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| Rembrandt, Jacob Wrestling with the Angel |
Merciful God, the story of Jacob shows your willingness to enter into the messiness of our human struggles—into fractured relationships, family differences, un-reconciled situations with people we care about.
Yet we confess that too often we hold on because we do not want to loosen our grip on our possessions and our selfish desires.
Often we fear that our very lives will be dislocated by your kingdom values of justice, mercy and peace.
Help us to wrestle with the conflicting values, desires and pressures that confront us daily so that we can unclench our hands and open ourselves to the transforming power of the Holy Spirit. Only then can we fully embrace others in their pain—and be embraced—in the name of Christ.
Amen.
