What Voice Will They Listen To? . . . .

This weekend we celebrate another year of ministry with CPYU as our CPYU friends and supporters gather tonight to share a meal and spend an evening together. For the last few weeks I've been praying and thinking through how to best talk about the many voice and choices the emerging generations face in today's culture. All kinds of competing voices call for attention and allegiance, endlessly shouting "come and follow!" In the midst of that ever-present ambient distraction, Jesus is the one trustworthy, good, true and right voice to heed and follow.

And so very appropriately, I turned this morning to the next page in Awed to Heaven, Rooted in Earth, a book of prayers by Walter Brueggemann, to see and pray this very timely prayer:

You are the voice we can scarcely hear
because you speak to us about dying and suffering,
and we are impacted by so many voices
that have to do with power
and competence
and success

We do know that you are the voice that gives life,
that you are the voice that opens futures to people who who are hopeless.

We are a part of a hopeless people,
because the other voices eat at our hearts,
and we are immobilized
and we become deaf.

So we pray for new ears.

We pray that your voice may be more audible to us,
that we may be able to sort out the death-giving
from the life-giving voices among us.

We pray in the name of Jesus,
through whom you have spoken
in such inscrutable ways.

Amen.