Blacksburg Presbyterian Church

Glory be to you, O God, whom we worship in awe and wonder. You are the author of all beginnings and all that is pronounced “good.” In you both day and night have purpose, both calm and storm have meaning. Open the eyes of our imagination, that we may be ready to receive your gifts and discern your activity in our midst. In the name of Jesus, in whose baptism we too are baptized. Amen. - from The W...

O God who holds me close, my heart has no lofty ambitions, my eyes don’t look too high. I am not concerned with great affairs or marvels beyond my scope. It’s enough for me to keep my soul tranquil and quiet like a child in its mother’s arms; my soul is as content as a nursing child. May it be so. Amen. (Psalm 131:1-2)

God beyond all names, God beyond all knowing, we confess that we are more comfortable with things we can understand, so we’re not always very comfortable with you. We try to fit you into our categories, our sense of right and wrong, in and out. Forgive us and break us open with your wild mercy for all.

"I've never herded sheep, met a shepherd, or fought a wild predator in my life. But I did grow up visiting my grandparents' farms in India, and I can tell you this: I never saw my grandfather drape an immaculate baby sheep over his clean, robed shoulders. Most of the time, the animals on his farm stank. Often, at the end of a long day in their midst, so did he. How the church went fro...

Ever-present God, We come to worship today to recognize you in one another. We hear your kindness in thoughtful voices. We see your compassion in the eyes of caring friends. We taste your sweet and savory nourishment through shared meals and conversations. We smell the renewal of your life in spring flowers. We feel your strength in the actions of people standing up to injustice. Let us share your...

"May our wounds and the wounds of this world become wombs of new creation, bearing seeds of new life.” —Kris Rocke

i thank You God for most this amazing day:for the leaping greenly spirits of trees and a blue true dream of sky;and for everything which is natural which is infinite which is yes -- e. e. cummings

Jesus, your ways seem strange to us. You march in like a king going to war, but you proclaim peace. You say that to save our lives, we have to give them up. You keep on loving, even when it costs you everything.   We confess that we’re scared— scared to love that much, scared that we might not get our way, scared that we might lose everything.   Forgive us. Cast out our fear, and enter in. Make us...

God of boundless compassion, we stand in awe of the breadth and depth of your love. Draw us near to you in this hour, that we might absorb a portion of your compassion. Amen.

Come, all who are weary; come, all who yearn for forgiveness. The Holy Spirit through Jesus Christ has washed over us, and our gracious and holy God beckons and blesses us. Drink deeply of these living waters. Come and worship. There is room for all. -- adapted from Worshipping Ecumenically

“What is hell? I maintain that it is the suffering of being unable to love.” —Fyodor Dostoevsky

Have mercy on me, O God,  according to your steadfast love; according to your abundant mercy  blot out my transgressions. Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity,  and cleanse me from my sin. For I know my transgressions,  and my sin is ever before me. Against you, you alone, have I sinned,  and done what is evil in your sight, so that you are justified in your sentence ...

God of the ordinary, we praise you. You take the drabness of our thoughts, and brighten them into vivid imagination. You take our everyday lives, and transform them into holy, precious moments.  You take our limited offerings, and multiply them into an abundance of delight.  Extraordinary God, you light up our thoughts, our lives, our selves with the wonder of your light. We praise you....

God with us, we confess that sometimes we feel like we have to have some other kind of life to really serve you— that we have to somehow be paragons of holiness, that we have to pray for hours a day, that we have to abandon all our other obligations if we’re going to really follow Jesus. Forgive us. Reassure us. Remind us it’s not all up to us, that you’re at work within us, and that the lives you...

Thought for Meditation: “Why must people kneel down to pray? If I really wanted to pray I’ll tell you what I'd do. I'd go out into a great big field all alone or in the deep, deep woods and I'd look up into the sky—up—up—up—into that lovely blue sky that looks as if there was no end to its blueness. And then I'd just feel a prayer.” ― L.M. Montgomery, Anne of Green Gables

Lift up your heads, O gates! And be lifted up, O ancient doors! That the King of glory may come in. Who is the King of glory? The Lord, strong and mighty, the Lord, mighty in battle. Lift up your heads, O gates! And be lifted up, O ancient doors! That the King of glory may come in. That we may see the light of God’s love shining before us.

The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?  --Psalm 27:1

Listen up, everyone! God has given us work to do. God has called each of us before we were even born. It was God who named us. It is God who claims us. The light of God’s love shines in us. Let us shine God’s love into all the world!

“We have what we seek. We don't have to rush after it. It was there all the time, and if we give it time it will make itself known to us.” ―Thomas Merton

“For last year's words belong to last year's language And next year's words await another voice. And to make an end is to make a beginning." —T. S. Eliot

“If she had said, No, The world would not have stopped: Birds would have flown high still into sky, The heavens would have proclaimed his glory And the firmament the work of his hands. We would have gone on reproving him, Unaware of how deeply down His love might plunge into our affliction, Unaware of how he might have taken upon himself The consequences of our nos.” —Pádraig J. Daly

“This is the irrational season when love blooms bright and wild. Had Mary been filled with reason there’d have been no room for the child.”  —Madeline L’Engle

“Draw the circle wide, draw it wider still. Let this be our song: no one stands alone. Standing side by side, draw the circle, draw the circle wide.” —Gordon Light

: “If the only prayer you said was thank you, that would be enough.” ― Meister Eckhart

"What matters in life is not what happens to you but what you remember and how you remember it."  — Gabriel García Márquez