In a recent church service I got a little emotional during the prayers. It seems to be standard that the church prayers include praying for those who are deployed in the military. When a member of the church congregation goes overseas, their name is put in the church's prayers, where we ask God to keep them safe and bring them home to us. And every week they're prayed for until they return.
It's kind of hard to explain why I felt moved by this. The aim of the church is to be a stable bastion in one's life. The Lutheran church in particular seems to do well at this. It's got robust organization and plenty of programs and activities that help people walk in their faith. Praying for deployed soldiers is the church's way of saying "We're gonna take care of you in whatever way we can until you return to us." The prayer itself asks for the soldier to be returned safely, since that's the desire of everyone in the congregation. It says to the soldier that he/she is in the church's thoughts, hearts, plans and prayers. In this aspect the church acts as that source of stability by extending emotional and spiritual support. And something about all that really moves me.
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