Lord, we come before you Prayer is communication that invites at-one-ness with You, the source of our being. We call you God, and as revealed in the flesh, Jesus. We ask for empowerment. Transform us with the life-giving force of the Holy Spirit. Make us channels of the your Eternal Love, Light, and Grace. Help us to […]
Complicit as We Are in Humanity: A Prayer of Confession and Wonder (February 2, 2018)
Our prayer is for ourselves, complicit as we are in humanity. We pray for the humility to admit that we understand, sometimes participate, in the sins of humanity: the sin of tribalism that sets Turk against Kurd in mortal combat, the sin of denial that tries to reduce the horrors of the Holocaust to verbal […]
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 […]
Not by Bread Alone: A Prayer for Liu Xiaobo, a Rescue in Florida, and a Trillion-Ton Iceberg (July 13, 2017)
Dear God of instruction, open our hearts to learn, learn as our forebears in faith learned. Looking back on their experiences in captivity and liberation, they heard, “So He humbled you, allowed you to hunger, and fed you with manna which you did not know nor did your fathers know, that He might make you […]
Seek the Peace of the City: Prayers for the Colombia Ceasefire and Italy’s Earthquake Dead (September 1, 2016)
In an ancient time, our spiritual forebears were conquered and exiled. And the prophet Jeremiah wrote them a letter about how to deal with their calamities. In the various spirits with which those banished people listened to his letter read out, we open ourselves to you in prayer, O God. Jeremiah, speaking for you, told […]
To Proclaim Release to the Captives: Prayers for Yazidi Women Held by ISIS and a Warming World (January 21, 2016)
Jesus, in the synagogue, read “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s […]
With Persecutions: A Prayer for Christians Killed Near Aleppo and for Quiet Acts of Mercy (October 9, 2015)
Jesus said to them again, “Children, how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God.” … “Truly I tell you there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields, for my sake and for the sake of the good news, who will not […]
Hold It in Trust: A Prayer for the Care of Creation, Climate Change, and Nuclear Peace (August 20, 2015)
God, of whose creative force it is said: “Before the world was created, the Holy One kept creating worlds and destroying them. Finally He created this one, and was satisfied. He said to Adam: ‘This is the last world I shall make. I place it in your hands: hold it in trust.’ “ [Gates of […]
Love Is Patient: A Prayer for Migrants, Ukraine, and Argentina’s Protests (February 19, 2015)
This week has seen the headline that the Mediterranean is the grave of migrants, while in the last 5 days alone over 3,000 have been rescued from sinking people-smuggling boats escaping the chaos and fighting throughout the Middle East. The freeze and massive snow falls in the northeastern states of the U.S. and Canada continue […]
Praise and Thanksgiving: Gratitude Amid Ebola in Guinea and Mine Deaths in China (November 27, 2014)
“Praise and thanksgiving, Father we offer, for all things living you have made good” Hymn by Albert F.Bayly Father at the start of a new Christian year we offer our thanksgiving for all the mercies we have received over the past years. Despite the snow and difficult traveling conditions for many in Canada and the […]