View from the Pew
Thanksgiving Prayers of the People
Corey Spence, 2010
At a learning event at the Cathedral Church of Saint Paul in Boston, we talked about parishes creating their own Prayers of the People. Our priest, Rev. Katharine Black, mentioned that most of the prayers neglect to say thank you enough for God's innumerable blessings. I took that as a personal challenge and came up with the following Prayers of the People. I offer it to the church and the world out of my own thankfulness for God's provision of a spiritual home here at Saint John's.
Thank God I Can't Go Back
For the last few weeks I have been listening to Christian music from people such as Michael Card, Twila Paris, Michael W. Smith, and Petra. I could call it my college soundtrack. I loved this music and listened to it all the time.
The songs are all about a simple faith that never has doubts or questions. They were what I needed when faith was easy, when I didn't have questions.
Hate Eats The Hater
During this time of insanity in the Anglican Communion, I have been reading communications from both sides of the issue.
As I was contemplating this war of hate filled words, I was struck by the fact that I was getting caught up in it myself. I was beginning to draw lines in the sand and starting to think that only liberals have the truth. Hate was beginning to fill my life. I resented that my life as a gay man is being blamed for the breakup of the Anglican Communion.
