The Lord’s Prayer
Our Father and Mother, Our Creator and Sustainer,
Our Redeemer and Sanctifier
Who is in heaven
Yet who came to be near as
A Jewish man named Jesus of Nazareth
Hallowed be your name
For Your name holds all of who you are.
The Lord Our Provider, Our Shepherd, Our Rock,
Our Healer, Our Peace
May your kingdom come
Here and now
Birthing new life in these valleys of death
Help us to see where your Spirit is working and moving…
And may your will be done on earth
As it already is in heaven
With the valleys filled and mountains made low,
Crooked roads made straight
And rough ways made smooth
Give us our daily bread
The sustenance for our journey, our daily manna
So that no one is hungry
We all have more than enough at your banquet table.
For You are the God of abundance and not scarcity.
Forgive our debts
Of violence, injustice,
the harm we inflict on the image of God in each other
As we forgive others
So that the lion may sit with the lamb,
Transformed, changed from the inside out.
Lead us not into temptation,
Of comfort, of callousness
Of just “good enough”
But deliver us from evil,
From the serpent spitting lies that we can become gods ourselves.
Because Yours is the kindom that welcomes all who gather
And the Royal power that overthrows empires
And the glory that shines like the morning sun
Forever and ever, Amen.
Our Father and Mother, Our Creator and Sustainer,
Our Redeemer and Sanctifier
Who is in heaven
Yet who came to be near as
A Jewish man named Jesus of Nazareth
Hallowed be your name
For Your name holds all of who you are.
The Lord Our Provider, Our Shepherd, Our Rock,
Our Healer, Our Peace
May your kingdom come
Here and now
Birthing new life in these valleys of death
Help us to see where your Spirit is working and moving…
And may your will be done on earth
As it already is in heaven
With the valleys filled and mountains made low,
Crooked roads made straight
And rough ways made smooth
Give us our daily bread
The sustenance for our journey, our daily manna
So that no one is hungry
We all have more than enough at your banquet table.
For You are the God of abundance and not scarcity.
Forgive our debts
Of violence, injustice,
the harm we inflict on the image of God in each other
As we forgive others
So that the lion may sit with the lamb,
Transformed, changed from the inside out.
Lead us not into temptation,
Of comfort, of callousness
Of just “good enough”
But deliver us from evil,
From the serpent spitting lies that we can become gods ourselves.
Because Yours is the kindom that welcomes all who gather
And the Royal power that overthrows empires
And the glory that shines like the morning sun
Forever and ever, Amen.
Thomas Merton
My Lord God,
I have no idea where I am going.
I do not see the road ahead of me.
I cannot know for certain where it will end.
nor do I really know myself,
and the fact that I think I am following your will
does not mean that I am actually doing so.
But I believe that the desire to please you
does in fact please you.
And I hope I have that desire in all that I am doing.
I hope that I will never do anything apart from that desire.
And I know that if I do this you will lead me by the right road,
though I may know nothing about it.
Therefore will I trust you always though
I may seem to be lost and in the shadow of death.
I will not fear, for you are ever with me,
and you will never leave me to face my perils alone.
Nadia Bolz-Weber
God of all beings,
A lot of us feel less safe than we did a few days ago and a few days ago we weren’t feeling that secure to begin with. Help us draw upon you, our Divine Source, when what we have just isn’t enough to get through the day.
A lot of us are grieving. Actually, all of us are grieving: lost friends, lost kin, lost homes, lost income, lost connection to others, lost health. Help us not also lose hope. We can lose a lot and still survive, but not that.
A lot of us are so angry. Angry that our inherent worth and dignity seems up for debate by those who have never had their worth and dignity questioned in courts of law. Angry that love of power seems to trump love of neighbor. Repurpose our anger into righteous action, Lord.
(Personal note: My fear is turning to anger and I am afraid that my anger can turn so easily to hate and hate is the thing I say I am against. Turn me away from hate. My heart can’t take that kind of brittleness because I need it to give and to receive love. Remind me that my heart is spoken for.)
A lot of us are ashamed of how numb we feel, but honestly we’ve run out of emotional bandwidth and the system needs to re-boot before it comes back on-line. Give us rest and self-compassion.
A lot of us are joyous and feel like we have to shield that joy from others, lest it seem like we are callous toward those who are hurting. Help us see and celebrate what good there is in our lives and the lives of those around us.
I don't think you created us to be able to metabolize such a constant stream of bad news everyday, Lord. But I do know that you created us to metabolize cookies. And for that I give you thanks and praise. They are helping. But they are not enough.
So if you could show the hell up right now, that would be great. And if you are already showing up, give us new eyes to notice you.
Amen.
