Author: University of the Incarnate Word

Thoughts on Grief Grief cannot be shared, for it is mine alone.Grief is a dying with me,a great emptiness,a frightening void.It is loneliness, a sickening sorrow at night,on awakening a terrible dread.Another’s words do not help.A reasoned argument explains littlefor having tried too much.Silence is the best response to another’s grief.Not the silence that is … Continue reading Daily Prayers/Reflections – January 19, 2021

A prayer by Walter Brueggemann We would as soon you were stable and reliable. We would as soon you were predictable and always the same toward us. We would like to take the hammer of doctrine and take the nails of piety and nail your feet to the floor and have you stay in one … Continue reading Daily Prayers/Reflections – January 14, 2020

We Are Takers You are the giver of all good things. All good things are sent from heaven above, rain and sun, day and night, justice and righteousness, bread to the eater and seed to the sower, peace to the old, energy to the young, joy to the babes. We are takers, who take from … Continue reading Daily Prayers/Reflections – January 13, 2021

I will keep still and wait like the night with starry vigil and its head bent low with patience ... The morning will surely come, the darkness will vanish… - Rabindranath Tagore O God, as I look back at my life I see many little pieces of light. They have given me hope and comfort … Continue reading Daily Prayers/Reflections – January 12, 2021

School Prayer In the name of the daybreakand the eyelids of morningand the wayfaring moonand the night when it departs, I swear I will not dishonormy soul with hatred,but offer myself humblyas a guardian of nature,as a healer of misery,as a messenger of wonder,as an architect of peace. In the name of the sun and … Continue reading Daily Prayers/Reflections – January 11, 2021

May light always surround you;Hope kindle and rebound you.May your hurts turn to healing;Your heart embrace feeling.May wounds become wisdom;Every kindness a prism.May laughter infect you;Your passion resurrect you.May goodness inspireyour deepest desires.Through all that you reach for,May your arms never tire. - D. Simone

Here is our Prayer Blessing...Let us go forth from here, blessed and renewedin the Spirit of Shalomin the Spirit of  Integrityin the Spirit of Illuminationin the Spirit of Transformationwith hopes lifted heavenwardwith hearts loving the earthin the name of our creating, liberating, nurturing God.Amen

Help Us Enter the New Year God of all time, help us enter the New Year quietly, thoughtful of who we are to ourselves and to others, mindful that our steps make an impact and our words carry power. May we walk gently. May we speak only after we have listened well. Creator of all … Continue reading Daily Prayers/Reflections – January 6, 2021

I have a small grain of hope–one small crystal that gleamsclear colors out of transparency.I need more.I break off a fragmentto send to you.Please takethis grain of a grain of hopeso that mine won’t shrink.Please share your fragmentso that yours will grow.Only so, by division,will hope increase,like a clump of irises, which will cease to … Continue reading Daily Prayers/Reflections – January 5, 2021

What is your hope for 2021? Maybe it’s that life will go back to normal. Maybe your hope is to return to an “in-person” life. Maybe your hope is for a boring news cycle. Is your hope for community? Or to not just survive, but thrive? Hope is the underlining feeling of expectation or desire … Continue reading Daily Prayers/Reflections – January 4, 2021