Thursday, October 8, 2020
Earlier this week weather forecasters predicted colder weather but that has moderated in light of Hurricane Delta’s pending impact as the weakening storm is predicted to swirl up through the mid-south bringing warming temperatures and rain by Sunday. What happened more than a thousand miles from affects us in more ways than one.
The Gulf region of the United States has been battered by a number of storms and the relief agencies we support have been hard at work helping to rebuild. We really are one country and need to consider ourselves more like one community full of diverse elements that strengthen us rather than weakening us.
Reading of surges in coronavirus infections and hospitalizations in other parts of the country should also make us more aware of how we are all tied together. In this time of increasing polarization leading up to a fractious election, it is important for all of us to remember that what unites us should be greater than what divides us.
Prayer for the Day
Taken up from nations and gathered from all countries,
We come to you, O God, as we pray for healing.
Grant us a new Spirit and remove from us our hearts of stone,
So we may be your people accepting our diversity,
Always praising you and serving you as our God,
For you are the God of all nations and peoples.
In the name of him who came to give us hearts of faith,
Even Christ Jesus our Lord. Amen.
Thoughts for the Day
I think that if it is true that there are as many minds as there are heads, then there must be as many kinds of love as there are hearts.
Leo Tolstoy, Russian writer (1828–1910)
Parents should teach their children that in diversity there is beauty and there is strength.
Maya Angelou, American poet (1928–2014)
Sacrifice and offering you do not desire.
but have given me an open ear.
Burnt offering and sin offering
you have not required.
then I said, “Here I am;
in the scroll of the book it is written of me.
I delight to do your will, O my God;
your law is within my heart.”
Psalm 40:6–7