Holy One, you are author of Creation. You have made both light and darkness holy.
We know you in the shining spaces and in the uncertain places of night.
We ask that your Holy Spirit descend upon all the forgotten or disregarded corners of this vast world. Infuse them with your abiding peace and everlasting love. Resting on the blessed assurance that you are everywhere— in every forgotten corner, every mountain top, every valley, every manger– we uplift the needs of the weary world to you.
- We pray for your children in the Kayah, Myanmar where thirty-five people were killed in a military attack according to the international charity, Save the Children. We pray for all whose daily lives are dictated by survival amid war and terror.
- We pray for your children in West Kordofan, Sudan where thirty-eight were killed when a defunct gold mine collapsed. We pray for all whose work in precarious conditions where the bottom line is valued more than safety.
- We pray for your children in Kabul, Afghanistan where women gathered this week calling for “justice, justice” in protest of Taliban authorities not respecting women’s rights and covertly killing soldiers who served the former U.S.-backed government. We pray for all who are oppressed and targeted because of who they are and who they love.
Wonderful Counselor, we pray for your guidance and care as we enter another stage of this pandemic with the Omicron and Delta variants creating what the World Health Organization calls a “tsunami” of COVID cases. Help us to hold onto some semblance of hope as the United Kingdom, Denmark, France, Greece, Italy, and the United States set records for new daily cases. Amid our waning optimism about the days and weeks ahead, let us remember how far we have come. We uplift a prayer of gratitude for the modern miracle of vaccines and all the lives that have been spared because of their creation and distribution. May those in spheres of power and influence reject a scarcity mindset and prioritize the health of those who are most vulnerable. Help us to find ways to make the vaccine accessible to all who need it.
Mighty God, out of abundant love you created a world of unsurpassed beauty and you called it good. Every day you continue to recreate and mend this world with that same attentive love.
So often we fail to be faithful stewards of your creation.
- We pray for your children in Brazil where at least 20 people have been killed and more than 50,000 driven from their homes by catastrophic floods sweeping through the northeastern region of the country.
- We pray for your children in Alaska, United States where the state is experiencing an “Icemageddon” as some places in the state are setting records highs for temperatures while others are setting record lows.
May we admire the world as you so fiercely and tenderly do. Continue to show us how we can care for the most vulnerable in our world– human beings, animals, and ecosystems. In so many ways we already know what we need to do. As your beloved child, Archbishop Desmond Tutu from South Africa, so wisely observed: “My humanity is bound up in yours, for we can only be human together.” Dwell within us so that we might know our innermost parts – that our being and wellbeing – are interconnected and dependent upon our love and care for one another.
Everlasting Father, for so many of us this is a season where gladness and grief intermingle, joy and pain intertwine. Let us remember that your love holds all that is too much for us to confront and contain. We uplift to your safekeeping those who live in fear and despair is their constant companion; those with no food to eat or bed to rest their head; those who are sick and those who mourn; those who are alone and forgotten; those who exclaim their first wail and those who exhale their last breath. There is nothing that can separate us from your love. There is no one that you cannot embrace, no circumstance you cannot transform. This has always been true, but is particularly welcome right now.
We pray all of this in the name of the Prince of Peace. Your son and our savior, Jesus Christ.
Amen.
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