PRAYER

Amen

Lord Jesus Christ,

In the fragile mists of that first Easter morning,

You walked in the Easter Garden,

Unseen, unheard, untouched.

In the half-asleep, half-awake world,

You moved quietly,

A whisper of hope rustling through

Deadening doubt and fear and grief.

Lord Jesus Christ,

The wise women came that first Easter morning,

With tears and pain and numbness.

Bearing spices, echoing Your Nativity,

Prepared for death, but encountering angels,

Hearing news that shook their world,

Sending them running in fear and joy

To tell yet more disciples of unlooked for life.

Lord Jesus Christ,

Naming Mary, hailing disciples,

Speaking words of comfort to dispense with fear,

Planning for a future beyond the tomb.

Tell us now, in our day and in our time,

To wrestle on with believing and doubting,

That in the crucible of faith that’s lived out loud,

We may also answer, “My Lord and my God!”

Lord Jesus Christ,

Touched and untouched, held and released,

From crib to cross, from tomb to garden,

From Galilee to the borderless world,

Into our darkness, speak Your light;

Into our emptiness, speak Your fullness;

Into our doubt, speak Your faith;

Into our fear, speak Your love.

Lord Jesus Christ,

This Easter, every Easter,

Brighten and bless our lives,

Transcend the mundane days,

And in each life transform what is dull

Into what is glorious.