yourself known to me
as I enter the hospital.
Help me to adjust to this new manner
of life.
Give me gratitude for those who care
for me,
compassion for those in the ward
with me,
and love for them all.
John Gunstone
*
Lord, I hate hospitals.
I hate the noise.
There is no privacy.
I’m just a back, or a leg or an arm,
And I can make almost no decisions.
But Lord I know absolutely
That I am here for your purpose.
Help me to see you
In the pain and frustration
As well as in the loving care.
Michael Hollings and Etta Gullick
*
Grant, O God, that amidst all the discouragements, difficulties and dangers, distress and darkness of this mortal life, I may depend on thy mercy, and on this build my hopes, as on a sure foundation. Let thine infinite mercy in Christ Jesus deliver me from despair, both now and at the hour of death.
Bishop Thomas Wilson (1663–1755)
*
God almighty,
it’s a different world,
coming into hospital.
Give me the strength to adjust
to being here;
give me patience with strange procedures;
give me love for those around me;
give me some sense of your presence here.
Make me certain that nothing can separate
me from your love –
neither death nor life
nor anything that happens to me here –
because your love keeps me day by day
in Jesus Christ our Lord.
Trevor Lloyd
*
My loins are filled with searing pain;
there is no health in my flesh.
I am feeble and utterly crushed;
I roar aloud because of the disquiet
of my heart.
O Lord, you know all my desires
and my sighing is not hidden from you.
My heart is pounding, my strength
has failed me;
the light of my eyes is gone from me.
Forsake me not, O Lord;
be not far from me, O my God.
Make haste to help me,
O Lord of my salvation.
Psalm 38.710,21,22
*
The Lord is here.
His Spirit is with us.
Common Worship
*
Lord I can’t go to sleep and there is nothing I want more.
I want to escape from my difficulties and yet know that with your strength the waking time can be most precious, your God-given time to pray for all those who in the hours of the night are lost in darkness. Take this darkness from them so that they may know your light.
Michael Hollings and Etta Gullick
*
Thank you, Lord, for being here
as I wake up.
My eyes are shut, but I can hear
a clatter of dishes: breakfast already?
A murmur of talking: has someone gone
in the night?
The scrape of a chair: surely not visitors?
A footstep down the ward: coming to me?
Give me peace.
Help me to hang on to you despite the
distractions.
Open my eyes to face what lies ahead
in the strength of Jesus.
Trevor Lloyd
*
Dear Jesus,
When I woke up this morning my body
ached all over.
I felt miserable and low in spirit,
Trying to cope with the pain and
sleeplessness of the night.
I asked you, Jesus, to help me through
another day.
Thank you that once more, Jesus, you
heard and answered my prayer.
Diocese of Monmouth Mothers’ Union
*
Is there still a real world out there?
The dawn is breaking, sky brightening,
clouds continually blown into new shapes.
A line of beeches silhouetted on
the dark hill,
