Keep watch, dear Lord...

Keep watch, dear Lord,

With those who work, or watch, or weep this night,

 And give your angels charge over those who sleep.

Tend the sick, Lord Christ;

Give rest to the weary, bless the dying,

Soothe the suffering, pity the afflicted,

Shield the joyous; and all for your love's sake.

 Amen. image

He comes to us...

He comes to us

in the brokenness of our health,
in the shipwreck of our family lives,
in the loss of all possible peace of mind,
even in the very thick of our sins.
He saves us in our disasters, not from them.
He emphatically does not promise to meet
only the odd winner of the self-improvement lottery:
He meets us all in our endless and inescapable losing.
Robert Farrar Capon art