Call to Prayer - May 11, 2020

Author: The Rev. Elizabeth McCord

Published Date: 5/11/2020

Categories: Social Spiritual Life


In difficult and uncertain times, many of us find courage by leaning into our faith. Each week, I’ll invite any of you who wish to join me in spiritual reflection. I’ll provide a written prayer, but I hope each of you will use the words, rituals or practices most meaningful and authentic for you. Please contact me if you’d like to share specific prayer requests or just check in at chaplain@carrollu.edu. You and your loved ones are in my prayers every day.

This Week's Reflection

Elizabeth McCord
The Rev. Elizabeth McCord
"Wow," according to author Annie Lamott, is our essential prayer for beauty and wonder. For me, the "Wow" prayer comes most often in nature: hiking, stargazing, breathing the ocean breeze. Hiding away at home, carrying worries, it’s been harder to pray "Wow" lately, but Professor James Zager’s recent Mindfulness Monday meditation called my heart back to one of my guaranteed "Wow" spaces.

The Muir Beach Overlook in California, pictured above, has always been a vacation spot for my soul, and it was a gift to revisit it in my mind, even though I was physically in a dark, quiet corner of my home.

This week, with the semester wrapping up behind us, give your soul a little vacation. Try to put yourself mentally (or maybe even physically) where you can experience the prayer of "Wow!"  

Walk outside at sunset. Look at old vacation pictures. Let your imagination take you somewhere beautiful. Rediscover the wonder of this world and the light still shining around and within us. Embrace that sacred gift of beauty until you can’t help but pray, "Wow." 

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Panoramic View of campus