Tuesday, January 19, 2016

Dear God,

We are desperate for love in our world.  We long for those who live love, who reach out, who encourage rather than criticize, help rather than ignore, and lift up rather than tear down.  We desire persons who live life on a higher plain with a higher calling and whose smile imitates the One who holds the world in his hands.  In their presence we find calm, generosity, and hope.  More than anything they speak to faith in the One whose modus operandi is love, not hate.

On Sunday in church when our pastor spoke on the life and faith of Pope Francis I couldn't help but lean forward to listen, to breathe in, and to smile.  In a short time following the announcement of the new pope, he won us to his heart not only by his words but also by his actions.  Washing the feet of prisoners, Christians, Jews, and Muslims, women, and the disabled drew us to his kind of faith.  I wanted to hear what our pastor had to say about this faith-filled man.

With so much dishonesty, greed, and corruption in our own country and the world, we long for love.

O God,
so full
of love
for your children,
make us lovers
of people.
Fill us
with love
to overflowing
so we
can spill over
to others.
Make us
like you,
I pray.

Love, Andrea