Of all the collects in our Prayer Book, (52 Sundays and a myriad of seasonal days, Saint days and various occasions), this is the only one that does not ask for God to assist us with some particular action.  All we ask is for God to 'behold' us.  Curious.

    Do we ask as if we think God has forgotten us?  Obviously not.  I believe the crafters of this prayer understood something about us and God on this particular day.  This is not one more day in the calendar. It is different even from all the other special days.  It is a day of absence.  It is a day when the One who has walked with and talked with his friends, and us through them, is gone.  We understand this requires something different from us.  We are alone, the day has gone dark and all, save a few brave souls, have run to hide.

    Growing up in the Midwest we knew that when the sky changed color mid day, it was time to run for shelter.  Only the foolish stay to watch.  "Be fools for Jesus" Paul exhorts.  So today we stay and watch when others, perhaps following 'prudence', run for shelter.  We stand amid the changing skies and ominous winds.  We hold when the ground and atmosphere shift.  And we ask God to behold us as we seek to remain.

    Behold us dear God, as we seek to hold fast.  Behold us who seek to believe you are here, somewhere, even if we can't see, feel or find you anywhere.  Behold us when we sit with friends whose world is disintegrating.  Behold us when those who have been our pillars disappear.  Behold us when the things we thought to be moorings have shifted beneath our feet.  Behold us when our hearts become vacant.

    And God does.  We proclaim that God understands this moment and does not judge us for experiencing absence.  Indeed, only the foolish or mindless would deny this as a part of life.  Even God understands that.

      So we ask not for deliverance from this day, or for any action in this moment.  We simply ask that God is mindful of us, beholding us, seeing our desire to be faithful when there is nothing apparent to comfort or give courage.

    And we believe the Divine One does.  We believe the Holy One sees us and understands what it takes to remain this day, in this moment.

Todd Donatelli