6.9.24 Prayers of Church & Community, Westminster Presbyterian Church, Pasadena, CA

 Prayers of Church & Community, June 9, 2024

Westminster Presbyterian Church

Tiger Lilly, Monte Vista Grove

In the quiet of this moment, O God,

We catch our breath and regain our balance.

In this place, Dear God, we discover ourselves all over again … who we are in your eyes … we learn of your will and we learn of your purpose … your kindly ways … the ways to which you call us … that we might lead good lives, lives for the sake of Christ, lives of generosity and kindness, lives filled with wisdom and grace.

Here in this place, O God, we learn the realities of life … the pain and sorrow of others, the hurt we’ve experienced … the hurt we’ve done to others … here, in this place of light and love, we see the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth … the good and the bad, the worst of it, and the best of it, where we have failed and fallen, where we have risen to the occasion and fulfilled the high calling of Christ.

We pray for our nation, O God … we pray our leaders … we pray for our President and his family, we pray for the members of Congress and their constituents, we pray for the judiciary and those stand before them … in all regards, dear God, may the common good be the center-point of concern, may justice and liberty for all be the guiding light, may peace be sought, may peace be secured, may our children be safe.

Holy God, Eternal Light, we pray for ourselves … we need your guiding light, we need your mercy and your love … our mortal flesh needs your eternal glory to fulfill its purpose and complete its tasks … our souls need your goodness, your grace, that we might dream the dreams of your creation, dream the dreams of Christ on the road, dream the dreams of the Risen Christ, to give life to the world around us.

We pray for loved ones and friends … we pray for the family and friends of Terry Flach … may your great love, O God, be their guide and comfort in the valley of the the Shadow of Death.

Bless Westminster, we pray, in its quest for a new minister … bless our present moment, that faith, hope, and love would fill this place to overflowing … that all who enter its doors will enjoy the goodness of Christ, find a place of welcome and friendship and affirmation - a place to heal, a home in which to spiritually thrive and emotionally gain strength …  

We remember D Day, O God, the beginning of the end of fascism’s death-grip on Europe … the militarism that terrorized the Pacific … we commemorate the memory of tens of thousands of men and women who carried the torch of freedom, who did what was necessary, in distant lands and faraway places. 

All of this, In the name of our LORD Jesus Christ who taught us to pray, saying:

Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy Kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread; and forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors; and lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory, forever. Amen. 

1.29.23 Prayers of Church & Community, Westminster Presbyterian Church, Pasadena, CA

O LORD our God, we pray for wisdom, to think things through.

We pray for guidance, to act wisely.

We pray for the courage to shine the light of truth on gun violence and police brutality.

O LORD our God, all around us, people are dead … or maimed in body and soul, for the rest of their lives … families marked by loss, sorrow, anger, fear, regret, and loneliness.

We pray that our nation will be able to craft reasonable and responsible laws … that children can go to school safely, and adults can go to the mall, or a dance studio, and come home again, safe and sound.

We pray for the cities of Monterey Park and Alhambra … the Asian-Amercian community … all who’ve suffered loss …

We pray for the city of Memphis … we pray for Tryre Nichols, his family and friends, for the community, for the churches of Memphis, the police and city administrators … 

We continue to pray for our nation, and the nations of the world. We pray that leaders will be wise in the ways of peace, and determined to defend freedom when some would take it away.  

We pray for our loved ones, in all the comings and goings of their lives … we pray for ourselves, for our health and our well-being, in body and in soul. Help us along the way, dear God … to know more of Christ, to know more of ourselves and those around us, and what it means to be the light of the world and the salt of the earth. 

All of this, in the name of our LORD Jesus Christ who taught us to pray, saying:

Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy Kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread; and forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors; and lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory, forever. Amen. 

A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles






One of the finest I've ever read ... like an eight-course dinner in a five-star restaurant, every course just right, wonderfully plated and served with elegance, wine with every serving, plenty of time to savor every offering, delicious, with a stunned shake of the head ... can anything be this good? And it is.

Character development is rich ... Towles use of words masterful ... a man in charge of the words, and not, like so much self-published stuff, the words in charge of the writer.

The reader, at least this one, is swept up into the sorrows and joys of it all ... and on nearly every page, a quotable quote, and at all the right times, like a palette-cleansing sorbet, laughter, sometimes slight, and sometimes a hearty guffaw.

A book to be studied, enjoyed, loved, and when done, set aside with thanksgiving, that in this often crazy and cruel world, there are some who will not give in, but will find a way to find the gifts of life and love ... and Towles, as a master of the art, to tell the tale of hope.





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