A Blessings for May

 

Happy May Day everyone!!  As we enter a new month, it can be a bit like a blank canvas. I wonder what prayers are stirring and swirling within you?  Is there something unresolved from April still lingering?  A new month doesn’t always wipe the slate clean, the canvas can come marred with moments from the past days or years.  The first day of a month is a time to take a deep breath and be.  To look back on what was, look around at what is, and look ahead to what will be.  What word(s) describe April?  What word(s) stir when you look back on the first four months of 2024?  What is a word for today and what is that prayer that your shy soul longs to share for the coming 31 days of May?

 

For me, one word for April was change.  We celebrated our Minister of Music stepping away after 35 years and we began conversations in our diverse church about how to continue in our vibrant music ministry.  We started dreaming dreams of where there might be new possibilities.  Changes as seasonal friends flew north to escape the encroaching humidity that leaves extra space in the pews.  Changes in relationships.  The constant change can be exciting and exhausting, both a fountain and a drain.  For me, April felt like the disciples when Jesus appeared on Easter eve and asked for some fish ~ there has been joy and disbelief.  This didn’t get resolved when I turned the calendar to a new month.  As I look around, the prayer I have for the month of May is openness to the Spirit.  I pray the values of welcome, worship, justice, faithfulness, belonging, and caring will be more than words, but find flesh and breath and life in each of us.  I pray for God’s love to feed and fuel my life, even as I know that the narratives (gospels) of domination and us versus them continue to be what is talked about and trending on social media.  I pray for another way that can feel as foolish as if every day is April Fool’s Day.  I pray for courage to let the baffling; bewildering ways of God infuse and inspire me.  I pray on this first day of May; you might breathe and be.  I pray you will listen to your life, which is how God often shows up ~ not with neon signs or ALL CAPS texts.  But in subtle, subversive ways that cause us to wonder and wander through this wayless way called faith.  May you encounter and experience love, shalom, joy, presence, and peace each day this month.  Amen.