God of Gathering,
Forces compete for my attention.
Voices pull me this way and that.
You ground me here in this very hour.
Today, tomorrow, and the next day, you persist in your work coming to the world with extended hand to gather us in. Oh, how you desire to gather all your people in under your wing. Your nurturing instinct is fierce and undeterred by threat of annihilation.
Herod wants to kill. The Herod Within instinctually gathers in order to trick consumers in the charade, to trap the oppressed in the chains, to lead the vulnerable to the slaughter. The Herod Within does so with the hunger for power burning inside our bellies.
Jesus desires to gather Jerusalem’s children in. The Divine Fingerprint Within invites us to extend hands to help the hurting, hearts to to heal the broken, resources to mend the wounds. The Divine Fingerprint Within does so only through your power alive within us, transforming our very beings.
Give voice to us today so that we might speak to the foxes within us all.
Make our hearts tender enough for repentance.
Grant us presence enough to not have to wait “until the time comes” to see what already is before us.
Ground me in this very hour where I am the gathered one.
Amen.
pause.give.thanks 