Sacredise - Prayer: A Place For Us

A Place For Us

by John van de Laar

We long to find a place to relax, O God,

to lean into the welcome and the love of real friends

who stay true no matter who we are or what we’ve done.

We want to be known – not just our names, but our selves,

our dreams and longings, our fears and failings

and be warmly, unrestrainedly welcomed.

We yearn to know the joy of opening our arms to others

and seeing them melt and grow soft in the safety

of our acceptance.

And you have created a place like this for us

a place of people, with failings and disagreements

who still look out for one another;

a place of difference and struggle

where we can all belong;

a place of faith and deep doubt,

a place of awkward stumbling toward Christlikeness;

a place of worship, of mystery and of rest.

And though we can’t always see it,

although sometimes it doesn’t feel like it;

this is the place – here.

Not the buildings and the furniture – no, these people

who gather each week in your name

and try so hard to remember each other’s

And for this place, and your being with us

We give our heartfelt gratitude and devotion.

Amen.

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