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Saint Michael and All Angels
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FINDING PEACE IN THE MESS by Rector Chris Girata

FINDING PEACE IN THE MESS was published in the Katy Trail Weekly, "The Good Word" Column, October 9, 2020
Chris Girata is the Rector of Saint Michael and All Angels Episcopal Church in Dallas, TX.


Last week, I checked in with a friend who runs a local school here in Dallas. As you can imagine, running a school in the middle of this pandemic is hard enough, but she is new to her role. Just this summer, after the quarantine began, she moved from her former school to become the head of her new school. Such a hard moment of transition! Yet, whenever I see her, she exudes optimism and positivity.

When I checked in with her, I asked her how she was doing and made it clear I really meant it. I wanted to check in with her more deeply than the passing, shallow, “all’s good” people often share. She paused a moment and said, very authentically, that she was actually doing well because for the first time in her professional life because she was working in an environment where she got to pray every day with her coworkers.

Prayer is important... most importantly as a way to center yourself and to ground yourself in a spiritual sense.

Prayer, such a simple idea, but one that has made all the difference for my friend. Prayer is something I take for granted, given I do what I do, but prayer is something powerful that many people don’t get to share with their coworkers. I imagine the vast majority of you reading this do not gather regularly with your colleagues and pray. I might even venture to say that the majority of you don’t even pray regularly on your own.

Now before you jump to any conclusions or check out of this column, let me make myself clear. Prayer is important, and not simply as a function of religion, but most importantly as a way to center yourself and to ground yourself in a spiritual sense. Prayer is an opportunity for each of us to acknowledge that there is more to life than what we see with our eyes. We can use moments of prayer to anchor ourselves in a deeper truth than what our world offers.

Prayer is time spent focusing beyond yourself, calming your spirit and finding quiet that can get lost in the noise of the world.

Let’s have a moment of real talk: Life is hard. This pandemic is hard, addressing social change is hard, anticipating the coming election is hard and on and on. The weight of our world seems to be piling up on our shoulders and pulling down our psyches each day, which makes prayer all the more important.

I admit that prayer is not comfortable for most people, if for no other reason that we don’t think we’re “good” at it. Please let me dispel the notion that you need to be good at praying for good things to happen. Not true at all. Prayer is time spent focusing beyond yourself, calming your spirit and finding quiet that can get lost in the noise of the world.

So today, my friends, I’m encouraging you to find a way to pray each day. If you are a religious person like me, then get in touch with your tradition and begin to practice praying. If you’re not a religious person, but identify as spiritual or spiritually curious, then start reading or Googling or whatever you can do to identify prayer-like practices that can help you center yourself over these next weeks and months.

We all need to find some peace in our messy lives right now, so get to searching for the peace you deserve. Yes, prayer will take some practice, but believe me, you’re worth the effort.

"The Good Word" Column is published bi-weekly, and can be picked up at the Saint Michael South Entrance.


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Saint Michael and All Angels Episcopal Church
8011 Douglas Ave
Dallas, TX 75225
(214) 363-5471

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Saint Michael and All Angels is a member parish in the Episcopal Diocese of Dallas. We practice The Way of Love as members of The Episcopal Church.

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Sunday Services:
9 a.m. Traditional Service (Rite II)
11 a.m. Contemporary Rite II Service
8 p.m. Compline

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Saint Michael and All Angels
8011 Douglas Ave
Dallas, TX 75225

Contact Us
(214) 363-5471

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Welcome Children Service Times Getting Here & Campus Map Membership

Welcome! | Saint Michael and All Angels is a community of passionate people seeking to follow Jesus in a meaningful way that impacts both our own lives and that of the community around us. We are blessed with our parish home and so glad to share it with you. If you find yourself in Dallas, we would love to have you join us for worship!

- The Reverend Dr. Chris Girata, Rector

Welcome to Children and Family Ministry!

Our team in Children and Family Ministry provides children, ages 0 – 5th grade, and their parents with the tools they need to become faithful disciples of Christ. We achieve this through fun and interactive programming that allows children and families to explore their faith together.

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Sunday Services:
7:30 a.m. Traditional Service (Rite I) in Saint Michael Chapel
9 a.m. Traditional Service (Rite II) in the Church
9 a.m. Joy: A Children’s Service in Saint Michael Chapel
11 a.m. Traditional Service (Rite I) in the Church
11 a.m. Contemporary Rite II Service in the Parish Hall
5:30 p.m. Evening Prayer and Eucharist Rite I in Saint Michael Chapel
8 p.m. Compline in the Church
Saturday Services:
8:30 a.m. Eucharist in Bishop Moore Chapel
5:30 p.m. Candlelight Mass in Saint Michael Chapel
Weekday Services:
7 a.m. M/W/F: Morning Prayer in Bishop Moore Chapel
7 a.m. T/Th: Holy Eucharist (Rite I or II) in Bishop Moore Chapel
10 a.m. Wed.: Healing Service in Bishop Moore Chapel
Click here for service descriptions and more info

We are located just south of Northwest Highway off of Douglas Ave. at Colgate Ave. Via Northbound Tollroad: Exit Lovers Ln, continue straight on Lomo Alto a few blocks to Colgate. Church is on your right. Via Southbound Tollroad: Exit Northwest Hwy, turn left to Douglas Ave. Turn R on Douglas and church is a few blocks down on your right. Via US 75: Exit Northwest Hwy and go west to Douglas Ave. Turn R on Douglas and church is a few blocks down on your right.

Maps & Directions

If you are new to Saint Michael, curious about the path to membership, or simply want to learn more about life at our parish community, we invite you to join us for two different class events we have throughout the year: "Saint Michael 101" is an introduction to life here at SMAA, and "Episcopal Christians", where we explore what it means to walk as a Christian in the Episcopal tradition, discussing topics like our Anglican heritage, worship, the Bible and formation etc.

Saint Michael 101 Episcopal Christians
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