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  "description": "A weekly centering prayer for these turbulent times",
  "path": "/for-those-who-whisper-letuspray/",
  "publishedAt": "2026-02-12T13:11:58.000Z",
  "site": "https://www.reyes-chow.com",
  "tags": [
    "subscribe",
    "LetUsPray",
    "The Revised Common Lectionary",
    "The Narrative Lectionary",
    "Common English Bible",
    "Vanderbilt Revised Common Lectionary",
    "The Narrative Lectionary from The Working Preacher",
    "****Upgrade today****",
    "60-Day Trial Subscription",
    "become a paid subscriber",
    "**RCL Year A:**",
    "**NL429:**",
    "the benediction"
  ],
  "textContent": "You are reading The Amalgamation, a subscriber-supported newsletter.\n****Please consider becoming a Free or Paid Subscriber today.****\n\n subscribe \n\n****Weekly #LetUsPray****\n\nI offer this weekly #LetUsPray as a way to stay anchored amidst the turmoil of the day. For paid subscribers (and last-minute worship planners), I also offer some liturgical resources and sermon prompts based on the week's readings from The Revised Common Lectionary and/or The Narrative Lectionary. Each offering is written on Wednesday and published on Thursday, allowing me to focus on current events or issues.\n\nSign-Up Today\n\nI am not sure how this is possible, but against the backdrop of the Super Bowl halftime controversy, the debates over Homeland Security funding, and the ongoing release of the Epstein files, it feels like the volume of political rhetoric has grown even louder. As this has been happening, I have been spending most of my days in a hospital room sitting with one of my elders who is dealing with some health issues. Having been in that space, I could only notice the vast network of dedicated people who tend these spaces of healing. That got me thinking and praying about the many voices that surround us every days that are never heard, noticed, or even acknowledged. So this week, I offer this prayer, not as a castigation for those who are raising their voices in righteous indignation to fight injustice, but as a reminder that there are always more stories to be heard and told.\n\n### For Those Who Whisper #LetUsPray\n\n _Let Us Pray —_\n\n _God of the whispers and the wailing\nYou hear Your people at any volume\nGod of the powerful and the promising\nYou hear Your people from any place_\n\n _From where we live:\nfor those who wash down our streets\nfor those who deliver mail door to door\nfor those who bag our groceries\nfor those who walk our furbabies\nfor those who visit our cities\nfor those who live nextdoor\nfor strangers in our midst\nand for the struggling before us_\n\n _From where we learn:\nfor those who guide our children safely across\nfor educators who shape lives\nfor custodians who tend to spaces\nfor staff who support all things\nfor paras who hold things together\nfor volunteers who do whatever is needed\nfor substitutes who step up and step in\nand for those who are struggling before us_\n\n _From where we govern:\nfor interns who yearn for what may be\nfor staffers who dig deep and know much\nfor admins who welcome the public\nfor clerks who keep things in order\nfor legislators who serve the public good\nfor janitors who keep the place running\nfor service workers who feed the people\nand for those who are struggling before us_\n\n _From where we worship:\nfor those who show up\nfor musicians who play\nfor educators who teach\nfor pastors who proclaim\nfor staff who support\nfor volunteers who serve\nfor sextons who tend\nand for those who are struggling before us_\n\n _From these places and more\nfor the voices long silenced\nto the voices amplified daily\nfor those who only know isolation\nto those who bask in belonging\nfor all of these things\nand for all of these people we pray_\n\n _— AMEN_\n\n### Liturgy and Preaching Prompts\n\nAs I have prepared liturgies over the years, I have attempted to be economical with the words, addressing the events of the day in ways that help people find grounding in their faith. The text I used most is the Common English Bible. For readings, I refer to the Vanderbilt Revised Common Lectionary **(RCL)** and The Narrative Lectionary from The Working Preacher **(NL)**. As Paid Subscribers, please feel free use any of these resources with or without attribution.\n\nPeace,\n\n### Beginning next week, the First Sunday in Lent, liturgical resources will be available only to paid subscribers.\n\n****Upgrade today****\n\nThis newsletter is one way I contribute to the household, so for as little as $1/month, I hope a little extra access + other Paid Subscriber benefits will be worth it. That said, if $$ is a barrier, here is a 60-Day Trial Subscription that you can cancel or renew at any time.\n\n become a paid subscriber \n\n#### Sunday, February 15, 2026: _Transfiguration Sunday_\n\n**RCL Year A:****** Exodus 24:12-18, Psalm 2 or Psalm 99, 2 Peter 1:16-21, Matthew 17:1-9\n**NL429:** John 9:1-41, Psalm 27:1-4\n\n#### Call to Worship — (Matthew 17:1-9)\n\nOne: In a world filled with so much disappointment and sorrow\n**ALL: God we welcome Your presence with awe and wonder**\nOne: Let Your people be open to all that you come to say and do!\n**ALL: And let us bask in the beauty and radiance of it all!**\n\n#### Confession —\n\nGod of liberation and joy, sometimes we forget that we are not destined to live in bondage and sorrow. Forgive us when we are surprised by Your promised acts of wonder and beauty, grant us the courage to always hear Your words of possibility, and comfort us when our spirits become confined by fear.\n\n#### Assurance of Pardon —\n\nGod is not only pleased with the one called Jesus. We are shown that God is more than pleased with us as well, for in the life, death, and resurrection of the one called Jesus, we are forgiven, our lives made anew, and we are reminded of our eternal life with God. For this we can all be pleased. AMEN.\n\nNote: I am partial to using a common Assurance of Pardon during liturgical seasons to reinforce a theological concept or to provide a common element if other parts are of the service shifting around.\n\n#### If I were preaching this Sunday — (Matthew 17:1-9)\n\n**What do we do in the face of awe?**\nIn this telling of the Transfiguration, Peter treats this as no big deal. Sure, you all just show up, let's build some tents. In Mark's telling, the tents come as an offering in response to fear. I might address both the ways we should remain open to the possibility for God's awe to be revealed before us, and that sometimes we will not be ready for it, and it may be frightening at first.\n\n**Who vouches for whom?**\nI love the idea that Jesus needed someone to vouch for him. Even with all the special effects going on around, God still felt the need to pipe down, \"This is my Child whom I dearly love. I am very pleased with him. Listen to him!\" What kind of proof do we need from whom about what? This could go many ways: both in how distrustful we can be AND how we need to listen to the voices of the past.\n\n#### Charge and Benediction —\n\nFolks are always invited to liberate the benediction that I have used for the past three decades.\n\n## Sign up for The Amalgamation by Bruce Reyes-Chow\n\nFocusing on social justice, pop culture, digital community, left-leaning faith and more, The Amalgamation is a joyful medley of musings, think pieces, and invitations to co-conspire for good.\n\nSubscribe\n\nEmail sent! Check your inbox to complete your signup.\n\nNo spam. Unsubscribe anytime.",
  "title": "For Those Who Whisper #LetUsPray",
  "updatedAt": "2026-02-12T13:11:57.801Z"
}