Yesterday at about 3pm I was sat at my desk at work. There was a rumble outside as thunder made its way through the clouds and moments later the rain fell. At the same time as this rumble, my phone buzzed to alert me to a message on a group chat I am in with about eight of my friends.
“Ooh thunder!” commented my friend.
“Its raining here” commented another.
“I’ve just seen lightning flash across the sky!” chimed in a third, sparking off a group commentary about the weather happening outside the windows of our workplaces across the conurbation.
Very, very, very British! Yet it was also so very comforting in that moment, the knowledge that whilst we were separated by walls and industries, all we needed to do was look out the window, at the shared rain and thunder, and feel connected. Some of us expressed how we loved it, some how we didn’t like it at all, but we still connected through our response to it. Its amazing how us humans can find connection in the small, the mundane, the everyday.
Let us pray;
We thank you God for making us human, for creating us not just bodies of bone and blood. You created us in your image as spiritual beings whose core is love. You made us as unique individuals, yet also made us designed to live in harmony, to be community, to find connection.
We thank you God for all the wonderful connections we have with others; family, friends, colleagues, our brothers and sisters in Christ. We thank you for how enriched our lives are because we connect with others. Through listening and empathy and understanding the connections between us get stronger and each of us is emboldened.
We thank you God for the myriad of wonders you provide that enable us to connect, from art, the wonder of nature, dance, sport, poetry and even the weather. We thank you for our lived experiences that enable us to recognise ourselves in another and recognise you, Lord, in another. So often the stranger seems so different to us, yet all we have to do is ask and look and we begin to find more in common than we ever could imagine.
Holy Spirit give us the grace and courage to give of ourselves, to share our stories, our histories and our journeys so far. Give us the courage to share poetry and art and music so that we are enablers of connections. Holy Spirit fill us with kindness and patience this week; remind us that there is always time for a conversation, a word of kindness, a smile, a moment to connect.
Amen.
The Unexpected Prayer 