Laura Young
ECB Publishing, Inc.
More than 50 people from various churches across the county gathered on Thursday morning, Oct. 7, to resume the ecumenical Monticello Community Prayer Breakfast after a hiatus since the spring of 2020. This month's prayer breakfast was hosted by the First United Methodist Church of Monticello, which offered guests a delicious buffet of sausage-egg casserole, veggie-egg casserole, grits, biscuits, gravy, cinnamon buns, coffee and orange juice.
Gary Wright, the organizer of the breakfast programs, began by reading "A Prayer for Our Country," from the included in a collection entitled God Bless America: Prayers and Reflections for Our Country.
It reads: "Almighty God, you have given us this great land as our heritage. We humbly pray that we may always remember your generosity and faithfully do your will. Bless our land with honest industry, truthful education and an honorable way of life. Defend our liberties and strengthen the resolve of the people who have come from throughout the world to make America their home. Lead us to choose the harder right instead of the easier wrong. Help us to appreciate the opportunities that are ours as we struggle to bring harmony to an unsettled world. May we balance our concern for justice with a willingness to display mercy, and may our concern for security be tempered with a willingness to take risks which will produce worthwhile change for the good of all people. O Lord, we pray for your guidance as we work together for the best interest of our communities, our nation, our world, and the ultimate goal of peace. When times are prosperous, let our hearts be thankful and in troubled times may our deepest trust be in you. Amen."
Attendees rose for the Pledge of Allegiance and sang "God Bless America."
Father Steve Pessah of Christ Episcopal Church led the prayer for the sick and distressed.
Then Jason Shoaf, who represents District 7 (including Jefferson and nine other counties) in the Florida House of Representatives, left politics at the door and spoke about "Lenses." He posed a question that he and many others have mused about: How could an educated, thoughtful person have an entirely opposite view on an issue than I have? Using the metaphor of eyeglasses, Shoaf pointed out that lenses that help one person see clearly can blur another person's vision. His message was that God has given each individual a special lens for viewing the world and that God's Word is not in conflict with anyone's lens. During a brief Q&A at the end, Shoaf said that mental health issues exacerbated by the pandemic are starting to rear their head. Churches, he commented, are needed more than ever to show understanding of people's depression and other effects of isolation during the pandemic.
The next Monticello Community Prayer Breakfast will be hosted by First Baptist Church of Monticello in their Fellowship Hall on Thursday, Nov. 4, from 7 to 8 a.m.
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