Gracious God, take our minds and think through them; take our hands and work through them; take our hearts and set them on fire. Amen.     Now the days are short.  The darkness comes early.  It looks as if the light is just about to go out. Right at this time, when the light seems to be coming to an…

  Gracious God, take our minds and think through them; take our hands and work through them; take our hearts and set them on fire. Amen.     Several years ago, on a dark winter evening, in the days that are slowly gaining more light but when darkness still holds sway, the parish where I served created time and space for prayers…

  Gracious God, take our minds and think through them; take our hands and work through them; take our hearts and set them on fire. Amen.   At first glance, today’s stories of Naomi & Ruth and the widow who gave all she had to live on, present us with tales of sacrifice. And if we were thinking of the roots of…