A Prayer for Being Known
by Rev. Dr. Amy Chilton on 02/15/24
In this week in which we celebrate Valentine’s day, God’s love find us wherever we are and may we know this love deep into our being.
A Prayer for Being Known
Divine Community,
We want to be known and we’re terrified of being known. Of being laid bare in the presence of another. We are grateful that you are not a God who demands a spirituality rooted in some solitary existence, but it is hard to belong without allowing the direction of our lives to be dictated by those from whom we seek affirmation. Help us to daily discern the truth of our selfhood, that our communities would offer insight without commanding assimilation. As we find spaces that truly see and know us, help us to not run from them. The more beautiful a thing is, the more terrified we are of losing it. Do not let this terror keep us from the love we were meant for. And as we learn to accept friendship and care, may we be stirred to extend it to others. Keep us from contributing to loneliness and dislocation in the world, knowing that our freedom is mysteriously entwined with the freedom of those around us.
Amen
A Breath Prayer
Inhale: I was meant for love.
Exhale: God help me to receive it.[1]
Blessings,
Pastor Amy
[1] Cole Arthur Riley, Black Liturgies: Prayers, Poems, and Meditations for Staying Human (New York: Convergent, 2024), 70-71.
