Daily Devotion: Anxious

Read: Philippians 4:4-9

Reflection Questions: When have you experienced anxiety in your life? What did it feel like? What steps do you take to center yourself? Where is God in that?

Prayer: God of peace, we are all a little bit anxious. Our world moves so fast. How could we not be? I know anxiety is not what you wish for us, because you have always wanted whole, full, peaceful lives for your people. So today I ask for your deep breaths and a calm spirit. Relieve my anxiety. Center me. Help me slow down in a fast-paced world. Amen.

—Prayer by Rev. Sarah Are | A Sanctified Art LLC | sanctifiedart.org

Poem: Until That Day

Written By: Rev. Sarah Are

We cannot shake hands right now.
We cannot hug or kiss cheeks.
We cannot lean in to tell stories
Or draw close to pray.
We cannot pass the peace
Or even pass the time in each other’s homes.
We cannot eat together,
Because the world is sick.

So instead of holding each other,
We hold distance.
We hold masks.
We hold statistics on the tips of our tongues.
We hold fear,
We hold space,
We hold tense conversations.

Maybe by the time you’re reading this,
The day will have come
For all God’s people to be gathered at Table.
Maybe by the time you’re reading this,
We will be eating together.
Maybe we’ll be hugging.
Hopefully there will be dancing
And laughing and kissing
And leaning in to tell stories,
And throwing our heads back to laugh.

But until that day,
I will wiggle my toes,
And think of footwashing.
I will eat sweet bread,
Ravenously,
And remember Communion.
I will close my eyes,
And picture your face.
I will clasp my hands
And know—
As sure as one palm knows the other—
That we are being held.
We are being held together.