Prayer for MLK interfaith breakfast

I had several people ask me to post this after I prayed it this morning, so here it is. Offered at the Faithbridge MLK interfaith prayer breakfast.

the whole crowd!

~~~

Holy God, 

we give you thanks for this day that you have made 

and for this community you have called together. 

As we come in out of the cold, 

we are mindful of those with nowhere else to go. 

As we join in conversation, 

we are mindful of those who are alone. 

As we enjoy a delicious meal, lovingly prepared, 

we give thanks for your bounty— 

of the earth producing food,  

of talented people using their gifts to help us taste and see that you are good— 

and also we are mindful of those who are hungry, 

those who are desperate for even a cup of clean water, 

those who make cookies from mud to feed their children, 

those who wonder how to make ends meet in the second half of the month. 

Put our wealth at the service of the poor, 

and our fullness at the service of the empty, 

for we know that you never intended your human family to live with this divide.  

You are a font of mercy and a source of hope— 

nourish us this morning not only with the fruit of your creation 

but also with  the fruit of the spirit. 

Feed our minds with wisdom and our hearts with understanding.  

Guard us from the temptation of repeating beautiful words with no intent to act on them, 

and from the temptation of whitewashing and sanitizing your prophets 

until they are comfortable for us. 

We come to remember, and to celebrate, and to be transformed. 

Give us ears to hear and then hands ready to work, 

for the good work you began in our brother Martin is not yet complete. 

Today, people will be executed without a trial in the streets of our cities. 

Today, our neighbors will feel the fear in the eyes of the privileged.  

Today, our children will be judged at first sight. 

Today, our leaders will pretend there is no problem. 

Today, casual conversation will betray our mistrust of the other. 

Even today, the day we set aside to celebrate and remember, 

is awash in the sins of racism and greed, sexism and self-centeredness. 

Use this time to strengthen us for the work ahead. 

We come seeking your beloved community— 

create it here once again. 

Use our uniqueness to bond us together in interdependence, 

and our differences to weave into a tapestry of new creation. 

And send us out with new friends,  

ready to see each person in your image, 

as a neighbor in this global community. 

Change the world through us, until all people and all creation know the abundance of enough. 

We thank you, Holy One, 

for we know that you will do this. 

Amen.

several of the board of Faithbridge, with Dr. Larry Greenfield, keynote speaker (left)

watch what you pray for

there is a prayer I learned from the Iona Community (I mean while I was living there many years ago):

O Christ the Master Carpenter,

who at the last through wood and nails

accomplished our whole salvation,

wield well your tools in the workshop of your world

that we who come rough hewn to your bench

may here be fashioned to a truer beauty of your hand.

We ask it for your own name's sake. Amen.

Now, setting aside the business where I'm not convinced that it was in fact through wood and nails that our salvation was accomplished (I'm more the empty tomb, less the on-the-cross, salvation kind of girl)...I love this prayer. and it comes to mind often...maybe more than once a day.

But here's the thing: who actually wants to be worked over like a piece of wood in the hands of a carpenter? Cuz while the end result may be a "truer beauty" or more usefulness, the process is, umm, hurty. there's cutting and pounding and lathing (is that even a word?).

So, I'm just saying--be careful what you pray for, cuz you might get it.

for Sunday

I'm using this poem on Sunday, and thinking about it in relation to the Annunciation and Magnificat, the idea that Mary seems to think of being the God-bearer as a blessing rather than a burden, and possibly the subversive nature of what God is doing through her (and through all of us each day).  I thought I'd share the poem with you.  It came from the Iona Community publication Hay and Stardust and is by Anne Lawson.

Is this what you had in mind Mary?
Is this what you dreamed of,
idly planned and chattered of with the girls in Nazareth?
Did you dream that your first child would be
born out of wedlock
of an unknown father?
Born miles from home
in a place fit only for animals?
Is this the birth you dreamed of for your first child?

Did you dream your firstborn son would be
greeted by strangers?
Greeted by shepherds,
Outcasts of society?
Greeted by wise men
from strange far-off countries?
Greeted by the host of angels?
Is this the welcome you dreamed of for your son?

Did you dream of this life for your firstborn son?
A birth in a stable?
A desperate flight for safety?
A life as a refugee?
A peripatetic life?
A life in which other women cared for him?
A life with no wife, no family?
A life lived in the shadow of hostility?
A life ending in a criminal’s death?
A horrific death?
Is this the life you dreamed of for your son?

Did you dream of your own life?
A happy marriage?
A growing family?
Sons and daughters to care for you in your old age?
Did you dream of this for your own life?

And if you had known, in those days of idle teenage chatter,
as a girl in Nazareth,
what you know now,
would you have said “yes” to God’s angel so quickly?

Mary, did you say “Yes” to God’s angel so quickly?
Did you offer yourself to God so fast?
Was there no feeling of wanting to think?
No sense of anger, injustice even,
that God could take your body and life so easily?
Did you really understand all that was being said?
All that was being asked?
And would I have been so willing?
Would I have been so willing to offer myself to bear God’s Son?
To bear the shame and disgrace
of bearing a child of an unknown father outside of marriage?
Would I have watched my own son die?
Would I have lived with the wound of knowledge,
a sword which pierced my heart?
Would I have lived with the burden of unknowing?
I doubt it.

Thank you, Mary, that you did.
You heard and looked, observed and listened.
Lived with the pain of unknowing.
Lived with the shadow of the cross.

Not as a stained glass window saint,
not as some saccharine-coated statue,
but as a flesh-and-blood woman
who knew what it meant
to bear the burden of unknowing,
and was prepared to live the pain
of bearing God.

prayer on the Great Commission...

Lord, you said Go and make disciples…
It’s easy to say and harder to do.
You said Go and make disciples…
but we don’t always know how to be disciples ourselves.
We walk your beautiful earth, admire your creation, and try to imagine your story for the world.
You said Go and make disciples…
but what about the times when life doesn’t make sense? What about cyclones and earthquakes and sickness and death and grief and hopelessness?
You said Go and make disciples…
And so we go, trying to follow your example, live by your word, but the church is full of human beings with flaws and foibles.
And so we pray today, O God, that you would remind us that your promise is true:
You will be with us always.
Even when we doubt, even when we fear, even when we grieve, even when we make mistakes, even when we don’t know what to say.
Walk with us again this day, Lord, that we might go from this place to be your witnesses, here and to the ends of the earth. Send your Holy Spirit to sustain us and to fill us with your love and your word for all people. Help us to shine your light to the world.
We pray in your name, Jesus, and we use the prayer you taught us:
Our Father…

Has politics paralyzed our prayer?

(cross posted from our church blog)
(scroll down for the Friday Five...)

Last night we had a wonderful Taize service–our last one until fall, actually, as we plan to take a summer break–and I once again noticed something odd during the prayer time.

At our Taize service we have a time where you are invited to simply say the name of a person or place that you want to pray for. We organize the prayer into “categories”–things we are grateful for, people we want to pray for for various reasons, places in the world we pray for (especially to receive peace/healing/etc), and then a time when you can pray for anything you like. In those first three, people generally just say the name of the person/place/thing–it’s not a long beautiful prayer, just a mentioning of things on our minds.

For several months now I have noticed that people are not shy about praying in the first two categories, but when we get to the third (praying for the world), everyone is silent. I find this surprising since we are a congregation with such a mission focus–we have ministries in/with Iraq, Egypt, Palestine, Colombia, and more. Plus we are a well-informed congregation, I’m sure we know what’s going on in Zimbabwe, Kenya, Afghanistan, Darfur, and the streets of Chicago and even of Crystal Lake. So why aren’t we praying for these situations and places?

It has been suggested to me that we don’t want to sound political by mentioning these things–that bringing up political “issues” can disrupt prayer for some people.

Well, I suggest that then politics has paralyzed our prayer when really it should be motivating our prayer. Whether or not there is a “side” to be taken, there are people and situations that need prayer. If we are unwilling to pray for the people of Zimbabwe or the situation in Darfur or the people experiencing food shortages here and abroad or the people who are homeless at a time when PADS shelters are closing for the summer, simply because we are afraid of becoming “political”, then I’m afraid of what Jesus might have to say.

Remember, “politics” is simply how we live together as a community, a polis (city). Partisanship is different, it’s taking sides. I might argue that Jesus does sometimes take sides–with those no one is willing to pray for, eat with, be friends with, touch, or even see. But in any case, prayer is not partisan, though it may be political (because it can be about how we live together as a global human community).

So the next time you have the opportunity, remember to pray (even out loud!) for these situations and the people in them. We aren’t going to be judging your political party based on what you pray for–instead you are helping us to remember all of God’s people, around the world, and to pray for God’s peace and justice and grace to be known throughout the world.

As we gather together, even in this virtual space, I invite us all to pray for God’s people who know violence, fear, hunger, anxiety, and grief, and for those places like Iraq, Darfur, Egypt, Afghanistan, Kenya, Israel and Palestine, Zimbabwe, Colombia, Chicago, and even Crystal Lake that need to know God’s presence, peace, and love. And to pray also for ourselves, that we might be bold in prayer and in action. Amen.

Easter Prayer

We come running to the tomb this morning, O God,
breathless with fear and excitement.
The stone is gone, and Jesus is not there,
and we do not know what to do.

Will we simply go home, saying nothing?
Will we stay at the tomb and weep?
Will we go and tell the others?
Will we be surprised with a new grief, or a new joy?

On this Easter morning,
when you have made the world different,
we do not know what to say or where to find you…

and then you appear,
calling us by name
and sending us on a new journey.

Meet us here again this Easter,
call our names,
and we will answer
with alleluias long silent.

Thank you for bringing our alleluias back to life,
Thank you for this morning of newness,
thank you for the power of life over death,
thank you for bringing joy to overcome our fear,
thank you for your words of peace and love.
Amen.

prayer on the mountaintop

for Transfiguration...

PRAYER ON THE MOUNTAINTOP

You always seem to speak on mountains—
make this place a mountaintop today.
On mountains your glory shines—
make this place a mountaintop today.
On mountains we can hear your word—
make this place a mountaintop today.
On mountains you show yourself to your people—
make this place a mountaintop today.
On mountains your presence is easy to see—
make this place, and every place, a mountaintop
and make us the mirrors of your glory,
the speakers of your word,
the bearers of your presence.
Amen.