Lord, we want this pandemic over.  We are tired. We miss our friends, family and times together.  The masks are wearing out and it would be great if we did not have to make or buy more.  We miss singing together, hugging, and laughing.  We know that we can do some of that now, but the Delta Variant is pushing the numbers up again.  Hospital admittances are rising. Please do not let us see another surge like spring and fall of 2020. We know the pandemic is not over. Worldwide the virus continues to take lives.

Lord help us to be patient. Give us the courage to speak for those who cannot be vaccinated yet and for those for whom the vaccine is still out of reach.

Help us to patient to wear that mask one more time to protect the vulnerable, the children and ourselves.

Help us to be patient with the restrictions on our worship in order that all may participate and feel safe and comfortable.

Help us to be patient with the tech people, the church leaders and the pastors as they diligently work to find solutions and paths forward during this pandemic time.  They need to hear a   thoughtful and gentle word now and again.

Help us to be patient with each other. We do not always know what our neighbor in the pew or on our street or the grocery cart ahead of us has been going through during this pandemic.  We need to take a deep breath and be kind.

Help us to be patient with ourselves. We want this pandemic over. We want to go back to where we started. Help us to understand that despite the lockdown and restrictions, life has been moving forward and we emerge on the other side of the pandemic not in the same place.

Help us be patient.

Love is patient; love is kind; love is not envious or boastful or arrogant ⁵ or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; ⁶ it does not rejoice in wrongdoing, but rejoices in the truth. ⁷ It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. 1 Corinthians 13: 4 -6

Amen.