Praying Together

Yesterday, I reflected on the beauty of community as part of why I follow Christ. I continue that theme today.

A few weeks back, someone said to me: Praying alone is good, but praying together is powerful. This made me think about how on September 11, 2001, our church held a prayer vigil that evening. I remember we sang together the Kyrie – Lord have mercy… Christ have mercy… Lord have mercy upon us… One of the most ancient Christian hymns, and I couldn’t even sing it. I had a lump in my throat and tears streaming down my face. But the community sang it for me.

You may have had moments like that when you’ve come in to worship on a Sunday morning perhaps after the loss of a loved one, or after a bad diagnosis, or at some other terrible moment, and you can’t sing and you can’t pray… but the prayers and hymns of a hundred others surround you… the community prays it for you… the community sings it for you.

Is there another public place where it is okay to cry? For that matter, is there another public place where we come together across the political spectrum to work for the common good?

And no, it’s not always easy. And yet…

When else in life, do we stop to re-focuses our lives? When else are we able to honestly name the reality of the world around us – yes, there is a lot of brokenness, a lot of hurt and pain and hunger – yet still say, we are here to worship because we don’t believe that suffering has the last word. We’re here to serve our community together because we don’t believe that brokenness has the last word… There is a far greater power at work – who has called us.

At a time when loneliness and social isolation are described as an epidemic, at a time when our nation is so divided, at a time when change is happening so rapidly when the social and moral fabric feels as though it is fraying, I know I can’t navigate it alone. I need Christ… And I need the church.

That’s part of why I follow Christ. How about you?

Let us pray: Loving God, I thank you for my family of faith, for a community of people to walk alongside me on this journey of life. I thank you for the way in which they love me and challenge me, and pray for me. What a gift! May you continue to meet with us as we meet with you. In Christ’s name. Amen.