Put me to doing...Some days I just can't listen to the news. Politics…wars…the economy…natural disasters… I wonder if you ever have the same struggle. There are times when I reach the end of my ability to deal with what the world is dishing up. It's not that I don't want to know what's happening in the world. I do. Yet there are days I find it harder to be compassionate, merciful, and understanding. I have a friend who reminds me that when I try to argue with the reporter on the radio…they can't hear me. So, I turn off the radio. But I don’t sulk in silence. Instead, I invite the Holy Spirit to come and fill me afresh. I take a deep breath and ask God for the grace to surrender my anger or fear or sorrow…whatever it is that I find unacceptable. And then I ask Him to use me however he sees fit. (No…I don’t do this perfectly at all!) I am reminded of a prayer attributed to John Wesley that invites us to let God have his way with us. I have included the full prayer below. I invite you to pray this prayer at the beginning of each day with me. The news may still be hard to listen to somedays. But maybe I (we) will have a little more grace to offer the world around us. God, I am no longer my own, but thine.
Put me to what thou wilt, rank me with whom thou wilt.
Put me to doing, put me to suffering.
Let me be employed by thee or laid aside for thee,
exalted for thee or brought low for thee.
Let me be full, let me be empty.
Let me have all things, let me have nothing.
I freely and heartily yield all things
to thy pleasure and disposal.
And now, O glorious and blessed God,
Father, Son, and Holy Spirit,
thou art mine, and I am thine. So be it.
And the covenant which I have made on earth,
let it be ratified in heaven. Amen. Blessings,
Matthew+ Grant us, Lord, not to be anxious about earthly things, but to love things heavenly; and even now, while we are placed among things that are passing away, to hold fast to those that shall endure; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen. (BCP p.234) | 
