathan apples, the main fork of the trunk cracked and toppled over. There were sighs and even tears. I love that tree. It was a busy time so we didn’t attend to trimming out the fallen wood right away.
A couple of weeks later I noticed that the leaves on the broken part of the tree were not withering. I looked closer at the trunk. The wood was broken and badly splintered but not all the way through. There was enough life-giving sap flowing through to keep the leaves alive. I wondered if maybe, just maybe, the fruit could also stay alive and ripen for harvest. We left the toppled tree in the yard, and in late September joyfully picked buckets full of ripe red apples, no ladder needed.
This has been a rough year. Many of our traditional ways of worshiping and ‘disciple-ing’ have toppled over. But if we pause, we notice that not all has been lost. The life-giving sap of the gospel flows in new and different ways. Who knows what is ahead? We DO know we can abide in Christ, being and ever becoming more fruitful disciples.
Please join me in today’s prayer for peace.
Loving God,
In the quietness of this holy place, we catch a glimpse of the peace you intend for all of creation. Our thoughts can rise as our spirits rest. The hope in our hearts is refreshed by the richness of this fellowship.
Let there be peace on earth.
Hear our prayer for peace for the nations of this world. May your peace fall on all the fighting factions who have forgotten that your love is for all. Touch the hearts of the decision-makers and power holders with humility and compassion. Rekindle the light of your peace where poverty and prejudice so often extinguish hope.
Let there be peace on earth.
With all the gentleness we are learning, we hold up your people: the ones with illnesses that cloud the mind or weaken the body, the ones who are grieving, the ones who are struggling in fractured relationships or challenging circumstances. We uphold them all.
Let there be peace on earth.
O God, do not let us be content with lifting our prayers. As we call upon you, let us also dare to lift our voices, our hands, and our resources to your mission of peace.
Let there be peace on earth, and let it begin with me.
Amen
For additional ideas, the Daily Prayer for Peace service offered at the Temple in Independence, Missouri, USA, can be found at www.CofChrist.org/daily-prayer-for-peace.