There are moments when the world feels especially tender.
As a Jewish holiday begins, marked by remembrance, reflection, and sacred pause, we are also aware of heartbreaking violence in the world. These moments often arrive together. Holy days do not wait for the world to be at peace, and grief does not pause for the calendar. Both meet us where we are.
On the Prayer Porch, we do not rush to explain or resolve. We simply sit. We notice. We breathe. We allow sorrow and sacredness to share the same space, trusting that God is present in both.
Today, this porch is a place of quiet witness. A place to hold grief with tenderness and to honor sacred time with humility. A place where prayer does not try to fix the world, but offers it back to God with open hands.
A Porch Prayer
God of all people and all times,
we come to You aware that the world is hurting.
As some enter sacred days of remembrance and hope,
others are waking to shock, grief, and fear.
We do not have words that make sense of this.
We only ask for Your nearness
to those who mourn,
to those who feel unsafe,
and to those whose hearts feel heavy with questions.
Teach us how to hold sorrow with tenderness
and sacred time with humility.
Meet us here, on the porch,
where we pause, breathe, and remember
that love still matters.
Amen.
In seasons where sacred time and sorrow meet, may we choose presence, compassion, and prayer over certainty.
With love,
Laura
The Prayer Porch 