Welcome to the Pilgrimage of Prayer  ~
Day 23 of a 40-day journey of prayer leading us to General Council 42.

As the commissioners to GC42 prepare to make a physical pilgrimage to Corner Brook, Newfoundland, we invite the entire United Church of Canada into a prayer pilgrimage.

This is the twenty-third day of 40 days we will pray together. The following prayers have been prayed, written, and shared with us as a daily prayer practice. As you pray each day, please hold in your heart our whole United Church. Think of the power of all of us praying together. So “May it be so.” Amen.
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You are invited to say the following prayer out loud each day in the 40 days of the Prayer Pilgrimage leading up to General Council 42, along with the specific prayer for the day. We also invite you to pray this prayer during each day of General Council.

Pilgrim Prayer

May I love this day and all that it brings
The dust, stones or mud beneath my feet
The air I breathe, food I eat, water I drink

May I open my heart to mysteries along the way
Greet fellow pilgrims with welcome and grace
Move lightly and simply through the day

May I give thanks for the Earth, our fragile home
For all my relations who have gone before me
And for all who will follow… I am not alone

May the spirit and blessing of the One who is love
– Holy One among us, all around us, and within us –
Be with me today, and surround me with love

Allison Rennie and Diane Ransom, Naramata, B.C. Created in 2010 by Allison Rennie and Diane Ransom and said aloud each day while walking the Camino de Santiago.

Prayer for Day 23 – Tuesday, July 21

On the banks of the river
where angel feet have trod
and the saints danced,
soles pounding earth with holy fervor,
death denying grace poured out,
dripping with life freshly consecrated.

On the banks of the river,
there are things we can hide no longer.
Holy things. Terror-struck and awe-filled things.
Things we wish to keep and secure,
with fevered pitch and prayer firmly fastened.
we take what we long to keep but must let go.
On the banks of the river,
some things we can hide no longer:
our deepest love, our fragile hopes,
our naked fear of what might be…or not.

And yet, this is the place where angel feet have trod
and saints danced,
and the Word was drawn out of water long ago,
made flesh and lives among us still.

On the banks of the river – God draws faith out of us.
that we too might dance,
the soles of feet pounding earth,
to the rhythm that is running,
from fear to hope.

For God’s sake,
let it run.

Matthew Fillier, Waverley Pastoral Charge, Fall River, N.S.
Photo: zhezhe2010, Flickr (CC BY 2.0)