FCCR-ACE Prayer Blog

Congregationalists Learning to Pray

Hi God,

I cheated and read
tomorrow’s Epistle o’ Day
today.
It’s a bit disturbing.
John complains about
people with “progressive” ideas.
Um, some folks would say
said folks would be us,
that is UCCs.
John goes on to say
that Christians should not
offer hospitality to said “progressives”.
Um, I thought we were
to be hospitable to all.

I do sort of get the idea
that if you hang out
with heretics
you might pick up heresies.
But, on the other hand,
if you eschew heretics,
how will they ever be reformed?
And then, who is to say
which ones of us are heretics
and which are true believers?
Well, John did say something about that,
but I’m not sure the doctrinal conflict
he was addressing made a lot of sense to me.
Personally, I’m thankful
that the folks at FCCR
tolerate this particular heretic
in their midst.

So, my prayer today,
is to suggest that we might
all use a bit more clarity
on this stuff.
I know, I know,
you’d tell if only we’d listen.
So, then, please help us
to remember to listen.

Also, I ask you, please,
to have mercy on my soul,
heretical sinner though I be.

Amen

Hi God,

It promises to be a challenging day
both for me and for the dogs.
I’ll be away all day
at a bell-nerd convention.
The dogs will be alone all day.
No time for gulag death marches™
I pray that we all
can find something positive
in this change to our routines,
that the change will settle us
for better days ahead.

Amen

Hi God,

When the dogs ganged up on me
so I would take them on yet another
gulag death march™,
I found myself quoting
Scooter Rizzuto,
“Holy Cow!”
It was so nice out,
I even saw some flowers.
Earlier in the day
I’d conned my son
into meeting up for lunch.

In a nutshell,
I felt blessed today.
Thank you.

Acknowledging that I’m blessed, however,
doesn’t mean I don’t
still need to ask for you, please,
to have mercy on my soul,
sinner though I continue to be.

Amen

Hi God,

I’m thinking about
the Epistle o’ Day
and also about
the sheep and goats.

The Epistle o’ Day says,

“if you see a brother in need
and refuse him compassion,
how can the love of God be in you?”

With the sheep and goats,
we get something like,

“as you have done it
for the lease of these,
you have done it for me”

So my issue,
is whether you are talking
about people at my door…
…or do I generalize the concept?
Am I supposed to work
to order public life
along these concepts?
It seems that lots of folks
see the above as being
just a one-on-one thing,
if someone shows up at your front door,
then I should be a good person.
For some folks,
the generalization
makes no sense.

So, once again,
my prayer is to ask you
to help us make sense
of these various passages;
and also to help us
to make sense of each other.

I also ask you, please,
to have mercy on my soul,
confused sinner though I be.

Amen

scripture reference
1 John 3:17
Matt 25:40

Hi God,

I suppose having daughters—
and dogs too—
with their own agendas
is nice and all,
but it makes it difficult
to get stuff done.
On the other hand,
what do I really have to do?
Perhaps it’s just to take care of others.
Kinda like your own job, huh?

So my prayer today,
is to ask you to remind me
(on a regular basis, please,
because I’m getting rather forgetful,)
that when I’m helping take care of others,
I am getting stuff done.

Also, I ask you, please,
to have mercy on my soul,
forgetful sinner though I be.

Amen