THE COMPANIONS

JOIN US IN PRAYER

Every month Companions receive a small booklet in the mail, the Intercession Paper. Day by day, we turn its pages, praying with our Companions. The prayers concern needs big and small, thanksgivings, and the aims of the Society. Each day of the week has a theme.

In this monthly feature of our blog, we select some prayers from this month’s IP, as it is called. If you’re so inclined, please join Companions in reaching out in love through prayer.

 

 

ON THE COVER

O Lord, your power extends over all the earth,

over all of creation. You made the heavens

and the earth and all that exists therein.

Grant us grace and insight to practice true giving. May we be like the widow of Zarephath and the

widow who offered two mites, each who

contributed out of their poverty rather than

their perceived abundance.

May our hopes, like theirs, be renewed,

to inspire new life in ourselves,

in our communities, and in the world.

 

Bernetta Morton, SCHC
Charles River Chapter

 

THANKSGIVING: SUNDAY AND EVERY DAY

Mary Higbee, California-Northern Chapter, gives thanks for the sixteenth school year about to begin

at Hope and Resurrection Secondary in rural South Sudan. Many people, near and far, are grateful

for the school’s graduates who are now leaders and responsible citizens in their communities;

for the teachers, past and present, who enlarge the world of the students with skills and knowledge,

and for the faithful donors who support the work. May Hope and Resurrection Secondary

continue to be Christ’s light, inspiring justice, reconciliation, and peace in this war-torn country.

 

This living is … breathtaking …

Thanksgiving for our Source.

 

Martha Ward, SCHC
Texas Chapter

 

SIMPLICITY OF LIFE: MONDAY

On these short dark days of winter, Lord, let me look to the simple things of life. The shadows that come creeping in the early afternoon. The quietness of a snowfall. Time spent in prayer, in thought, or in reading. Help me know your love is near as I work to let go of the busy pace of life and find, through you, the peace of simplicity.

 

Melodie Penton, SCHC
New Haven Chapter

 

UNITY OF GOD’S PEOPLE: TUESDAY

Dear God, guard us from closing our minds and hearts, thinking we have all the answers.

Teach us to talk with others who think or act differently from us; and then to listen,

with open ears, to hear their words;

with open minds, to consider their ideas;

with open hearts, to see that their different ideas may help our vision of you to grow.

 

Cathy Stone, SCHC
Ann Arbor Chapter

 

SOCIAL JUSTICE: WEDNESDAY

Lord God, as we aim to encourage prayer for others, and to pray and work

especially for social justice and peace in God’s world:

May we work to provide equality for all those

who are lacking basic needs of food, shelter,

and education;

May we seek understanding and mutual respect

between races and cultures;

May we pray earnestly for people in conflict,

especially those who look different from us;

May we grow to respect all those who see God

through a different lens.

Lord, hear our prayer, and give us courage to be

your hands and feet and heart in the world.

 

Ethel Wright, SCHC
Atlanta Chapter

 

PEACE & RECONCILIATION: THURSDAY

God of all peoples, help us to understand that the peace we have with the Indigenous peoples of this land is an uneasy one, filled with betrayals, lies, denials and half-truths. With your aid, may we make true peace, through repentance, reparation, repatriation, and restoration.

 

Sarah Braik, SCHC
Maine Chapter

 

GROWTH IN SPIRITUAL LIFE: FRIDAY

Faith journeys are beyond words, reasoning, right or wrong (as long as they do no harm to self or another).

Faith is acted out in this world but is based in the presence that is beyond. It may be categorized, put

in a coded section of a library, read forward or backwards with vowel sounds marked or not. But

it cannot be fully grasped, argued, rejected, or embraced without acknowledging that at its root

it is pure mystery.

 

Barb Levy, SCHC
Northwest Chapter

 

PRAYERS PERSONAL AND GENERAL: SATURDAY

Creator God, we praise you for our Mother the Earth, who teaches us, with great patience, how to join her in exploring, growing, and renewing this earth. Help us to share the love you have for all creation, we pray,

and show us a path to sustain the gifts you have given us.

 

The Arizona Chapter, SCHC

 

Photo by Gabriel Jimenez