It is such a privilege to have people who continue each day to bless us with their love and prayer. These inner friends of the heart confer on us inestimable gifts. In these times of greed and externality, there is such unusual beauty in having friends who practice profound faithfulness to us, praying for us each day without our ever knowing or remembering it. There are often lonesome frontiers we could never endure or cross without the inner sheltering of these friends. It is hard to live a true life that endeavors to be faithful to its own calling and not become haunted by the ghosts of negativity, therefore, it is not a luxury to have such friends; it is necessary.
God, Creator
and Sustainer of Life,
we the living praise You;
our hearts and our flesh
sing for joy
as we join with all creation
in a canticle of Thanksgiving
for the blessings
of the universe,
the habitat of all that lives.
Forgive our wanton
and wasteful use
of those good and precious resources
entrusted to our care.
Send forth Your Spirit,
renew the earth
as You renew its caretakers,
for we
and all of creation
cry:
Come, Creator Spirit!
Come, Soul of the Universe!
Come, Source of all that Lives!
Come, live in us! Amen!