Easter Time... Hallowed be Your name

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Dear Lord, I need to remember that You are my Father and Mother, a parent who cares for me deeply.  
While Your presence is known in heaven, a place that is sacred in my heart, the place I live now, is also very special because You created it just for me.
​Help me to invite Your will to be part of my life, both here on earth and in heaven.
Today I promise not to want for anything, because I know that You have already provided what I need.
Keep me from times where I want something different other than what You want for me.
For today I will recognize Your glory, and the power that You possess in my life, for Your's is both the Kingdom and the Power forever and ever.  Amen.

The prayer that Jesus taught us has always brought me to a place where I have a sense of what mercy truly is.  It seems that we all have become aware of what are seemingly hopeless situations in the world and our own communities.

Years ago I read the book, "Why Bad Things Happen to Good People," while doing a yearlong fellowship at MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, Texas. While a resident chaplain on the head and neck unit I found myself face to face with many families who literally were paralyzed by a diagnosis and treatment of cancer.

I would watch as hopeless situations would be filled with moments of reaching out, grasping, and seconds of hope, only to have died when the sun finally rose. 

So many times I found myself praying to God at bedsides, ending with the prayer that Jesus taught, hoping for the tenderness of mercy of God to supply the human condition with Divine intervention. 

To this day I still haven't a reason for why these things happen, however, I am very much aware that the world we live in is simply not perfect.

We are, however, given words, and God's prevailing grace, mercy, and presence to make these moments possible to survive. 

When we remember these words, we raise our hearts together, while invoking mercy with one another in these times, "Our Father, which art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day, our daily bread, and forgive us our sins, as we forgive those who sin against us.  And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For Thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen."

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Dear Lord, I may not understand why there is such pain in the world.  When communities are shaken by tragedy, or savage acts of violence, help me to remember that You are with us, crying as well.  May today Your kingdom be known, and may I be a bearer of that presence to a world who has difficulty seeing You.  Amen.

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