I drove to work on December 31 and I made all the lights. The streets in Bellevue were almost empty, such was the room on the road, the quiet of visitors in the office—although let it be known, still too hard to find a place to get lunch. When instead we turned to January 2^nd, you could feel the rush descend on this city once more. The regular pace of life took over once more, with delays for cherry-pickers to remove the twinkle-lights from trees on the sidewalk. If you are feeling this dramatic switch of life as well, we share a prayer for the hurried.

Dear God,

Be with me when the lights turn red

and my hands drum anxiously on the wheel

one light after the next.

Be with me as my feet make harried footsteps

Trying to get where I am going as soon as possible

And outrun the raindrops.

Be with me as I carry too many things–

Coats, bags and groceries

Layered up and down my arms

Thinking I can make it all in one trip

Only to learn otherwise.

Be with me when I feel the pull of life

Drawing me to more and more

To address each moment in the ceaseless urgency

Atwitter with fear and anger

That beats out the drum of life.

In a moment like this

Let me be with you, O God.

To feel how you are with me

Let me be with you, O God

To remember that I do not wind the clocks of the world

I do not carry the worlds burdens

I cannot push my days to hold even a minute more

Let me be with you, O God

To feel myself rooted, even in a time like this

In you who is greater than I can know

In you who holds even me in your hand

In you who calls me to be present here in love.

Let me be with you, O God,

That you might remind me what it feels like

To love, to laugh, to serve

To listen, to act, to be still.

Let me be with you, O God,

That I may breath deeply,

And walk deliberately

And say, this is enough.

Amen.

-Pastor Lisa