God Carries our Burdens and Provides Hope: A Reflection

Last Wednesday evening’s Service of Lament, Prayer, and Hope provided space for naming the losses, grief, and suffering being experienced during these difficult times for our lives and communities, as well as hopes and needs to get us through. Although we lament, blessings abound. One of those blessings is hope. We are vulnerable in our suffering and leaning into that vulnerability through lament can often help us discover our dependence on God. Suffering opens our hearts and we find hope in God, and hope keeps us going.

During the week leading up to the service, stones were left on the altar of the outdoor chapel to represent the heavy burdens being carried and personal prayers of lament. Being laid at the altar for God to carry, these stones have been blessed as a sign of hope and symbol of our dependence on God. They are a tangible and visible reminder that you are blessed by God and that God is present.

Some of these stones are on the outdoor altar and others have been scattered around the grounds of the outdoor chapel and pathways around the church. They are available to everyone. If you or someone you know would like to have one as a prayer stone or physical way to hold onto hope, you are invited to come anytime and pick one up for yourself or someone else, and the outdoor chapel is always open if you want to stay and meditate while you’re there. We are grateful for the time we have been spending together in online prayer through the Daily Office and continue to welcome your calls and prayers of support, need, gratitude, and hope.

A Prayer of Hope

Gracious and loving God, you are our rock, our salvation, and our source of hope. As we lay down our burdens before you, we pray for your mercy and compassion that we may be reconciled to you, each other, and our world. Grant us the gifts of true healing and new life through the power of the Holy Spirit, that we may be agents of love, wisdom, and justice. All this we ask through Jesus Christ, our strength and our redeemer. Amen.

-- Susan Oakes, Seminarian

Susan Oakes is a rising senior at the Seminary of the Southwest in Austin, Texas. This summer, she is serving as a seminarian intern at Saint Stephen's, her sponsoring parish for ordination.