Christ has no body but yours, No hands, no feet on earth but yours, Yours are the eyes with which he looks Compassion on this world, Yours are the feet with which he walks to do good, Yours are the hands, with which he blesses all the world. –St. Teresa of Avila (16th Century) One […]
Each Light, Each Dark: A Solstice Prayer from Stonehenge to Machu Picchu (June 19, 2025)
My God, my love, my encircler, Each day, each night, Each light, each dark, Be near me, uphold me, My treasure, my truth -John Philip Newell God of light and darkness, you give us seasons, reminding us of your presence in the bleak as well as the brilliance. In these days of chaos and skepticism, […]
May This Shining Night: A Christmas Blessing for Every Nation on Earth (December 25, 2024)
Mother and Child – Bethlehem by Palestinian artist Rawab Anani Instagram: rawan_anani_artgallery Sure On This Shining Night https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HOTny4qTgxQ Sure on this shining night Of star made shadows round, Kindness must watch for me This side the ground. The late year lies down the north. All is healed, all is health. High summer holds the […]
The Candle of Love: Prayers After the Madison School Shooting and Vanuatu’s Earthquake (December 19, 2024)
Approaching the end of Advent, we light the candle of love, and we pray for situations around the world which desperately need our love. We send our love to the children who were shot at the Abundant Life Christian School in Madison, Wisconsin, U.S.A and for the 15 year old shooter who took her own […]
Lovely People Doing God’s Work: A Prayer of Thanks for Peacemakers Around the World (January 18, 2024)
God of Peace, Lover of Justice, We come before you with hearts filled with gratitude and thanksgiving for the countless women and men, past and present, who have worked tirelessly advocating for equality and promoting peace. May we be inspired by their bravery and wisdom. May we get to know one another, fostering trust and […]
May Our Groans Be Prayer: For Gun Violence, Hunger in Afghanistan and Yemen, and Nepal (June 2, 2022)
God, there are hardly any words for these times. You promise that when we are in these unfathomable places Your very Spirit intercedes with groans too deep for words. We need that now, as we groan through our exhausted bodies and tattered hearts. May our groans be prayer, be release for all we feel without […]
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 […]
Astonished Praise: A Prayer of Gratitude for Scientists, Writers, and Artists (October 12, 2017)
Beloved God, here in the United States, home of many and mingled people, all of whom we honor, we bring our astonished praise for all the gifts that surround us. Having just learned the names of MacArthur Foundation Fellows of 2017, we have been at least introduced to marvelous ways our universe and our lives […]
Out of the Darkness We Cry to You: Prayers for Palmyra, Lahore, and Western Wildfires (August 27, 2015)
(Thanks to the Evangelical Lutheran Church for some of these prayer petitions.) Out of the darkness we cry to you, O God. Enable us to find in Christ the faith to trust in your care even in the midst of pain. Assure us that we do not walk alone through the valley of the shadow, […]
What Does This Love Look Like: Prayers for Malala’s Nobel Prize and Boko Haram’s Captives (October 30, 2014)
One of them, a lawyer, asked him a question to test him. “Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest?” He said to him, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the greatest and first commandment. And a […]