One Word
This winter on The Daily Pattern we’re in a series called One Word. Each day we take one word – a feeling or circumstance – and bring a word from God to it. Let the Word of God speak to your life.
Invocation
Make the sign of the cross, and say,
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Invitation Prayer
“Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.” (Matt. 5:5) O Lord, I am lowly and humble. You alone are my inheritance. Amen.
Word: Psalm 62:5-7
For God alone, O my soul, wait in silence,
for my hope is from him.
He only is my rock and my salvation,
my fortress; I shall not be shaken.
On God rests my salvation and my glory;
my mighty rock, my refuge is God.
Meditation
Silence by Megan Roegner
In late December 2017, my husband and I traveled to Iceland to celebrate our tenth anniversary. The day before we left, we discovered that I was pregnant with our third child. Surprise!
As we began our journey, my mind was in chaos. Part of me was excited, but part of me was terrified. The infant stages for both of my other children had been hard—we hadn’t had one of those “easy” babies that people talk about. In hindsight, it’s clear that I had mild but lingering postpartum depression with each. My second child’s birth, in particular, had been traumatic, and I was scared to go through a similar experience again. I have a distinct memory of telling someone at a party shortly before our trip that we had no plans to have a third child. Of course, I was already pregnant then as I laughed at the thought.
So when we landed in Reykjavik for our long-awaited trip with my hastily purchased prenatal vitamins in tow, I was an emotional wreck. But it turns out that Iceland was exactly where I needed to be in that moment. It was equally strange and familiar, with both otherworldly landscapes and cozy coffee shops where everyone spoke English. That strangeness and familiarity was the same way I felt about my body with my unexpected stowaway growing inside.
But the best part of Iceland, and the part that I yearn for four years later, was the silence. The days are extremely short in Iceland in late December and early January. In the darkness of each morning, there was also a quietness and a stillness that my spirit craved. We walked alone along the Reykjavik harbor amid the ships’ twinkling lights, bracing air from the North Atlantic numbing our faces. We hiked on a glacier, including an eerie descent into a noise-swallowing ice cave. We drove on icy roads with no other cars in sight. And through it all, the silence was not just an absence of sound but a presence of peace.
On the morning of New Year’s Eve, we visited Skalholt Cathedral. It was, of course, dark, and nobody else seemed to want to visit a rural church on a frozen holiday morning. The Church of Iceland is Lutheran, so in the twilight, candles flickering against the stained glass, I was again filled with the feeling of strange familiarity. And in the silence, as I lit a candle of my own, I was able to feel in a real, physical way that God was with me, quieting the tumult of my mind; with me in both the fear and the joy.
Father, thank you for walking with us in every part of our lives. When we feel overwhelmed, help us find peace in you. Let us always feel your presence, even in silence. Amen.
Prayer for Family
· For my immediate family (parents, spouse, siblings).
· For extended family (cousins, aunts and uncles, grandparents)
· For close friends that are as family to me.
· For those who don’t have families, or whose families are broken.
· For forgiveness and reconciliation where there is division in my family.
· For provision where there is need in my family.
· For God to be the foundation, and the cross the center of my family.
· For a generation yet unborn, future members of our family.
Closing Prayer
O Lord and King, your Kingdom comes even without our prayer. But we pray that it would also come among us. We are desperate for your reign and rule, for all we see is rebellion. Come into my heart, my home, my family, my work, my church, my community. Rule with justice and with mercy. Come, Lord Jesus. Amen.