Good morning my friends in Christ,  

Perhaps like me, you still are reeling from the events at the nation's capitol yesterday. There is no explanation that justifies this assault on the very heart of our country's government as Congress was engaging in work that was constitutionally mandated.

Please pray with me.

O God, where hearts are fearful and constricted, grant courage and hope. Where anxiety is infectious and widening, grant peace and reassurance. Where impossibilities close every door and window, grant imagination and resistance. Where distrust twists our thinking, grant healing and illumination. Where spirits are daunted and weakened, grant soaring wings and strengthened dreams. By the power of your Holy Spirit, grant us wisdom and a will to seek the common good. Give us ears to hear your voice in the midst of all that confounds. With the star of Epiphany, the star that drew the magi to the manger, the star that reveals you to all people, guide and give us a will to follow. All this we ask in the name of Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord. Amen.

                                  (adapted from a prayer, ELW, page 76)