Welcome to the Pilgrimage of Prayer  ~
Day 28 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-eighth 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.
——————-

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 28 – Sunday, July 26

Reflections at Café Mocha
A pigeon flies overhead,
trailing bits of straw and twigs
from an overstuffed beak.

But surely the nest
has been built already…
and so these new materials
must be for weaving
among its strands,
for renovation
for reinforcement,
enrichment,
some act of re-formation.

And it occurs to me
that so must we
fly home.
taking bits of experience,
strands of relationship,
scrapes of revelation,
patches of profound grace,
and prepare to
weave them into
what we already know,
piecing together
with patience,
with joy,
with daring,
what we call
the Kingdom of God.
our home.

Sheryl Spencer, Mount Forest Pastoral Charge, Mount Forest, Ont.
Photo: Sameer0406, Flickr (CC BY 2.0)