A Holy Week Prayer

Published 1:28 pm Tuesday, March 31, 2015

All-knowing God, on this April Fools Day we seek Your wisdom. Our past experiences have proven we are foolish if we fail to acknowledge our need of You.

The daily headlines document the complicated scenario that defines the world in which we desire to make a difference.  And quite honestly, Lord, we are often confused and questioning what to do.

As our Jewish friends and neighbors celebrate Passover this Friday, we recall Your uncanny capability of providing creative solutions to seeming insurmountable problems. When we are tempted to think we are trapped and enslaved by the demands of others or the rigidity of our own intolerance, remind us of how you opened the Red Sea. Even so, Lord, open our closed minds.

As our Christian colleagues and constituents celebrate Easter this coming Sunday, make us mindful of Your ability to open tombs and provide opportunities that are neither obvious or expected.

Give us the faith to look for live options amid the graveyard of assumptions we take for granted. When we are faced with dead ends or deadlines, remind us what a weekend of reflection can result in.

As Mariner fans throughout our state wait for Monday to dawn, remind us of the childlike wonder of Opening Day with all that it represents. A season of hope. A new beginning. A fresh start.

Lord, would you give us the means to turn the page on past results and regrets. Help us to close the door on failures of past sessions and even the successes of days gone by that have defined us far too long.

In this holy week that finds us contemplating metaphors of freedom, resurrection and hope, open our eyes to the possibilities for cooperation, sacrifice and change to which we have been blind. May we be open to whatever You have in mind. May this be Your Opening Day.

In Your Name we pray, amen.

Rev. Greg Asimakoupoulos is the Chaplain at Mercer Island’s Covenant Shores Retirement Community