Daily Worship

A prayer for setting off on a journey

James Cathcart January 30, 2023 0 4
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Luke 10: 3-6 (NRSVA)

3 Go on your way. See, I am sending you out like lambs into the midst of wolves. 4 Carry no purse, no bag, no sandals; and greet no one on the road. 5 Whatever house you enter, first say, “Peace to this house!” 6 And if anyone is there who shares in peace, your peace will rest on that person; but if not, it will return to you.

There are those who love packing and those who don’t. It’s not an area in which I excel. I do make lists, so I rarely find I have left anything out. Generally I have the opposite problem, as anyone who has helped me lug a suitcase will know. I mean, what if I need sandals, practical walking shoes and something dressy? And how can I possibly know and prepare for everything that might happen on the journey without ensuring I have everything imaginable packed?

I’m not quite as bad as an old friend who won every single game of ‘how many of these do you have in your handbag’ ever played. (To be honest I think she must have had a Mary Poppins style compartment)

Still, there’s no way I would set out on a journey with nothing.

Although, Jesus didn’t actually send his followers out with nothing. They might not carry any thing, but Jesus promised them a peace that would always return to them. Not only were they carrying peace, it was a peace that could not be taken away from them.

 

PRAYER:

 

God of the journey

As I start out today help me remember to pack your peace

Whatever else I take with me,

Whatever else I forget or leave behind

I take your peace with me

It cannot leave me.

If I give it away, still it comes back to me.

May the peace that passes understanding surround me, every step I take.

Amen