Lifted

Good morning.

I’m so grateful that there’s space on the radio for prayer. One of the best habits my parents gave to me was pausing at the end of each day to give thanks, to reflect or just to be still.

I’ve always tried to keep space for daily prayer ever since - sometimes more successfully than others.

Recently, I’ve become more aware of the power of being prayed for - being held before God, or simply present in other’s thoughts and intentions. It’s hard to explain, but I’ve felt supported. I’ve found reserves of courage I didn’t know I had. It’s not that circumstances change; often, something shifts within me instead.

And prayer, or mindful care, is shared. Across the world, people pause every day holding others in hope, compassion, or concern - a kind of unseen relay. Sometimes we’re the ones running strongly, able to help carry others. At other times, we’re tired and grateful when someone else takes the weight. I love the image from an old hymn: “The day Thou gavest” which recalls how as the day ends in one place, care and attention begin in another. Kindness doesn’t sleep. We’re upheld by something larger than our own energy.

So we trust that, held in care - by one another, and perhaps by God - we may find ourselves capable of more than we expected, not by effort alone, but through grace.

Faithful God, thank you for the care that carries us when we’re weary, and the strength we find through others. Help us to receive kindness and to offer it generously, so that we may be part of the good that holds the world together. Amen.