Voices Found: Easter 6C The healing river, VF 93, 96
Voices Found #93
God, creator, source of healing,
here we pray for wholeness and health.
Guide our work, our thoughts and feeling,
guide the sharing of our wealth,
Give discernment in our decisions
give compassion in our care;
reconcile our strife and divisions
as we search for means to share.
Words: Brigid Pailthorp
Music: Abbots Leigh, Cyril Vincent Taylor (1907-1991)
On the day of the Sabbath we went out the gate by the river, where we thought there was a place of prayer, and we sat down and spoke to the women gathered there. Now a certain woman named Lydia, a merchant of purple cloth from the city of Thyatira,a worshipper of God, was listening to us. The Messiah opened her heart to listen eagerly to us, saying what was said by Paul. As she was baptized along with her household, she urged us, saying,"If you have judged me to be faithful to Christ, come and stay at my home." And she persuaded us. Acts 16:13-15, tr. Gafney
Lydia, a merchant of purple cloth, created wealth and insisted on sharing it. She offered the disciples a home where they could live comfortably. She opened her house to Silas and Paul after they had been imprisoned and beaten. She sheltered the sisters and brothers, offering encouragement and compassion. Pailthorp's hymn text encourages today's worshippers to pray for discernment, reconciliation, and compassion; to search for means to share.
Praying the song:
Voices Found # 96
Healing river of the spirit,
bathe the wounds that living brings.
Plunge our pain, our sin, our sadness
deep beneath your sacred springs.
Weary of the restless searching that has lured us from your side,
we discover in your presence
peace the world cannot provide.
Words: Ruth E. Duck (1947-1924)
Music: Beach Spring, (1844)
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