John Arthur wrote a hymn text I am familiar with, my congregation singing this at times prior to communion during the offering collection.

Let the vineyards be fruitful, Lord, And fill to the brim our cup of blessing. Gather a harvest from the seeds that were sown, that we may be fed with the bread of life. Gather the hopes and dreams of all; Unite them with the prayers we offer now. Grace our table with your presence and give us A foretaste of the feast to come.

“Vineyard, cup of blessing, bread of life”, those words lending themselves to the sacrament of communion. Then I thought about the words “hopes and dreams of all” thinking about all the prayer requests I hear asked for, or read about, or even those I concern myself with during the evening news reports. Hopes for renewed health, dreams of new jobs, hopes for financial relief, dreams of a peace-filled world, hopes for children, dreams of reconciliation, hopes of meeting the right someone, dreams of comfort as end-of-life approaches, hopes of miracles and on and on.  We are all hoping and dreaming and with the Lord as our Savior, we can be confident in His unconditional love for us. Trusting in His grace and mercy, knowing He never leaves us or forsakes us and learning of the foretaste of the “feast” to come.  That feast may in fact be the body and blood of Christ through the celebration of communion or it may indeed be the feast we will enjoy when we arrive at the feet of Jesus in Heaven.  Let the Vineyard be fruitful, Lord.  Hold us safely in your arms, dear Father, as our hopes and dreams are offered in prayers to You.

Jill