Fill This Day

God of gifts and givers,
Give us the faith to fill this day with hope,
the strength to fill this day with love,
the patience to fill this day with joy,
the nobility to fill this day with harmony,
the generosity to fill this day with charity,
the strength to fill this day with peace
and the vision this day to offer these gifts to others.

If we cannot start small, if we cannot simply move into today faithfully and lovingly, then how can we expect to see God's Kingdom tomorrow. God's mustard-seed-like kingdom is invisible to the eye which looks only at the global problems and never at the local solutions. It may be hard to think that one day the world will be completely healed but it is much easier to imagine giving one poor man some bread. It's difficult to imagine effecting the whole world, but it's easier to imagine simply serving the person next to you. It's difficult to imagine a life completely harmonious and devoid of chaos but it is much easier to find joy in the simple blessings around you right now. God is in the silence and he's waiting in the space between yesterday and tomorrow, suffering and celebrating towards the world that is to come. It's hard to seek to fill every day but it's possible to fill this day with the fruit of God's Spirit.