Dear St. Luke’s,

Last year we replaced the prayer books in the Church. Our Book of Common Prayer has many different services and resources within its pages, and you can tell that these had been well used on Sunday mornings. Each book had a little worn slice with discolored and missing pages around Holy Eucharist Rite II, which is what we use on Sunday mornings. They needed to be replaced for Sunday worship, but we didn’t want to throw them out. I have them hidden in nooks and crannies, so I can give them out to people who are preparing for weddings, funerals, baptisms or just need a good spiritual resource.

The more I think about these prayer books, the more I think they are special. The “new” prayer book was commissioned in 1979, but the prayer books we had in the pews were actually a provisional version that was commissioned in 1976. That means those books have been in our pews since sometime between 1976 and 1979. They are at least older than me by seven years. They saw the immediate aftermath of the Vietnam War, the ordination of women, some of the tensest moments of the Cold War, the Hubble telescope, the fall of the Soviet Union, the attacks of September 11th, and they brought us through this pandemic. It is likely they’ve lived through every single Star Wars Movie.

I am deeply unsettled by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The Ukrainian people are now under tremendous threat, and the peace that has been maintained in Europe has all but dissolved. We are once again living through another anxiety-inducing historic event that is tearing at the fabric of our world, and those prayer books are still there waiting to be brought home by those who need some help finding the right words in prayer.

St. Lukers have played a disproportionately active role in the various conflicts that our country has seen in the last fifty years, and the prayers within our Book of Common Prayer helped shaped their lives. Those prayers can give us the conviction to do what we must, perseverance when we are challenged, and wisdom to navigate impossible situations. Prayer can also be used by those of us with very little power. I can write letters to my representatives, but beyond that, I believe I can do very little, but I care nonetheless. Prayer can be the outlet for the things that we care about but cannot change, as well as the source of strength when we are called to act, but more than anything else, prayer is innately good. Taking a moment to give God thanks, praise, and to ask for the needs of a hurting world may not be the solution to our problems within itself, but it can let God know that we are using the compassion that was given to us.

Those old prayer books on the shelf can remind us that even though our worries are valid and important, they will eventually pass on, while the need to pray will remain. Regardless of what you do, what you believe, what you are able to do, I hope that you pray for those in harm’s way.

Blessings,

Nick