Future generations will never forgive us if we miss the opportunity to protect our common home. We have inherited a garden; we must not leave a desert for our children. (This quote is lifted from a joint appeal signed at the Vatican October 4 , 2023 – the feast of St. Francis of Assisi and […]
Fire, Earth, Water, Air: A Prayer for a Scorched Planet and the Amazon Rainforest (August 10, 2023)
*The framework for this week’s prayer is drawn from “The Four Elements and the Creation of Man,” written by Vladimir Moss, an Orthodox Christian theologian and historian. https://www.orthodoxchristianbooks.com/articles/453/-four-elements-creation-man/ FIRE. “‘God is a consuming fire,’ says the apostle (Hebrews 12.29). And of the created angels who are filled with the Spirit of God it is said […]
Free Us, Living God: After the Ohio Derailment and Michigan State (February 16, 2023)
Spirit of the living God, help us to let love lead us forward. Many of our hearts are broken. The news in the world is grim. Violence is pervasive. Like ink, slowly seeping to the edge of a cloth, we watch as it spreads, eventually damaging the whole fabric. Soothe our suffering and enable us […]
No One Can Be Saved Alone: A Year’s End Prayer for Ukraine, the Climate, and the Common Good (December 29, 2022)
Good and gracious God, We your people, your sons and daughters gather these days on the close of a year. Joys and challenges of 2022 are to be acknowledged, while we look forward in faith to 2023. We are encouraged by Pope Francis’s January 1, 2023 World Day of Peace Message entitled: “No one can […]
The Universe Sings of Your Glory: A COP27 Prayer for Lake Chad and the Amazon (November 17, 2022)
God in heaven, we pray for the successful implementation of the carbon reduction discussions at the COP27 Conference in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt. As the conference gained international attention from November 7-18, may we be mindful of the communities that continue to bear daily struggles as a result of environmental challenges forced by climate change: for […]
A Prayer for Disarmament Week: Nuclear Threats, North Korean Missiles, and the West Bank (October 27, 2022)
God of peace, we gather as a community of seekers from every corner of the world during this annual United Nations Disarmament Week. Our world is threatened by nuclear, biological, and chemical weapons and small arms. For the Ukrainians threatened by the nuclear saber rattling of Russian leadership; For the conversion of the minds and […]
Take Your Bible and Take Your Newspaper: Prayers for Myanmar, Nicaragua, and a Thirsting Europe (August 25, 2022)
Creator God, Guided by the words of your servant German pastor Karl Barth, “Take your Bible and take your newspaper, and read both. But interpret newspapers from your Bible,” we beseech you for the protection of members of our world community: For a universal water supply that is free of PFAS, forever chemicals. Guide the […]
The Dashing of Hopes: Prayers for Iraq, Failed Reforestation, and Wildfires in New Mexico (May 5, 2022)
Lord, where do we begin? We want to talk about the dashing of hopes, the failure of inspiration, the death of expectation. Afghanistan has fallen out of our consciousness as Ukraine falls into our attention, and now there is what’s happening in Iraq, as army and separatists clash and thousands flee. Monoculture (rubber trees) has […]
Teach Us to Listen: Prayers for Yemen, Ukraine, Ethiopia, and Ketanji Brown Jackson (April 7, 2022)
The Lord GOD has given me the tongue of a teacher, that I may know how to sustain the weary with a word. Morning by morning he wakens – wakens my ear to listen as those who are taught. ~ Isaiah 50:4 Lord of all learning and growth, we pray that you would teach us […]
We Breathe Your Peace: A Prayer at the Russia Ukraine Border and for Petropolis (February 17, 2022)
Oh God, you lean into us. We lean into you. A flow of relationship that has no end. We are grateful. We are invited to pray without ceasing. This is not a burden but a freeing gift, an invitation to stay present to our constant dance with you. As we pray in each moment our […]