Sunday Prayer: Pentecost 19B

Holy One,

We come before you this morning,

a community of the broken and the blessed*

acutely aware

of all of who we are and aren’t,

in these complicated confounding times

in which we live today.

We celebrate,

with our faith neighbors around the world,

in the very breaking of bread

and drinking of wine,

a sacrament of hope, of life,

of our very being.

We celebrate this meal,

and yet,

for some, there is no bread. no drink.

for some, there are only mud cakes, and unclean water.

What kind of sacrament is this?

We commiserate,

With all of the suffering and misunderstandings and contradictions

that swirl around us.

We cry out for justice and action

around gun violence,

and yet,

we know that our voices aren’t enough.

We must act, we must find out how to act.

We contemplate,

the ways in which you call us

surprising us by appearing in the strangest of ways,

burning bushes, a YouTube video, the stranger at the grocery store,

or even in the eclipse of a blood moon.

Help us to hear your call,

may we dare to follow your leading.

We care,

and may we let go and let the children, the least of these lead us to your kin-dom.

May we bless and receive the blessing of your creation, your creatures,

the oak trees, the robins, the mangy dogs, the green iguanas, the guinea pigs, the wild wolves, the gravel on the path,  the crisp night air and the chill wind.

We know we are your broken and blessed people.

We stumble, we dance, we fall, we rise.

May it all be pleasing to you, as we trust in You.

In the name of Christ our Brother, we pray.  Amen.

*”broken and blessed”  is from David Lose’s blog, “In The Meantime” in his  reflection on Pentecost 19B (http://www.davidlose.net/2015/09/pentecost-19-b-communities-of-the-broken-and-blessed/)