Piloting Faith: The dream for which Jesus gave his all has not yet come fully true...

A Word for the Day...
We do not live in an ideal world. We live in a world of Herods who model a way of life driven by greed and violence, used in varying degrees, to gain and maintain power.
Jesus has truly come, but each year during the Advent season, we acknowledge that the dream for which he gave his all has not yet come fully true. As long as elites plot violence, as long as children pay the price, and as long as mother's weep, we cannot be satisfied.
So let us light a candle for the children who suffer in our world because of greedy, power-hungry and insecure elites. And let us light a candle for grieving mothers who weep for lost sons and daughters, throughout history and today. In this Advent season, we dare to believe that God feels their pain and comes near to bring comfort. If we believe that is true, and of course we must join God and come near, too.
- Brian McLaren, author of We Make the Road by Walking

Prayer for the Week
God of kindness and courage,
Thank you for the hunger that is God-given. You created us to work, to play, to love, to give, to dream, to desire.
Provide for our daily necessities–you are the very bread of life–and help us to open ourselves to receive what you're holding out to us, even now.
Nourish us in every way. With your gift of fortitude, steady our walk and re-energize our determination. Help us to fix our gaze on what matters first and most.
Finally, be with us when it feels like we were those we love are descending into hell - when abandonment, devastation, or death looms. You've walked that path - you know our pain and fear.
Help all your people to stand with those who hunger for justice. Show us how to champion and even to become your provision in their lives.
You have promised that all who hunger will be filled. What a mystery! What a hope! Thank you, gracious God, that you are the bread of life, given freely to everyone. Today we open our deepest self to receive your blessing.
Amen.
(adapted from The Prayer Wheel by Patton Dodd, Jana Riess and David Van Biema)
