Authority

Again Jesus and the disciples came to Jerusalem. As he was walking in the temple, the chief priests, the scribes, and the elders came to him and said, “By what authority are you doing these things? Who gave you this authority to do them?” Jesus said to them, “I will ask you one question; answer me, and I will tell you by what authority I do these things. Did the baptism of John come from heaven, or was it of human origin? Answer me.” They argued with one another, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ he will say, ‘Why then did you not believe him?’ But shall we say, ‘Of human origin’?”—they were afraid of the crowd, for all regarded John as truly a prophet. So they answered Jesus, “We do not know.” And Jesus said to them, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I am doing these things.” Mark 11:27-33 

Authority

Dear Creator of all that is
we want our normal back
we ache to control our lives
although we really never did.

We are foolish mortals
we trust our own authority
we try to direct others
and today we can do nothing.

Quarantined within our homes
we quarrel and cry for relief
we fail to see you gifts here
we fail to honor abundant love.

Help us today to be let go
of the trying and the calculating
of the need to organize everything
when we know finally, and fully
we were never in charge. Amen