I subscribe to a daily prayer blog. The blog is published by women clergy from around the world. Each day a prayer is delivered to my RSS reader and I am blessed by the variety of offerings. Sometimes the prayers are originals written for the blog and other times they are shared with citations. Today's prayer touched me deeply. How often do we struggle with truthfulness, with gentleness, with listening? I share this pray with you with the hope that it will bless your day as it did mine.

O God, the Spirit of truth,
help us to be truthful with one another.
O God, the Spirit of gentleness,
help us to be gentle with one another.
O God, who knows what is in our hearts
more clearly than we do ourselves,
help us to hear one another.
O God, lead us in the way
of truth and love. Amen.

~~Richard Harries

Harries, Richard. "#362."The Book of a Thousand Prayers. Ed. Angela Ashwin. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2002. 150.

I'm not usually a procrastinator, but I admit to procrastinating slightly when it comes to my Charge Conference Report. The report is due on Wednesday ~ and tomorrow I am taking a vacation day ~ so I must finish today!

One reason I've procrastinated is the daunting nature of this task. How can I boil down all we have done all year into one brief report? As I look back over 2010 I remember times of excitement and times of frustration, times of energy and times of hope! We did many things together, yet much remains undone. As pilgrims together, there is much we can celebrate and much to look forward to. It is impossible to sum it all up in one (maybe two) page(s).

Yet that is what I must do. (And you, too, if you are a Team Leader writing a report for Charge Conference.) So instead of complaining, I've decided to give thanks. United Methodist Pastors have written Charge Conference Reports, in one form or another, for over 200 years. In our busy lives we are not often given the opportunity to reflect on what God has done and is doing in our lives. So I take this opportunity as a blessing. And I encourage you to take some moments to reflect, as well, on God's presence in your life, your work, your family.

So no more procrastination for me! As least I don't have to write by candlelight or on horseback as our early United Methodist ancestors did!

As someone once said, "Life is a long lesson in humility." I find that the older I get, the less I know. It's very humbling! Yet, the question above is an impossible one to answer. How humble are you? If you say you are not humble at all, does that really mean you are humble? If you say you are very humble, doesn't that point to a lack of humility?

On Sunday we will hear a parable from Jesus that is all about humility. You can read Luke 18:9-14 here. Who would you say is the humble one in this passage? Who would you want to be like?

Too often we compare ourselves with others so we can feel better about ourselves. (Thank God I'm not like the Pharisee!) It seems to me that Jesus' point is that we not to compare ourselves to others, but be who God has created us to be. The tax collector was not a model of behavior, but at least he knew where he stood with God. As Ian Pitt Watson (Philip Yancey's professor) suggested, "Some things are loved because they are worthy; some things are worthy because they are loved."

Yesterday we celebrated Children's Sabbath. During the service we were invited to share our prayers for the children of the world. Below are some of the prayers we collected in our prayer basket.

I offer the following prayer for the Children of the World:

That the children of today have more care and wisdom in their leadership than the adults of today! And, love too!

May we awaken to your vulnerability, beauty, and promise. So awakened, may we live a life that gives you hope.

May all children of the world, rich or poor, come to know your love dear God and help us to always be aware of the many ways we can be of service to them for food and peace.

Pray that have more food and not have to be so hungry.

Let them know God is with them and loves them.

I hope they have a safe environment in which to grow up. And I pray also that they have enough good food and clean water.

AMEN!

This Sunday is Children's Sabbath. Children's Sabbath is a promotion of the Children's Defense Fund to help raise awareness in communities of faith of the realities of child poverty. Did you know that 11% of Vermont children under the age of six live in poor families? Did you know that 3.5 % of US households experience hunger? Did you know that globally 134 million children between the ages of 7 and 18 have never been to school?

According to the Children's Defense Fund, every year that an American child spends in poverty results in $11,000 in future lost productivity. The effects of poverty include aggression, depression, growth stunting, and poor health.

But what can we do? We face harsh realities with no easy answers. Share your thoughts in the comments. And come to worship on Sunday. We will talk and pray about what we can do to bring justice to all God's children.