This daily focus on prayer is a way to expand our awareness of the complex impact of the Covid-19 Pandemic. It is a practice intended to stretch our consciousness of prayer at a crucial point as the steady, swift rise of new cases meets the Thanksgiving holiday in America for a weary population. It is an opportunity to try different aspects of prayer as part of your spiritual practice and reflect on the experience of adding your affirmation of the spiritual life to all those who are praying for healing during the Pandemic. You are never alone in prayer. Someone, somewhere is always at prayer with you, regardless of belief or concern. Prayers on a larger, more universal scale, are not the same as personalized prayer, until we find the "we" behind the nameless and the many. The words I have been offering are a kind of template; let your heart lead your words.
Today we turn toward those who are sick with Covid-19, those who still struggle with residual effects and unresolved symptoms from the illness, those who struggle with the emotional toll of treatment, and the families who grieve for those who have died. We can begin with the recognition that healing and repair are essential, natural responses of the body itself. The human body is equipped for healing. It has evolved to favor healing and repair. Death is a part of life, but here, today, we pray in support of life, in wondrous recognition of the body's healing capacity. We ask and we accept, all that is needed to allow the body to regulate, to adjust, to resist infection, and rebuild where needed. We claim new peace and new courage for those who are afraid. Peace and courage allow for rest, needed to repair. We loosen within ourselves, any doubt, sadness, blame or fear in the face of those who are now in the body's process of healing; We know love. Love lifts. Love affirms and supports the intelligent care of life. Love transcends the barriers of expectation, doubt, and separation; love is itself healing. God is Love. God is Health. We know that these for whom we pray are cared for, soothed, nourished, sustained, and made whole. We are grateful to be here, now, as witnesses in