Prayer Offered for May 24, 2023

People walked through my prayers,

And I never noticed,

Intent on my own affairs.

People walked through my prayers,

And I saw them—

Intrusive, disrupting, distracting.

[Now] people walk through my prayers,

And I include them—

Caring, giving, blessing.

People walk through my prayers,

And change me—

[Sometimes] disturbing, demanding, enlarging.

People walk through my prayers,

And embrace me—

Healing, loving, forgiving.

People walk through my prayers,

Bearing the Christ—

Transforming me.

_{(Prayers of the People by Susan Baker-Lehne)}

Loving God, help us to look deeply into the hearts of those who walk through our prayers, that we may see the beauty of who they are without judgment and without expectation that they be like us.—AMEN.