Native American Prayer 10/16/2019
Now Talking God
With your feet I walk
I walk with your limbs
I carry forth your body
For me your mind thinks
Your voice speaks for me
Beauty is before me
And beauty is behind me
Above and below me hovers the beautiful
I am surrounded by it
I am immersed in it
In my youth I am aware of it
And in old age I shall walk quietly
The beautiful trail.
Poem For Life
(A Unison Reading)
Make peace with your parents before it is too late, for then you will realize you missed out on the best friends you could have had for life.
Make peace with your siblings, for they are a part of you and share the deepest feelings of the heart.
Make peace with yourself, for in this world all you have is you. Learn to love yourself, no matter your color, age, or sex, for everyone is beautiful in God’s eyes.
Make peace with each other. In a world so filled with turmoil and destruction we need not more aggravation to add to the burning fire. We are all brothers and sisters.
Make peace with God. For if you can accomplish a relationship with God, you can accomplish all.
~ Lisa Dawn Halden, age 15
Encountering difference 10/11/2019
You, Lord, are always ready to lift us up
whether we are short or tall,
black or white, rich or poor.
You know how stubborn we can be,
often too proud to change,
and to walk your way.
And as church too, Lord,
we are often reluctant to take risks
and embrace new things.
Into our messy lives
you sent your son
to show us how to step out boldly,
walking your way.
Lord,
cause us to be intentional
about embracing difference,
and courageous about encountering you.
~ Tessa Henry-Robinson
Storm and Tide 10/10/2019
The tide is running high,
waves tumultuously fretting and crashing,
crashing and roaring,
white spume swirling,
powerfully withdrawing,
rushing back in muddy insidious swirls.
So the tide of humanity:
refugees desperately running, noisy warmongers proclaiming
in accents harsh and clipped,
the power of money greed and lust,
defrauding
abusing
grabbing.
As you stilled the storm
so long ago, O Christ,
calm our hateful hearts,
stem the tide of our wanton desires,
halt the march of invading might.
Bring healing, bring peace.
~ Kate McIIhagga
Celtic Style Prayer of Confession 10/9/2019
O Christ of the endless mercies
we cry to you,
O Christ, unfailing fountian of goodness,
we cry to you,
O Christ the Savior of the lost,
we cry to you.
Lost on the dark moor
because we ignored Your Word with its warnings.
Have mercy on us,
restore us to the right path for Your Name’s sake.
Unclean because we sought pleasure and power in the wrong ways,
have mercy on us,
fill us with Your Joy as we walk Your Way.
Overwhelmed by the storms of life, adn near to shipwreck,
have mercy on us,
come to us walking upon the very waves which make us fear,
and give us Your Peace.
Swiftly come the Word of your Peace to all who cry in sincerity,
surely comes Your Salvation to all who reach out in penitence,
certain are Your Promises of Forgiveness and New Life
to all who know their need.
‘I came to seek and to save those who are lost,’
Glory be to the Christ who has found us.
‘Now you are clean by the Word which I speak to you.’
Glory be to the Christ who washes us clean.
‘O you of little faith, why did you doubt? Peace to you.’
Glory be to the Christ who stills the storm and gives us peace.
Glory be to the Father of All Mercies,
Glory be to Jesus, Friend of Sinners,
Glory be to the Holy Spirit making us new,
to the One God be glory in the Church now and for ever, Amen.
~ Ian Cowie
Stewardship of Self 10/8/2019
O Holy One – we lose ourselves
in worlds of our own making
Help us to find ourselves
in your creation – in a cleft of the rock
where stone and wave and heaven meet
where body, mind and spirit knit
where your Word made flesh again in us
restores in us your bread and wine
of the Christ’s self-giving love
Open a cleft in our self-made worlds
where your healing presence
can give us pause – give us rest
where our rendering unto Caesar
become an offering unto God
Blessed are you, O Holy One –
in each body, mind and spirit
you raise again your temple of the Christ’s self-giving love.
~ Norm S.D. Edson
Count the Stars 10/7/19
“He brought him outside and said, “Look toward heaven and count the stars, if you are able to count them.” Then he said to him, “So shall your descendants be.” And he believed the Lord; and the Lord reckoned it to him as righteousness.” (Gen. 15:5-6)
Abraham’s countless stars hover over our troubled heads
Sarah’s skylights enlighten our skittish steps
our ancestors fill the night sky with testimony
this is not all there is, there is more to come
more than the terra and the ocean
the sky painted who flicks your future on midnight canvas
is making space for your story and song
making and guarding promises still unspoken
opening wormholes to times and places
ureachable by your linear, downward searching mind
so let that muscle in your forehead go and feel your brow drop
your heart slow and your brain relax and the flow flowing
and rocket on through fear until faith is your Milky Way
~ Michael Coffey
Ground Me in Your Grace 10/4/2019
Eternal One, silence from whom my words come;
Questioner from whom my questions arise;
Lover of whom all my loves are hints;
Disturber in whom alone I find my rest;
Mystery in whose depts I find healing and myself;
enfold me now in your presence;
restore to me your peace;
renew me through your power;
and ground me in your grace.
~ Ted Loder, in Guerrillas of Grace: Prayers for the Battle
The Words and Wondering of Being Alive 10/3/2019
I am thankful for:
insights that show me straight lines are overrated,
logic and reason don’t solve everything,
the table is round
and there’s music in the air;
quiet moments, noisy moments, inspiring moments;
voices that echo in my mind
and become friends;
all-sorted conversations;
seeds that don’t stay
where they are put;
my friend’s shoes that encourage walking on air
which is not an element for walking on;
earth-supported, water-washed, air-blessed, fire-inspired
bread and poetry;
people who in all their extraordinary ordinariness
turn up on the doorstep like parcels
of wonderful surprises;
connections and process;
being and becoming;
today and tomorrow, which are different
and always will be.
~ Joy Mead
With Threads of Love 10/2/2019
New voices
new stories
fresh ideas
fresh perspectives
startling songs –
awesome adventures!
Each day is a sea to be surfed,
a mountain to be biked,
a rock to be scaled,
an injustice to be challenged.
Our deepest longing for all young people
is that their life is interwoven with the thread of love,
of joy,
of creativity
and of justice.
And that those who have lived longer
see God in these threads
and listen and learn
and give thanks.
~ Prayer from Iona Abbey
Sounds of Silence 10/01/2019
In the ‘long boring kind’ of silence
We say ‘Be there, God’
In the ‘angry and frustrating kinds’ of silence
We say ‘Help us, God’
In the ‘quiet thinking kind’ of silence
We say ‘Think with us, God’
In the ‘don’t know how or what to say’ kind of silence
We say ‘Open us, God’
In the ‘humming bees and singing birds’ kind of silence
We say ‘Thank you, God’.
~ Hannah Warwicker and Janet Lees
Needing Support Along the Way 9/30/2019
The ears of our God are tuned to all of us,
never missing the fragile voices or whispers of desperation,
hearing the messages within our messages,
listening for the silent sounds of the longing,
choosing the crying voices from with the louder sounds,
lifting up the voices of humanness,
the voices of caring,
the voices of the little and the least.
~ Dorothy McRae-McMahon
The Blessing 9/27/2019
May the God who dances in creation,
who embraces us with human love,
who shakes our lives like thunder,
bless us and drive us out with power
to fill the world with her justice,
Amen.
~ Anne Ashworth
Commitment to Learning the Ways of Jesus 9/26/2019
We are united in believing that our faith calls us to act justly in the world. And so we are a community committed to learning: learning what it means to follow the invitation of Jesus to abundant life.
- We are learning to ignore the noisy graffiti of scarcity and fear.
- We are learning to see sufficiency as the end, not the beginning.
- We are learning to give thanks for all that we have and to share it with whoever needs it.
- We are learning to each contribute what we can, aware of our place in the world.
- We are learning to uplift the many who are left out of the earth’s uneven abundance.
- We are learning to undo the hoarding of those with wrongful power and privlege.
- We are learning to resist militarism and its corrupting of our national culture.
- We are learning to find joy in savoring rather than consuming
- We will support one another in mutual prayer and diaog as we individually and collectively try to learn these ways.
~ Jack Nelson-Pallmeyer and Bret Hesla
Returning to you in surrender 9/25/19
Beloved One:
Bless all students returning to school.
Bless all teachers returning to teach.
Bless all leaders returning to lead.
Bless all workers returning to labor.
Bless all beggars returning for more.
Bless all hearts returning to you in surrender.
Remind us all that your gift of grace takes us all the way home. Amen
~ Peter Traben Haas
You Who are in the Wind 9/24/2019
Almighty God,
you who are in the wind
that breathes on the sea,
and the waves of the ocean;
the seal on the rocks;
the lark in the heavens;
the rays of the sun;
and the glittering rock in the valley;
you who are in the whole of creation
and in your loved ones,
we give you thanks and offer praise.
~ The Society of the Lady of the Isles
Allowing God to Play 9/23/19
Playful God who makes and builds
and takes delight,
shake us, tickle us, pull the rug
from underneath our heavy, leaden boots.
When we are too intent on
dotting “I’s” and crossing “T’s”
to hear the music of your Word,
playful God,
shake us, tickle us, pull the rug
from underneath our heavy, leaden boots.
When we confuse complexity with wisdom
and consign simplicity to the bin,
playful God,
shake us, tickle us, pull the rug
from underneath our heavy, leaden boots.
When we stifle quick wit & banter
and accommodate speech that’s dreary and dull,
playful God,
shake us, tickle us, pull the rug
from underneath our heavy, leaden boots.
Playful God, your Spirit beckons us to play.
Help us to join in!
~ Ian Fosten
International Day of Prayer for Peace 9/20/19
Lord, teach us to see your world
as your love would make it;
a world where peace
is built with justice
and justice is guided by love.
Let our wrestling
with your truth
bear fruit in this world
and bring your kingdom closer.
Amen
~ Common Daily Prayer of Dominican Peace Action
Needing Support Along the Way 9/19/19
The ears of our God are tuned to all of us, never missing the fragile voices or whispers of desperation, hearing the messages within our messages, listening for the silent sounds of longing, choosing the crying voices from within the louder sounds, lifting up the voices of humanness, the voices of caring, the voices of the little and the least.
~ Dorothy McRae-McMahon
Terce 9/22/19
How wonderful is the human voice! It is indeed the organ of the soul! The intellect of man sits enthroned visibly upon the forehead & in his eye; and the heart of man is written upon his countenance. But the soul reveals itself in the voice only, as God revealed himself to the prophet of old, in “the still, small voice,” and in a voice from the burning bush. The soul of man is audible, not visible. A sound alone betrays the flowing of the eternal fountain, invisible to man!
~ Henry David Longfellow
Rainbow World 9/17/19
Red, Orange, Yellow and Green,
Indigo, Violet and Blue –
all together reflecting
your great love
of diversity.
Not just White and Black
for your great vision.
Rather,
you shade in your world
with all the colours
of the rainbow.
I can picture you now,
at the dawn
of creation:
your artist’s brush and palette
and painting in every
shade and hue.
Creator God,
fill us with that same sense
of excitement
and wonder
and delight
as you,
at such richness
of diversity.
~ Susan Hardwick, England
Intercessions 9/16/19
Peace between nations
Peace between neighbors
Peace between lovers
In love of the God of life.
Peace between man and woman
Peace between parent and child
Peace between brother and sister
The peace of Christ above all peace.
Bless O Christ my face
Let my face bless everything.
Bless O Christ my eyes
Let my eyes bless all they see.
Recall the events of the day
And pray for justice and peace.
