Tag Archives: Prayer

A Prayer for Christine Blasey Ford (And All Telling Their Painful Stories)

27 Thursday Sep 2018

Posted by in Current Events, Pop, Prayers, Social Justice

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God, you waited with us in our shadows,
You currently abides with us on thresholds
And you will walk with us in the sun-

Today, a voice will exclaim her truth.
And you will be with her.

There have been many women and men throughout the ages who have sat in chairs-
Watching as they’ve expressed themselves
And detailed a piece of their past.

Yet trauma awaits them in the chambers,
Lurking behind tables,
Entering the room through vicious questions and piercing stares.

May peace rest upon the heart of Christine
And may her soul be soothed.

May others who need to tell their stories – whether related to this particular case
Or other cases-
Find your strength that already abides in their hearts.

And for the questioners…
May wisdom fill their dreams as they sleep.
And as they wake,
May your clarity guide them when speaking
And may openness stir them into listening.

For the ones who commit such abuses,
Who have left scars upon the spirits of many,
May your voice enter their minds.
May the winds of change nudge them to repent
Not only for the survivors, but for the spiritual survival of our world.

We are slowing moving towards justice.
May Christine find healing
May we say her name, Anita’s Name,
The names of women throughout times and spaces –
From Tamar to Vashti and many more.
In lifting their resilience and courage
We will find ours too.

Amen.

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A Prayer for the Choir

29 Wednesday Aug 2018

Posted by in Church Life, Pop, Prayers

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God of harmonies and melodies,
Of clanging and clashing cymbals,
Of sopranos and basses, of tenors and altos-

As voices unite together in this new season,
Bless the vibration of vocal cords
And the lungs which birth the songs.

May the words streaming from their spirits
Be ones in which unite us with You and neighbor.
May each stanza strengthen the souls of Your children
And may the chorus invigorate static hearts.

May those absorbing the sounds and beats of these tunes
Experience your presence through song.

Divine Symphony of Love,
Our hearts of gratitude celebrate this ensemble
And all who gift us with music.

Amen.

A Prayer for the Cast and Crew

08 Wednesday Aug 2018

Posted by in Church Life, Pop, Pop Culture, Prayers

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Creating God, Divine Inspiration-
For human imagination we give gratitude.

We ask for blessings upon performers inhabiting stages
And opening themselves up to the present moment.
May their joy for the craft be contagious to all.

For the costumers and sound production technicians,
For the makeup artists and light operators,
For the ones preparing props and raising curtains-
May Your wisdom fill their minds and Your precision fill their hands.

For directors, choreographers, stage managers, and orchestral directors-
May their positive leadership infuse all people active in the production.
May Your vision dance within their heads
And Your dreams fill their souls.

We give thanks for the hospitality of ushers
And the presence of the audience.
May the shared experience of the show be one in which we grow to love humanity.

Bless all cast and crew – no matter who they are or what part they play.
Like Your world, it takes all of us acting together-
Using our sacred time and our unique talents-
To make Your Divine-infused creation to revolve.

Amen.

A Prayer for a Friend’s Ordination

09 Saturday Jun 2018

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Spirit whose power hovered over the early swirling seas and whose power called the cliffs to creation:

You will encircle my sister in her ordination today. You will give her the words you gave Mary Magdelene to share the good news on the crisp resurrection morning. You will give her the strength and courage you gave Vashti and Esther and Rahab. You will give her the pastoral  nature to sit with the dying and sick and grieving as you did with Ruth.

For such a time as this you call her, Holy Fire.

We thank you for her call, her passion, her openness to you. We thank you that her season of waiting for this plant to bloom has arrived. We thank you for this threshold she walks across today.  We thank you for your grace which continuously covers her heart.

May this prayer be my hand resting on her shoulder as your winds encircle her on this very special day. She walks with the sisters of all times and places who preached and cared for your children.

For all of this we celebrate.

Amen.

 

Pentecost Prayers

17 Thursday May 2018

Posted by in Liturgy, Pop, Prayers

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Hello Friends!

I adore Pentecost. I suppose it’s the non-commercial tendencies of the holiday, the illustrations of nature that accompany the celebration, and the renewing nature of L the Holy Spirit.

Below is a link for a call to worship and opening prayer that I wrote in 2015. Also below is a link to a communion liturgy that I wrote last year.

CALL TO WORSHIP
One:​Listen for the Winds.
Many:​We hear the howling uncertainty.
One:​Feel the Breeze.
Many:​Air of comfort encircles us.
One:​See the world swaying.
Many:​The Spirit stirs us from complacency.
One:​Inhale the Breath.
Many:​The Spirit saturates our souls.

OPENING PRAYER
Restless Spirit, Fiery God,
You ignite our soul with the flames of inspiration-
Light our dimly-lit minds,
Burn in our chilled hearts.
Clear our eyes to see visions from afar.
Kindle our sleep with your dreams.
May we walk in the glowing path of Christ. Amen.

Communion liturgy for Pentecost

Prayer on RevGalBlogPals that can be used as a pastoral prayer

A Lament and Words of Hope for Syria

14 Saturday Apr 2018

Posted by in Current Events, Pop, Social Justice

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Samer Daboul, photographer, Syria

Syria- my heart breaks for your health. Your own leaders feel your value is minimal. Powers-that-be across the planet forget that you are children of God.

Like the Syrophoenician woman and her child, they deserve crumbs too. They deserve more than crumbs.

Jesus came to see this. May the Powers-that-be see the people as fully human- as needing more than crumbs. May they see that these children of God crave more than just remnants of goodness found scattered between the shells of bombs and under clouds of poison. May their own leaders see that their lungs need to feel the clean air of the Spirit and not the toxic gasses of hate.

God will call us over and over again to turn our swords into plowshares, our bombs into cornerstones, our guns into farms. God is calling us now to forget the muscle memories of violence and myths of war as a natural means of achieving peace.

May we cease the creation of warheads and build houses of tranquility and prosperity for refugees seeking God’s love and peace.

May we as people of earth, as persons all created in the image of God and as companions on the journeys around the sun gather together to pray, to send energy, to share love with our siblings in Syria.

A Prayer for Fear of Flying

28 Wednesday Feb 2018

Posted by in Life, Pop

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God of the seas and lands and skies
Today I am soaring in the air to my destination
Excited for my adventures at the end of this flight…

But…

As you well know, I have a fear of flying.
Bumps along the way concern me.
Are we ok? I ponder this in my mind-
And sometimes I ask the flight attendant.

What is that noise? Is that normal?

We are so high up!

I wish I had more control…

Oh, the turbulence will come if I fly often
And just like life, none of us can avoid it.
Roll with it, I say to myself,
But the nerves in my gut are screaming with fear.

God who soars with me,
Give me the courage to keep flying.
May my anxiety rest as the sky’s potholes keep the aircraft hopping.
May I learn to release control to you and he universe,
And may my adventures upon landing be ones where I see your presence.
Amen.

A Prayer When Prayers Are Not Enough

16 Friday Feb 2018

Posted by in Current Events, grief, Lent Prayers, Life, Pop, Social Justice

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“What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if you say you have faith but do not have works? Can faith save you?”

James 2:14 (NRSV)

Holy One who created us to pray when life makes no sense, or when we are grateful, or when we are in need…

Let’s face it- we use our prayers as a way to stay in safe spaces. It’s easy to pray and send our thoughts to people who hurt. It’s simple to pray that an issue will go away.

And yet day after day, these thoughts and prayers are not enough. Issues continue to stack up. People are dying.

So today we pray that we have enough courage not only to pray with our mouths and minds and hearts, but also with our hands and voices and feet. It’s time for us to stop half-praying and time for us to fully pray with our whole selves. We know you are calling us to action.

Give us the clarity needed to complete your work effectively. And give us peace as we work to bring forth your Kin-dom to earth.

Amen.

A Prayer for All of the Buddy the Elves

10 Sunday Dec 2017

Posted by in Holidays, Movies, Pop, Pop Culture

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Elf © Warner Home Video.

God of the expanding Christmas season-
Where trees and songs and lights are always in our peripheral view if not directly in front of us-
We recognize all of the people who have a “Buddy the Elf” life. 

They don’t fit in one world or another.  They are outcasts in every context they inhabit-  Some in towns too small and others in cities too large and where neighbors have too little holiday spirit.  They may be in the process of coming acquainted with their new surroundings.

Identity crises have claimed their Buddy-like souls right now.  They begin to question who they are.  Their past makes no sense and their future paths are a mystery.

And even when questions are looming over their heads and hovering from behind, their heart blazes with excitement that is rarely experienced.

They have every reason to be sad or cynical.  Yet optimism is their default setting.

And so we pray our Buddy is loved just as they are.  May our Buddy continue to live with one foot in the real world and another in their glistening utopia.  May our Buddy realize their true gifts of carriers of the Christmas Spirit.

And may their joy infect all of us who may be feeling a bit irritable or discontent in the midst of this season.

Amen.

A Prayer to Stop Second-Guessing

04 Monday Dec 2017

Posted by in Life, Pop

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God who created us with minds, hearts and souls:

Our brain hiccups again and again when remembering a decision we’ve made or thing we’ve said. And the lingering memory of our permanent etchings on the past will not let our minds rest.

And we cannot have a do-over for moments gone by. We cannot recall an opinion given or remove our deeds from the history of the world.

What we said may have been just fine. Our work may have been stellar. Our decisions may have been the best possible choice. But that sinister whisper that comes from a spot of self-doubt continues to spin within us.

Remove that toxic questioning from our beings. Help us to embrace our humanity and remember that even those of us with healthy intentions get caught up in the tangled vines of this earth. Give us the confidence that all that has been said is for the good of the world and, if it wasn’t, that your grace and mercy will smooth over the great mistakes of our mouths and minds.

Amen.