A prayer in challenging times - MaryAnn Rennie

Over the coming weeks, as the UK faces huge changes in our relationships with the EU and as Rt Rev Susan Brown, the Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland, invites congregations across Scotland to do all we can to demonstrate care and hospitality, we will be providing a prayer each week that we hope might be useful in personal devotions and public worship. Please feel free to change and adapt these prayers to suit your own context.

This week our prayer comes from Rev MaryAnn Rennie, the minister at Dunfermline Abbey.

I am about to do a new thing;
now it springs forth, do you not perceive it?
I will make a way in the wilderness
and rivers in the desert.
Isaiah 43: 19

God of all time,
You are preparing us for a future yet to be revealed.
Teach us to be a people willing to travel in opinion and practice
rather than those marooned upon an island of uncertainty.

As politicians meet,
in corridors, meetings rooms and coffee shops,
may they look for common ground
on new horizons
where the needs of those they serve
are best met.

As young and old search for identity,
in groups, alone, or in social media,
may they recognise the value of difference
and of speaking with another,
and create a world where passion
leads to conversation rather than pain.

As communities living together,
in villages, towns and cities,
may we be welcoming of our neighbours,
building a world
where the difficult discussions
reveal the Presence of heaven.

Amen.