Tag Archives: COVID-19

A Prayer for Students Starting School, COVID-19 Style

20 Thursday Aug 2020

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Creator God, source of all knowledge and wisdom-
In this unique era of our lives,
When laptops on kitchen tables
And masks in public spaces
Have become our norm,
We ask for blessing of our students.

Some of these young scholars will be learning in classrooms.
We pray for health in body, mind, and soul.
Bless their masks as they wear them from first bell to last.
Bless the air in the classrooms.  Bless their unusual recesses and lunchtimes.
May wellness be their companion.

Some of our learners are absorbing knowledge from new spaces-
Laptops instead of smartboards
Dining room tables instead of desks.
May their focus be great.
May connections grow between students and teachers
And students with one another.
We pray for health in mind, soul, and body.
Bless the energy in their homes, and the loved ones assisting them.

Bless the students navigating education
As they split their time between home and school-
Parents, grandparents and friends.
We pray for health in soul, mind, and body
We pray for the health of all their connections.
May their unique schooling inspire all of us to think outside of boxes.

Bless the parents wondering how to balance all of this.
The family members who are classmates and teachers in our current world.

Bless the teachers, staff, and administrators leading in this new realm of education.

Bless our communities as we work to stay well and reduce the spread of COVID-19.

May 2020 be the year in which we grow with you, God of wisdom.

Amen.

 

A Prayer for Sad Days of the Pandemic

12 Wednesday Aug 2020

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God of laughs and tears-
In this dreadful episode of our lives,
When the days are long and nearly the same
And our adventures are limited,
The grief is pouring from our heavy hearts.

For some, the work is getting harder.
Our taxed minds are exhausted from making decisions.
We feel isolated, neglected, dismissed-
Sad.
Where is the energy we had at the beginning?
We were going to save the world with our work!
But two weeks became a month which became a season.
And nearly six months later,
What now?

On top of all of this,
Children are learning remotely,
Parents must learn to be two places at once.
We are dreading the spread of COVID,
And our loved ones are very sick and dying.

When will life return to normal?
Will life return to normal?
Will we sleep normally again?

O God, show your presence in these cloudy days
When the waters of visioning are murky
And we don’t know how to style tomorrow.

O God, show us your presence as our hearts sink
And as the winds of the unknown swirl around us.

Fill our souls with hope,
And may we see the land of possibilities again.

Amen.

It’s Time to Reframe Love’s Look

17 Sunday May 2020

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I’ve been thinking about what love has meant to me in the first 47 years of my life.  Signs of affection and respect meant hugs and handshakes, respectively.  It meant being close to people – placing an arm around someone or a pat on the back when they’ve needed extra encouragement.

As a pastor and because of appropriate boundaries, there are firmer boundaries when it comes to expressing care to those in our congregation.  Holding the hand of someone who is struggling, placing a hand on the shoulder, giving a congregant a handshake, and, if they initiated, maybe a slight hug would have been in the boundaries.  But none of these are in the bounds of appropriate contact anymore.

Now, love and care must be expressed differently.  Love no longer includes sharing hugs and handshakes with the ones we care about.  We can’t share these acts of affection at church or with family.  Even someone like me who keeps firm boundaries with many can’t hold the hand of someone struggling with intense grief.

And that is mind-blowing to our twenty-first century brains.

How can we rewire our brains to affirm that staying away means love?  How can we reframe the whole concept of physical touching and close proximity as a negative approach to loving our friends and neighbors?  Of course, the very closest people to us we will probably always give hugs.  But this won’t be common as we welcome our professional contacts and friends.

Each time I watch Pride and Prejudice (the 1995 version with Colin Firth, of course), I’m intrigued by the way they would greet one another.  There wouldn’t be many handshakes and definitely no hugging.  But they would bow and curtsy when greeting another person.  It seemed formal, yet in today’s world, this would be in the scope of what could be allowed.

So whether we decide to bow or curtsy, place our hands over our hearts or give a peace sign, we need to work on embracing our fondness and respect for people from afar.  We are called to accept this opposite-concept in the next year or two as we begin to emerge from our quarantine cocoons and wait for a vaccine or new treatments to COVID-19.  Close physical distance no longer means love.  We are turning everything we know about welcoming and hospitality on it heads.  Yet maybe by loving from afar, we will save lives.  We will attempt to keep the ones we love well.  We will discover what are the most important ways to express love and concern.  And by doing so, we remain healthy too.

Living as the Vine and Branches in the Era of COVID-19: A Worship Liturgy

13 Wednesday May 2020

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This week, I’m going off lectionary to continue to preach on the challenges of COVID-19.  I suppose I feel called to preach on the John 15 text that we see in Easter year B.  As part of the sermon, I will be using the 1 Corinthians 12 “Body of Christ” text as well.

Entry into Worship
Like a vine wrapped around a fence,
the Divine thrives in our world.
Like each flourishing branch of the vine,
we, too, blossom in our connection to God and neighbor.
Even though we may be worshiping in individual spaces,
Through the Spirit, we are forever united.
When the complete vine suffers, we all suffer together.
When humankind struggles, we all struggle together.
May we see our well-being as a piece of the whole
and as connected to God and neighbor.

Invocation
God of Connections, in this world of isolation, bring us closer together in ways we’ve never previously experienced.  In this world of heartache, call us to use words and deeds to bring comfort to our neighbors.  Grant us the lens to see our siblings across this world as a part of our realm.  May we balance our desire for fierce autonomy with a growing sense of the covenant we have with you and neighbor.   Amen.

Prayer of Reconciliation
Loving God, Divine Connector,
Right now, we have few opportunities to look into the eyes of our neighbors-
from friend to stranger
and from those who bring us comfort to those who bring us uneasiness.
Because of this physical distance, we are forgetting the great connection between all of us.
We make decisions based only on our needs.
We dismiss concerns, ailments, and the despair of our neighbors.
We forget their health is connected to our health,
and their prosperity is tied with ours.
In this season of wilderness, may we see that loving our neighbor as ourselves is a piece of your Great Commandment,
and may we begin to see how the well-being of all are linked.  Amen.

Assurance of Grace
The God of Humankind, our Great Connector, continues to open our spirits to the needs of our neighbors.  God continually pours grace upon our souls, calling us to new beginnings and hope-filled futures.  Amen!

Reflection on Giving
The Divine Connector, Christ, the Great Vine, calls us to see how our actions impact the lives of others.  God our Connector directs us to how our treasures, talents, and time are best used in this season.  Even in this time of quarantine and wilderness, we are being asked to give as we can to our neighbors, our community, and our congregation.  By our contributions, we promote healing between neighbors and gratitude for what God has given each of us.

In this spirit of thanksgiving, we pray together,

Holy Binder, you yearn for your children to join together for the well-being of all.  You desire that each of us shares our gifts for the unity of your kin-dom.  With gratitude, we celebrate the treasures, talents, and time we contribute to our church and community.  May our work and our gifts nourish each branch on the Great Vine.  Amen.

Benediction
May God, the Great Connector, open our souls to the ones across our cities.
May Christ, the Great Vine, open our hearts to the ones across our states.
May the Holy Spirit, the Great Soul, open our minds to the ones across our country and world.
We are many branches on the one Great Vine.
Love and care for the people connected to this Vine as if each of our well-beings depend on it.
Amen.

A Prayer at the End of a Quarantined Day

10 Sunday May 2020

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God of the Night Sky,
whose stars brighten our transition into tomorrow
bless the holiness that is the end of this day.

For the deeds left undone and the words unsaid,
may your grace bring me peace.

For any disappointments I’ve created and love unshared,
pour your mercy on me.

Thank you for understanding me-
my fatigued body
my exhausted mind
my heart full of grief.

Oh how I miss this world before this.

I miss my Sunday mornings full of energy
and my Thursday night meetings.
I miss running into a store when I need one item,
and I miss eating in restaurants with friends.

So there is sadness this day,
and you know this God.

So bless my tears.
Bless my humanity.
Bless my friends separated by space but not hearts

With a body that hurts and a heart that aches,
know that I’ve given this day my all.

“Now I lay me down to sleep…”
I pray to you, God, a soul of peace.

Amen.

Easter 5A in Quarantine: Refuge in God

06 Wednesday May 2020

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Texts used this week include John 14:1-21 and Psalm 31:1-5, 15-16

Entry Into Worship
Your space was prepared for you.
In this time, you are where you need to be.
Embrace the Spirit sent by God
In our quarantine dwellings.
Receive the gift of refuge, knowing that God is near.
Do not let your hearts be troubled.
Release the worry and abide in God.

Invocation
Divine Architect, as we abide in our homes, we wonder what will come next.  We grieve what we have left behind, and we mourn the life we are no longer living.  Fill us with a new Spirit, that we can vision a future filled with joy.  May we spend this time rejoicing in the power of Divine Hope, knowing that your presence is forever with us, God.  Amen.

Prayer of Reconciliation
Have we forgotten about you God?  Have we turned our eyes away from your presence?  In this time, we have welcomed crutches to endure this time of loneliness and uncertainty.  We have forgotten that you are our Great Supplier of Hope and Root of All Faith.  May we begin to invest our trust in you instead of false idols.  May we begin to adopt the practice of gratitude in our daily lives.  Amen.

Assurance of Grace
The steadfast love of God journeys with us forever – in the peaks and valleys of our pilgrimage.  May we embrace the grace which stems from God’s love.  Amen!

Reflection on Giving
In God, we seek our refuge.  In our Divine Architect, we find our wisdom.  Even in this season of the unknown, God is caring for us.  And we are called to give what we have to care for our church, our community, and our world.  We are nudged to give what we can to share the Good News of God’s unconditional and steadfast love for each of us.

In a spirit of thanksgiving, we pray together-

Holy God, Divine Architect, in your presence we find a peaceful refuge.  In your presence, we are called to keep your commandments to love our neighbor as ourselves.  Give us the courage and strength to carry your light into our communities and world with the talents, time, and treasures you have bestowed upon us.  We pray in the name of Jesus the Christ, our Compass in unsure times, Amen. 

Benediction
As we dream of a future with hope,
We seek our refuge in God.
We find enduring comfort in the Holy Spirit.
We embrace the peace furnished by Jesus the Christ.
We will not let our hearts be troubled or afraid
as the steadfast presence of the Divine is in our midst
giving us the vision to look ahead to the future with love and hope.
Amen.

(c) 2020 Rev. Michelle L. Torigian.  Permission to us with attribution.

Good Shepherd Sunday in Quarantine – Easter 4A

02 Saturday May 2020

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Entry Into Worship
What is abundant life
And where do we see it in our homes?
How can we see bounty in the wilderness,
As boundaries restrict us from living our “fullest” life
Do we perceive God’s generosity?
On what in our lives is God’s light shining?  To what type of service is God calling us next?
May worship be a tool of discernment, a flashlight in the shadows, and a celebration of God’s generosity of Spirit.

Invocation
Holy Shepherd, Divine Leader, we look towards you in this time of quarantine.  From nights in isolation to our days of fog and bewilderment, we search for your healing presence.  We seek your wisdom and guidance in the coming weeks as we look towards the future.  May your Spirit of Hope permeate our souls as we wander in the shadow-filled valleys.  Amen.

Prayer of Reconciliation
Loving God, Divine Shepherd, we listen for your voice, but get drawn by some distracting voices squawking nonsense.  We allow these loud voices to lead us instead of your wisdom.  May we focus on and enact your intentions for our world, our country, our communities, our church, and our own lives.  May your steadfast love and mercy call us on healthy paths which cares for all of of your children.  Amen.

Assurance of Grace
The gift of God is grace which pours over us and leads us to still waters.  May we embrace second chances in God’s mercy which will accompany us throughout our entire lives.  Amen.

Reflection on Giving
The Good Shepherd, our God, requests that we learn from Jesus the Christ’s example.  Through Jesus, we see the ways we are to serve one another.  Through Jesus, we see the leader who is willing to ensure that all neighbors live the abundant life.  What can we sacrifice to ensure our neighbors’ needs are met?  What can we give to ensure that our congregation is able to fulfill its mission and share the good news during this pandemic?  This is our opportunity to see where God is calling us to share our treasures, time, and talents.

In a spirit of gratitude for the gifts that God gives to us, we pray together,

Divine Shepherd, your presence is the rod and staff which brings us peace.  We know we are called to follow your lead.  Open our souls ready to live into a spirit of abundance instead of a mindset of scarcity.  Open our hearts to your flock – your children across our communities and world who are struggling.  Open our minds to the possibilities of how we can share our gifts during this challenging time.  May we continue to focus on your voice as we discern what is next for us.  Amen.

Benediction
As we leave our time together today-
May God find you pillows of comfort on which you will rest your head.
May God lead you to places and in ways that will keep you healthy and safe.
May God restore your souls during the long days and nights of quarantine.
We will not fear, for you are with us God. 
You will follow us to the ends of the earth and remain with us in our homes.
Your goodness, mercy, and steadfast love will accompany us,
And we will dwell in your loving embrace our whole life long.
Amen.

(c) 2020 Rev. Michelle L. Torigian.  Permission to use with attribution.

Easter 2A in Quarantine: Peace Be With You

14 Tuesday Apr 2020

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Entry into Worship
Peace floats on the breezes
And peace sails on the calm waters.
Peace is heard in the dove’s coos
And in a child’s laughter.
Today, we pray for peace-
A peace which transcends the restlessness in our world,
A peace which fills our souls with hope.

Invocation
Divine Architect of Peace, the waves of anxiety crash upon us daily.  Will we have enough?  Will we survive? When will “normal” return?  We are riding the swells of the emotional seas.  God of Peace, in this great storm of life, calm the waters.  In the howling wilderness, settle the gusts. For you are our source of peace, our deliverer of serenity.  Amen.

Prayer of Reconciliation
Holy Tranquility, we listen to the news instead of seeking your serenity.  We read article after article instead of meditating upon your presence. Your child spoke “Peace be with you,” and we turned our backs.  Help us to focus on the hope of resurrection and renewal instead of the world’s destructive preoccupations. May we focus our care in ways that are constructive for our neighbors across this community, country, and world during this pandemic and times of isolation.  May we turn our worry into acts of mercy and justice. Encourage us to seek help for overwhelming anxiety so that we can live whole and healthy lives. Amen.

Assurance of Grace
Even when we turn our backs to God’s peace, God continues to send holy calmness in our direction.  May we continue to open our souls to this steadfast peace which already surrounds us. Amen!

Reflection on Giving
In this season of uncertainty, we often want to hide in the caves of scarcity.  Instead, God calls for us to give in a spirit of abundance. Through these gifts, we are able to reach many people outside of the church’s walls.  Through these treasures, our mission continues – even when the world slows down.

With hearts of hope and openness, we pray together…

Divine Tranquility, may we embrace your steadfast peace.  Through your peace, may we confidently give our treasures, talent, and time in order for the work of the church to continue.  Through your peace, may our congregation utilize these gifts wisely to reach a world filled with anxiety and uncertainty and to share your hope and love.  Amen.

Benediction
As this morning starts a new week, may we embrace the peace of God-
A peace which will carry us through moments of turmoil,
A peace which will connect us with God and neighbor,
A peace which will ask us to be still, and get to know God,
A peace which surpasses our understanding.
May the hope of God, the peace of Christ, and the love of the Spirit
chase away despair and encourage us to embrace divine serenity.
Amen!

Written by Rev. Michelle L. Torigian.  Feel free to use/adapt this liturgy with attribution.

A Maundy Thursday Communion Liturgy in Times of Quarantine

07 Tuesday Apr 2020

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Service of Communion

Christ gave us the mandate to love one another.
Christ gave us the peace that we will never be left alone.
Christ gave us the picture that we are connected as vine and branches.
Christ gave us the assurance that no one will take away our joy.

God is with you!
God is with us all!
Open wide our hearts.
We open them to new possibilities.
From our dining room tables to our home offices.
this is the time to give God our thanks and praise.

Our homes may be filled with young voices,
or our homes may be filled with overwhelming silence.
This table might be brimming with family,
or we may be sitting by ourselves at the empty table.
But the table is never truly empty.  The silence will not be the last sound you hear.

Jesus the Christ has created a realm of love for each of us-
one in which we will be reunited with loved ones,
one in which we are assured of God’s comfort.

It was a night filled with teachings and memories.
Undoubtedly, tears were shed and laughs raised.
This was the night before Jesus died.

Jesus took bread. 
As he blessed it and broke it,
he said to his friends
Whenever you eat this bread, eat in remembrance of me.

Later, Jesus blessed a cup filled with fruit of the vine.
Friends, this is the new covenant. Drink this to remember me. Drink to remember our time together.

Spirit of God, surround the bread.  Surround the cup.
Surround the elements – no matter what form they take.
Surround us – no matter where we are.
Bless us in our eating and drinking.
Bless our connection – near and far.

Even with physical distance between each one of us, our covenant with God will keep us together. Amen.

A Prayer for the Ones Ailing and Dying Alone

26 Thursday Mar 2020

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Peace-bearing God-
We know that your presence fills each space and time in our universe.
When we cannot enter a space,
You are present.
When our loved ones are on the brink of Sheol, the roughest of spaces,
You are present.

So many who are on our hearts are in hospitals and care facilities.
The doors are locked to the outside world,
And loved ones are barred from entering.

Their bodies ache and may be failing them,
And what they want most-
To be surrounded by the ones they love-
Is a privilege denied.

So many are about to go on ventilators,
And all they want to do is share love with their dear ones-
A small consolation that is near impossible.

We ask that they find bedside friend through you, Holy Attendant.
May final breaths be filled with memories of loved-filled times.
May moments of healing be invigorated by hope seen in small moments
And friendly strangers.

And for the loved ones outside of doors
Whose deep desires are to be at bedsides
Instead of in silent homes-
May they find peace through you God.
May they find ways to share their love
Before the end arrives.

May your Divine Comfort give all who ail and all who love them
The strength they need.
If death nears,
May they find all of the peace they need from you, God.
We thank you for all of the caregivers in hospital rooms and care facilities
Who can give the ailing a little bit of comfort.

May hearts that are shattered find the healing they need through you.
And may we realize that none of us are every fully alone.

Amen.