Dear friends,
Happy Halloween! This Halloween prayer seems especially appropriate this year when Halloween collides with a pandemic, an election, and the aftermath of a tropical storm.
From ghoulies and ghosties and long-leggedy beasties and things that go bump in the night, Good Lord deliver us!
If any of you are still without power, Pam Weed has offered her guest bedroom and bathroom as sanctuary from the aftermath of the storm. If you are still in need of a hot shower and warm house, contact Pam.
Tomorrow is All Saints’ Day, when we remember those we love who are now part of that great cloud of witnesses. Our service will be both streamed online and celebrated in-person in the Beech Grove. The service is at 10 a.m. Remember to set your clocks back an hour tonight as we move off of Daylight Savings’ Time. Also remember if you are attending in-person to wear a mask, bring your own chair, and have the service bulletin accessible on your phone or other device.
Important events in the life of the nation are always concerns of the church. You may have noticed that the prayers of the people on Sunday, and the prayers during Compline this week are prayers for the nation during the election. Next week our online worship (8 p.m.) will be special Eucharists offered as prayers for the country.
In addition, on Sunday at 4 p.m., Presiding Bishop Michael Curry will preside at a live-streamed prayer service from the Cathedral in Washington DC. In the midst of a pandemic, racial reckoning, and an historic election. Holding on to Hope: A National Service for Healing and Wholeness, will gather people from across the country for prayer, song, lament, hope, and a call to love God and neighbor. Here is the link to the service: https://episcopalchurch.org/holding-hope
And finally, here is a prayer for the Saturday before the election (from the Book of Common Prayer).
A prayer for guidance:
Oh God, grant us, in all our doubts and uncertainties, the grace to ask what you would have us do, that the Spirit of wisdom may save us from all false choices, that in your light we may see light, and in your straight path may not stumble, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.