Daily Worship

Shalom

Gordon Kennedy October 29, 2013 0 0

Ecclesiastes 1:1-11

The words of the Preacher, the son of David, king in Jerusalem.
Vanity of vanities, says the Preacher,
vanity of vanities! All is vanity.
What does man gain by all the toil
at which he toils under the sun?

A generation goes, and a generation comes,
but the earth remains forever.
The sun rises, and the sun goes down,
and hastens to the place where it rises.

The wind blows to the south
and goes around to the north; 
around and around goes the wind,
and on its circuits the wind returns.

All streams run to the sea,
but the sea is not full; 
to the place where the streams flow,
there they flow again.

All things are full of weariness;
a man cannot utter it; 
the eye is not satisfied with seeing,
nor the ear filled with hearing.

What has been is what will be,
and what has been done is what will be done, 
and there is nothing new under the sun.

Is there a thing of which it is said,
"See, this is new"? 
It has been already in the ages before us.

There is no remembrance of former things,
nor will there be any remembrance
of later things yet to be among those who come after.

God of sun and moon,
of wind and rain,
of never failing streams,
hear my prayer.

I call to you from a weary place,
it’s just the same here as it was yesterday.

You know me,
you know that I’ve tried to make a difference,
to work hard,
to serve faithfully,
to love passionately,
but still there is nothing new under the sun.

Give me grace, by the powerful presence of your Spirit,
to know shalom in the daily round.

Not just an absence of conflict,
but a wholeness that is of you.

Let knowing you be enough for me today,
may your grace be abundantly sufficient in my futility. Amen.