2021.01.01 Daily Devotional
Our Devotional for New Year’s Day, Friday, January 1, 2021 comes to us from Ash and Starlight, Prayers for the Chaos and Grace of Daily Life by Arianne Braithwaite Lehn.
Jeremiah 29:11 11For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.
Ezekiel 11:9 9 I will drive you out of the city and deliver you into the hands of foreigners and inflict punishment on you.
1 Corinthians 2:9 But this is precisely what is written: God has prepared things for those who love him that no eye has seen, or ear has heard, or that haven’t crossed the mind of any human being.
“For the New Year”
Gracious One,
I thank you for holding my
hand in this fresh, new year
Against my inclination
and with your help,
I let go of my desire for
more control over my life.
My hunger to know what’s coming
and to be ready for it.
My expectations to be in charge.
Have you not taught me again and again
how the joy is in the flexibility?
How all the unexpected,
the unwanted, the unexplained
things coalesce to carve me into
the person I really want to be?
Even the changes I asked for,
the changes I wanted,
can cause anxiety.
Treading on this shifting soil
calls for a steadiness
beyond my own capabilities.
So, I trust your hand to hold mine,
carrying me into this new land –
good but different.
You are my birthing Mother,
always re-creating,
always open to change.
You keep showing me
while change is eternally constant,
so is your presence.
You engrain in me
how hope is born through struggle
and the fresh start brought through
change is an invitation to grow.
Whenever something leaves,
something new comes.
Please give me the
wisdom of soul, Loving One,
to look for it.
For, a soft heart open to newness,
sensitive to others’ pain,
resilient with hope,
trusting in darkness …
this is the heart for
which I pray this year.
Amen.
— Arianne Braithwaite Lehn
Friends –
A member of Farmington FUMC lovingly gave me this book. It arrived when I was feeling particularly discouraged, even almost ready to give up. I was lifted not only by the wisdom of this author, but also by receiving this gift, especially at that moment. It is an honor to share the Reverend Arianne Braithwaite Lehn’s wisdom and insight with you as we begin 2021
–Pastor bea