World AIDS Day

Today, December 1, is World AIDS day.  Our church, the ELCA, is not silent on this but is working through congregations and individuals here in the US and all over the world to eliminate AIDS. 

From the ELCA website: AIDS has claimed the lives of more than 25 million people worldwide, and has left millions of children as orphans.


But amid the sobering realities of HIV and AIDS there is cause for great hope.

We are seeing real progress in efforts to:

• halt the spread of HIV through effective prevention, treatment, and care,
• eliminate the stigma and discrimination experienced by those who are HIV-positive, and
• reduce the conditions of poverty that contribute to the spread of HIV.

Your action makes a difference.

I encourage you to pause for a moment this day and breathe, pray, and conside how you can make a difference.  But it always begins with God, and in prayer.  Here is a litany from the ELCA site which I think is a prayer we could offer every day:

We gather in your name,

Let us walk in your light.

We center ourselves in you,

Let us walk in your light.

We wait for your coming again,

Let us walk in your light.

We give thanks for your promises,

Let us walk in your light.

We struggle with our sins,

Let us walk in your light.

We desire faithfulness in our relationships,

Let us walk in your light.

We long for compassion for the lost, forgotten, and forsaken,

Let us walk in your light.

We want compassion for the sick and the needy,

Let us walk in your light.

We mourn with the orphaned and widowed,

Let us walk in your light.

We remember our neighbors around the world,

Let us walk in your light.

We ask for your unconditional love for those we do not tolerate,

Let us walk in your light.

We cry out for peace in war-torn lands,

Let us walk in your light.

We yearn for wholeness for our bodies, hearts, and minds,

Let us walk in your light.

We grieve for those who have died,

Let us walk in your light.

We seek your healing from all disease,

Let us walk in your light.

We beg for wisdom for doctors, generosity from corporations, inspiration for scientists, and endurance for care-givers,

Let us walk in your light.

We place our lives in your hands; shape us with your purpose,

Let us walk in your light.

We put all our hope in you, O God. We trust in your mercy and find comfort in your grace. As we commemorate World AIDS Day we pray for your light to enter into the world and shine brighter than any darkness. Let it be a pathway illuminated by your love.

Let us walk in your light, Amen.