Dear God, I’m in New Mexico right now, and I have experienced so much love for you since I have been here. Now, to be clear, I’ve been in places (churches and missions) where I would find people who love you, but I’ve also been overwhelmed by the devotion and earnestness with which people are worshiping you here, back home, and, I know, all over the world. I know there are people in South American, Africa, Asia, and Europe who worship you fervently as well. You are their God. They love you. They need you. It has been so uplifting and beautiful.

We went to a mission near Santa Fe yesterday called Chimayo. Some of the art was great, including this one statue of a man taking Jesus’s body off of the cross (it is likely Joseph of Arimathea, but I like to think it’s Nicodemus [John 19:38-41]). I took a picture of it five years ago when we were here, but it was the first thing I looked for yesterday.

But it was more than the art. It was the people there for daily mass. It was the special rosary some women had decided to offer in light of what is happening in Israel right now.

Oh, and I haven’t even mentioned the friends we are with this weekend while we are here. What wonderful, faithful people. Oh, how they love you. And, oh, how they have sorrow in their lives that is similar to our own sorrow. There is a constant sorrow in my wife’s and my lives that is nothing can assuage. And that’s okay. It’s okay because I think there is probably a constant sorrow for you when it comes to us as your creation. I know there are times when I cause you sorrow and yet I know I’m really trying to love you. Then there is the sorrow you feel for those who have flat out rejected you.

But back to what I’ve experienced the last few days. So much love for you! So much faith! Yes, they are mostly Catholic and I am not Catholic so their worship looks different than how I do it, but I see nothing that probably doesn’t delight you. And there is some beauty in the rituals that help future generations find you through them. It’s been quite something.

Father, Jesus, Holy Spirit, I thank you for this trip. I thank you for your one holy, catholic, and apostolic church. I thank you for one baptism for the forgiveness of sins. I thank you for the life you lived Jesus, here on earth. I thank you for who you taught us to be before your death and resurrection for me. You made the most of the time you spent on earth. Thank you. Thank you, Holy Spirit, for your love for me. Thank you for dwelling in me. Thank you for your comfort. Thank you for your counsel. Thank you for praying for me, for my family, for the friends we are with, for the people I’ve met/seen on this trip. For Israel and the innocent Palestinians who are caught as human shields. Thank you that we are not forsaken, but loved. Thank you that we are wanted by you.

I pray all of this in the name of my Triune God, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit,

Amen