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.

 

COVER

For your presence in the early morning hours,

I give you thanks:

For this time to pray for myself and others,

For this time to gaze out of my window

at the pink glow of sunrise,

For this time to ponder the Creator’s wisdom,

feel Christ’s love and compassion

for all of creation,

and seek the Spirit’s will for this day.

 

Edwina Simpson, SCHC

Ann Arbor Chapter

 

THANKSGIVINGS: SUNDAY AND EVERY DAY

Marti Hunt, New Hampshire/Vermont Chapter, asks prayers of thanksgiving that our Companions in India are relatively safe in the southwest, as persecution of Christians in the north and northeast of India increases. Pray that the national government will stop downplaying this situation and will take positive measures to end the violence. May our Companions in India have an abiding sense of God’s presence, and a deep awareness that all Companions are holding this situation in prayer.

 

MONDAY: SIMPLICITY OF LIFE

Dearest One,

May the pain in my back remind me of

women who carry water jars for miles.

May the pain in my knees remind me of mothers

who put grown children on their backs

and carry them,

because they cannot walk.

May the pain in my feet help me be at one

with these women who do what must be done

with no complaints, but voicing gratitude

that their children are alive and

that they have water to carry.

 

Sammie Wakefield, SCHC

New Hampshire/Vermont Chapter

 

TUESDAY: UNITY OF ALL GOD’S PEOPLE

As we gather at Christ’s table together, in gratitude, and with faith that we are joined by a cloud of witnesses, let us take that as a model for our unity with all people, a striving for the ineffable, a longing to be one with the Holy Spirit.

 

June Truitt, SCHC

Providence Chapter

 

WEDNESDAY: SOCIAL JUSTICE

Almighty God, grant us grace fearlessly to contend against evil and to make no peace with oppression; and, that we may reverently use our freedom, help us to employ it in the maintenance of justice in our communities and among the nations.

 

from “A Litany for the Social Order”

The SCHC Manual, 2006

 

THURSDAY: PEACE AND RECONCILIATION

Dear Lord, as we Companions strive to be “instruments of your peace” in this broken world, grant us wisdom and perseverance so that we may be undaunted by the immensity of the task and, trusting in your guidance, may serve your holy purposes of wholeness and peace for all of your children.

 

Eileen Clark, SCHC

Happehatchee Chapter

 

FRIDAY: GROWTH IN THE SPIRITUAL LIFE

Gracious and loving God, in this time of conflict, violence, and busyness, help us to acknowledge our dependence on you. Give us the will to weed out those things that cause us to stumble, and continue to reveal your light on our path to you.

 

Patricia Gaukler, SCHC

Lehigh Valley Chapter

 

SATURDAY: PRAYERS PERSONAL AND GENERAL

Healing for All of the Earth—

upon, within, and above.

In our ever-escalating concrete construction of Babel,

in our energy-driven over-consumption,

pray that we humans truly appreciate, and don’t keep destroying,

God’s Most Precious Gifts.

Mary Oliver writes of prayer as paying attention.

May we then truly respond in care.

 

Carolyn Atkins, SCHC

Texas Chapter

 

Photo by Lynn Adams