One Moon, One Ocean

The moon rose full over the Atlantic last night, beautifully round, the smiling, watching orb sharing light in the darkness. As the moon rose its light reflected and skipped across the water, dancing on the waves as they crashed to the shore. I looked up and marveled at the beauty, the night sky and the gifts we have in creation. How God, in creation, reminds us of the ties we have across oceans and continents, cultures and theologies. I am humbled to think that in the same night, there might be millions of others who are looking up and marveling, stopping their strife and agony for a brief moment of wonder.

I thought last night of my brother and sister bishops tucked in their beds, those who might have looked up and seen the full moon rising as I did. On the other side of the Atlantic, in very different circumstances, with hearts full and anxious, and yet, we could be one in that moment of wonder and delight. I prayed for them in that moment, knowing their loneliness and their anxiety, their hopes and dreams, and the overwhelming pressure to be faithful to the people and places they comes from. And yet, they are still just children, gazing up at the night sky, with wonder and awe, wondering what God is doing in the midst of them. Some will ask God for righteousness and some will ask for humility and understanding. Some will not have looked up as their hearts are on the ground with isolation and anxiety, so far from home.

Today, I want, in my prayers and in my work to remember their weight that each bishop is carrying today. Each is trying to be faithful, each is asking for God’s guidance. Each is looking up when they are able. Each is more complex and capable than they are ever able to show and each is more needy and anxious than they ever would admit. Like those of us at home, with a mixture of hope and dread, we move through our day asking God to guide our steps. May our compassion be great today for those nearby and those who are far away. May we have compassion for those we love and those who we find hard to love. God give each of us the strength and courage to see the beauty and need that surrounds us, right where we are, and the constancy to pray for those who we cannot see today.


Morning Prayer
Dear God,
Rising up gets harder every day, and the burdens seem more than some can bear. Bring refreshment and light to those with heavy hearts. Bring laughter to those who are tight with fear. Bring a friend to those who are racked with loneliness. Your love is made manifest in the midst of your people, and your love and healing is needed especially today. We ask for the sake of you people everywhere, through Jesus Christ, Amen.


Evening Prayer
Wondrous Creator,
Help those who gather in Lambeth to marvel at you creation. Help them to delight in one another, and to rejoice that they are a family together. Help them to see the signs and marks of their similarities rather than be warned away by differences. Help them to offer their prayers with rejoicing as they learn new ways of praising God together. In Christ’s name we pray, Amen.