— Midweek Meditations:
thoughts, inspiration and encouragement
from ACF community members —
In recent days, when I was discouraged about possibly losing a job which I love, my circumstances were put into perspective in the form of a visit from a family friend from Jerusalem. This Israeli medical doctor updated us about all the collective trauma going on in Israel, the loss of lives and about how they have hunkered down and carried on despite the war. Almost simultaneous to her visit, I received a heartbreaking email from Ayman in Gaza, a former client of mine who I have been trying to get back to Germany for the last three years through a work visa. Ayman told me not only had he lost his sister and her child, but that his beloved father was killed while going out to secure food for them. Words failed me as I sought words of consolation to write back to him. Indeed, words do fail us in light of such tragedies. In contrast, this week we have the long-awaited good news from the Middle East with the hostages going home, Palestinians in detention (even children) being released and the sudden hope, against all hope, for peace in the region.
In the meantime, I came across a very beautiful poem, which I would like to share with you, and I hold it out there like a candle to those suffering and in immense pain both in Israel and in Gaza.
May God in whose furnace faith is forged
Gerard Kelly. I SEE A NEW CITY: Poems of Place and Possibility (Spoken Worship Book 2) (pp. 44-45), Chamine Press (also on Kindle).
In whose being beauty breathes
From whose dawning darkness flees
Shine on you
May the Father whose love for you
Beats with a rhythm time itself can’t stop
Whose presence in your exile
Is the promise of home
Whose certainties are deeper
Than the cellars of your city
Whose breath is life
Breathe on you
May the son whose story
Is a mirror of your own
Who has journeyed into darkness
To find a key to your prison
Who has dived the deepest oceans
To find pearls for your wisdom
Who has looked into your heart
And found a beauty worth the battle
Who has written your name
On a white stone carved in secret*
Hold you
May the Spirit
Who has waited millennia to fill you
Who shaped the word that moved the wind
Of the morning that conceived you
Who holds the earth on which you stand
As a midwife holds a newborn
Who fully knows you
Wholly own you
So may God
The faithful Father
God the scarred Son
God the sculpting Spirit
Journey with you
Dear Jesus,
We pray for those whose personal trauma and loss make it hard to go on living.
We pray that you would help the victims of war in the Middle East to rebuild their lives.
Grant peace, we pray, for you are the Prince of peace.
Amen.
The ACF Midweek Meditations
are written by a diverse group of our church members with the intention to seek God’s fingerprints in our lives. They range from somber to humorous and are inspired by all facets of live and faith. Written by ordinary people from all walks of life, they reflect a wide range of Christian backgrounds and spiritualities.
Each week’s text portrays the individual viewpoint of its author. They might not always resonate with everyone, and are not meant to be understood as representing the Anglican Church Freiburg as a whole. Yet, as a church that is aiming to ‘Build a Community of Grace’ we seek to practice learning from and listening to one another.
We pray that these humble ponderings add a small spark of blessing to your week.
Freiburg Anglican Church 