Prayers For Moving Forward

It’s the end of our holiday. Today we return home to Lowestoft. It’s been a good week, creating good memories… We’re approaching the end of September. Yesterday I listened to the lovely old song:

Try to remember the kind of September
When life was slow and oh, so mellow.
Try to remember the kind of September
When grass was green and grain was yellow…

I pray: May my life be more than just memories and nostalgia…

I’m reading Sandi Toksvig’s memoir ‘Between the Stops’. She tells of ’the Irish workman who goes to an English building site for a job. The English foreman hears the Irishman speak and immediately makes assumptions.

Do you know the difference between a girder and a joist?’ he asks pompously.

‘Ah, well, yes,’ answers the Irishman in his laconic way. ‘Goethe wrote Faust and Joyce wrote Ulysses.’

I pray: In a world of prejudice and stereotypes, may I have an open mind and an open heart.

Lectio 365 this morning celebrates his birthday of George Müller:

‘Ashley Down Orphanage opened in 1849, welcoming 300 children, but within two years had a growing waiting list, so Muller prayed for the finds to build a second orphanage, the a third, a fourth and a fifth. By 1870 over 2000 children were at Ashley Down orphanages and each one was receiving an education…’

I pray: In a world of armchair critics and self-righteous experts may I  experience humble faith-full action.

Yesterday we visited the Fakenham garden centre. Healthy plants reminded us of all the work that needs to be done in our garden. The important thing was the excellent café.

One large section was empty, cleared for a new display. We were intrigued… Lights, fairies, reindeer, stars, robins, snow scenes, appeared… there might even have been Mary on a donkey. Christmas has started in Fakenham.

I pray: In a world of cynical exploitation and materialistic escape may I move forward to Christmas, rediscovering simplicity, truth and hope.