Sometimes I feel like a motherless child,
Sometimes I feel like a motherless child,
Sometimes I feel like a motherless child,
A long way from home. – African-American spiritual
Mother-Father God, we come to you when we feel lost. We come to you when we feel discouraged. We come to you when our strength fails us. We come to you when injustice seems to have the upper hand. We come to you on our knees when we can no longer stand on our own.
Hear us, O God, and heal our hearts and our world.
Our hearts are broken as Israel continues to plan to annex one-third of the occupied West Bank, virtually negating any future peace process. Our minds are confused as we seek to understand Japan’s government considering dumping radioactive water from the Fukushima nuclear plant clean-up into the Pacific Ocean, even as area fishermen and the government of South Korea protest.
Hear us, O God, and heal our hearts and our world.
Our hearts are broken as we think of the 14-year-old schoolgirl in Kenya who hanged herself after being shamed in class because her uniform had been stained by menstrual blood, in spite of the 2017 law to provide free sanitary products to schoolgirls, and we cry out, “Enough is enough!” Our minds are confused as we see the continued lockdown of Kashmir by India, as food and medical care and supplies reach crucial levels, as men are killed or simply “disappeared,” putting women at high risk for violence, threatening the well-being of countless children.
Hear us, O God, and heal our hearts and our world.
Our hearts are broken as we learn that large parts of this planet have already passed the crucial climate threshold of 2 degrees Celsius of warming, as we see the people of The Bahamas attempting to recover from the devastating effects of category 5 Hurricane Dorian.
Hear us, O God, and heal our hearts and our world.
Mother-Father God, we also come to you when we feel gratitude. We come to you when we see things which give us hope. We come to you when our hearts are overflowing with joy at the actions of our fellow humans which inspire us. We come to you with our arms raised, reaching out for your ever-present hand to hold and guide us.
Hear us, O God, and fill us with hope.
Our hearts are filled by the prospect of justice by a lawsuit filed in Virginia (USA) on behalf of three couples, challenging the decades-long statute that requires a couple to declare their racial backgrounds in order to get a marriage license; challenging, too, the 1924 Virginia Racial Integrity Act known as “The Act to Preserve the Integrity of the White Race.”
Hear us, O God, and fill us with hope.
Our hearts are filled by the fight for human rights which continues with the pro-democratic protesters in Hong Kong, as they call for the intervention of the United States in their months-long struggle for self-rule and self-determination.
Hear us, O God, and fill us with hope.
Our hearts are filled by the actions for human rights of the California legislature which passed a bill that paves the way for Gig economy workers to get the benefit of holiday and sick pay.
Hear us, O God, and fill us with hope.
Our hearts are filled by the Poor Peoples’ Campaign in the United States, led by Rev. Dr. William Barber, as they begin a nine-month tour across the country to organize and mobilize low-income people in the lead-up to the 2020 election.
Hear us, O God, and fill us with hope.
Mother-Father God, as you look upon our world with its sorrows and struggles and still see beauty, help us to see with your loving eyes; to not lose hope in the midst of what seems hopeless; to stand strong and true, filled with your love of justice; to join hands with our siblings everywhere – each and all your children – to make this world the place you intended it to be. Your reign come, O God. Your realm come, and let it begin with each of us.
Let it be so. Amen.
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