Prayers for Japan

Natural disaster shapes much of what has been prayed for Japan: earthquakes and tsunami, volcanic eruptions, typhoons, blizzards, and heatwaves, with the long aftermath of Fukushima returning more than once. Prayers also mark violence against disabled people, rescues at sea, and steps toward equal marriage.

Lord, Rend the Heavens and Answer: Prayers for Gaza, Indonesia’s Disasters, and Syria’s Camps (January 21, 2021)

This opening Litany of Praise is from the Octave of Prayer for Christian Unity 2021 taken from the ecumenical service published by CTBI prepared by the The Monastic Community of Grandchamp. Switzerland. Congregation: You who call us to be praise in the midst of the earth: glory to you! Reader 1: We sing your praise in the midst […]

I Am For You: A Year’s End Prayer After a Maelstrom of a Year (December 31, 2020)

As I come to write this I am frazzled, angry and baffled at the illogical, selfish behavior of some close to me who with their medical expertise and knowledge should know better and take precautions in the face of the surging pandemic. They are not alone – sadly. Lockdowns, illness, suffering, death, separation, and lack […]

Like Grasses Showing Tender Faces: A Prayer as the Pandemic Circles the Globe (March 12, 2020)

Every little thing is sent for something, and in that thing there should be happiness and the power to make happy. Like the grasses showing tender faces to each other, thus we should do, for this was the wish of the Grandfathers of the World. Black Elk, (1863-1950) Oh God, we read these words […]

Be Gentle With Us: Prayers for the Kurds, Typhoon Hagibis, and Lebanon’s Wildfires (October 17, 2019)

Be gentle with us, O Lover of Souls. Be gentle with us, for surely in this fractured and fracturing world, that above all is what we need: To (re)learn to be gentle with ourselves. To be gentle with each other. To be gentle with our planet. Be gentle with those – especially with those – […]

Sometimes I Feel Like a Motherless Child: Prayers for Kashmir, Kenya, and Hong Kong (September 12, 2019)

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 […]

I Am About to Do a New Thing: A Prayer in a Time of Fear and Change (April 4, 2019)

“Do not remember the former things, or consider the things of old. I am about to do a new thing…” ~ Isaiah 43: 18 – 19a. (NIV) “For now my place is in him, and I am not dependent upon any of the self-achieved righteousness of the Law. God has given me that genuine righteousness […]

Do Not Fear: Prayers for Refugees on Lesbos, a Typhoon in Japan and Brazil’s Museum Fire (September 6, 2018)

Do not fear, for I am with you, do not be afraid, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my victorious right hand. For I, the Lord your God, hold your right hand; it is I who say to you, “Do not fear, I […]

Come Away and Rest: Prayers for Swedish Wildfires, South African Miners and Peace in the Holy Land (July 19, 2018)

Jesus said to the disciples, “Come away to a deserted place all by yourselves and rest a while.” For many were coming and going, and they had no leisure even to eat. And they went away in the boat to a deserted place by themselves. Now many saw them going and recognized them, and they […]

Shalom Be With You: Prayers for Douma, Parkland and the Muenster Attack (April 12, 2018)

[Jesus] stood among them and said to them, ‘Shalom be with you.’ ~ Luke 24:36 God of creation and creativity, you’ve given us the gift of language and communication so that we might speak of and learn about you, however feeble our understanding might be. We often take the gift of words for granted, forgetting […]

Be Thou My Vision: Prayers for the Nepal Plane Crash, the Skripal Poisoning, and Parkland Walkouts (March 15, 2018)

Be thou my vision, O Lord of my heart; Naught be all else to me, save that thou art: Thou my best thought both by day and by night, Waking or sleeping, thy presence my light. (Irish Traditional, Tune SLANE) O Light of the World, we stumble around in the darkness of this world which […]