CLAIRE BUCK
For in him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible
and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or
authorities — all things were created through him and for him.
He is before all things, and in him all things hold together.1
Leader: Holy God, we gather here in your presence.
People: Creator of our cells and selves, we stand in awe at your works.
Leader: God, author of our inmost being, you set each DNA nucleotide in its place while we were yet unborn.
People: Our lives are written in the language of your love.
Leader: God, keeper of our chromosomes, you guard the replicating strands of our DNA against error.
People: You meet our needs before we know them.
Leader: God, shaper of our proteins, you tend their folding and mark the intricacies of their motion.
People: You keep us from all seen and unseen harm.
Leader: God, sustainer of our metabolism, you maintain the reactions in millions of mitochondria.
People: You preserve us in ways more wonderful than we yet understand.
Leader: Lord, though we rejoice in all you have made, we lament its brokenness.
People: This world is not as it should be.
Leader: We acknowledge the reality of cancers, diseases, mutations, and every other distortion of the biochemical order.
People: Lord, we long for you to make things right.
Leader: Still, in our bewilderment and grief, in our sickness and sadness and pain, we declare together:
People: You are good.
Leader: We believe in the resurrection of the body, the promise that our matter matters and nothing you have made will go to waste.
People: Lord, let it be so.
Leader: With expectant hearts, we look forward to the day when every molecule of your good creation will be restored to a glory beyond anything our intellects and imaginations can yet grasp.
People: Lord Jesus, come quickly. Amen.
Claire Buck ’22 is majoring in English and minoring in Political Science. She is from Rochester, NY
1 Col. 1:16-17