A whole year ago, we started off with what felt like a blank slate. Three hundred and sixty five days later, how did the events of this past year impact you? What will you take with you in the year ahead, and what are you hoping to leave behind? To help us consider what intentions we want to hold in 2025, here is a summary of what our Synod Partnership in Disaster Recovery was up to in 2024:
Since the SPDR 2024 Year in Review document was created, the NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI) updated its data on Billion-Dollar Weather and Climate Disasters in 2024 to include events beyond September 2024. This new data brought the average number of days between billion-dollar weather and climate disasters slightly down from 12.65 days to 12.37. Not quite the direction we ought to be heading!
Rather than feeling dismayed by the frequency and intensity of these disaster events, I believe that as people of faith our hope compels us to live lives oriented towards a reality that we have yet to see, and yet, still believe is possible. God’s imagination beckons our own imaginations and lives towards what God longs for all of us – peace, harmony, joy… what else would you add to this list? What are you longing for yourself and this world? What steps will you and your congregation take this year out of hope and longing for peace?
May this prayer guide us all forward in our Synod Partnership for Disaster Recovery this day and throughout this year:
God of new beginnings,
journey with us in the days ahead.
Awaken us to the possibilities of this world through the gift of hope.
Give us eyes to see the beauty of community,
the abundance and fragility of your Creation,
the wonder of relationships,
the joy of generous living,
and our need for one another.
As your precious children, even we are not protected from all things,
but you remain with us in all things.
When we encounter stormy days ahead,
when the forces of this world feel threatening and life-altering,
Bind us together with you through the power of your love –
Love that cannot be defeated, buried, or destroyed.
Your love is beyond persistent. Your love is unquenchable.
May we, too, persist in our attempts to embody your amazing love,
through our worship, our service,
and the many ways we live intertwined as your beloved community.
We pray with hope,
and we pray in the name of your Son, Emmanuel, God with us,
Amen.
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