The Mission Congregation spent some time reflecting on the dichotomies found in Chapter 5 of Listening Hearts ("Is It God We Are Hearing?), our culture, and in Scripture. We chose the story of Jesus and the Canaanite woman (Matthew 15:21-25) to explore further. After our exploration and reflection we wrote the following collect:
O God, you are all encompassing and different for each of us; unfailingly gracious; constantly changing and learning; you wish abundant life and health for us; and you give us free will. We pray you will continue to grow in graciousness toward us because we can't live up to what we want to live up to; that we will be open to and willing to follow up on change; that you will be with us in the changing; and that we will live our lives to be more of a blessing to people in the circumstances we find ourselves--a light in the darkness; in order that change happens; that we come together and we come to understand your graciousness; and that we grow in grace ourselves and treat each other with grace. Amen.
