## 46:1
%% 4
> Our Refuge And Strength
>> God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.

Occasion: After losing a job

The bad news has been given, Lord,
and everything is quiet ---
the work set down,
the familiar hours ended,
the day ahead with nowhere I have to be.

Meet me in the first shock of this.
I do not yet know what this loss will mean,
and my mind keeps reaching for answers
I do not have.
Part of me is afraid.
Part of me is angry.
Part of me still cannot believe it is true.

Help me do the next thing.
Help me with the forms,
the calls,
the hard talk about money,
without shame swallowing my voice.

I want to hide from the people I love
and from the facts on the page.
I am afraid they will see me differently.
I am afraid I will see myself differently.

Be my refuge in this emptied day.
Be my strength for the new work before me.
Not strength for every uncertain week to come,
but enough for what is here.

One application.
One resume.
One phone call.

This day is still here, Lord.
Stay with me in it.

Amen.