Much of my life, it seems, O God, is spent trying to get there and not making much headway. I feel like a plane stuck on the runway unable to take off, or like a car stalled in a traffic jam. I would like to do better, to pray more faithfully, and to believe with fewer doubts, but time goes by and my progress is slow. I would like to have better health, a calmer heart, a more loving spirit, and a confidence that my life still matters, but I do not seem to be getting closer to any of these.

You have searched me and known me, almighty God. You know when I sit down and when I rise up. You discern my thoughts from far away. In Jesus Christ you came to be with people like me who cannot seem to get there. I know now that there is no place so far, no pit so deep, no night so dark, and no pain so great that you do not come searching for me. You stay with me when I do not seem able to get any where. No bad weather, no traffic jam gets in your way. No sin of mine is so great that you are not willing to forgive it. My faith is never so frail that you give up on me. Nothing in heaven or earth or all creation can separate me from your love. When I am lost, you find me; when I cannot get there, you come to me.

Assured that you always come, gracious God, I can wait for you in patience and in peace. I yearn to see this warring world get to a time of peace and order, a time when evil is being overpowered by good and when love is driving back hatred, a time were people look not only to their own interests but also to the interests of others. Only in your might, only in your time, will there be such a time and such a life. Only in the might and love of Jesus Christ, crucified but raised from the dead, who is and who was and who is to come, will I be able to join the joyful celebration of the saints in heaven, and only through Jesus Christ, searching for me and finding me, is this prayer spoken, heard, and answered. Amen.