Sunday Prayer: For Your Sake, and for Ours

Holy One,

We have seen how privilege works.
Would anyone be hungry
if the prosperous trusted you?

We cry out to you, O God, how long?
Will instruments of violence
ever become tools for peace?

We know that evil is nothing new.
Would the hen need to shield her chicks
if the fox did not threaten them?

We cry out to you, O God, how long?
Will death-dealing white supremacy
and religious prejudice never end?

We know that too often we are silent.
Would anyone listen
to what keeps us up at night?

We cry out to you, O God, how long?
How can this world full of trouble and fear
become your commonwealth of love?

We pray for Christchurch, New Zealand,
for the beloved faithful murdered so cruelly,
and for all who mourn.

Do not let us ignore what is hard,
or convince ourselves that we are helpless,
or that the situation is hopeless.

Push us past our comfort zones into
ungrudging generosity,
unexpected courage,
and uninhibited truth-telling,

For your sake, and for ours. Amen.

Martha Spong is a clergy coach and executive director of RevGalBlogPals. She is co-author of Denial is My Spiritual Practice (and Other Failures of Faith), with Rachel Hackenberg, and editor of There’s a Woman in the Pulpit, a collection of essays by members of the RevGalBlogPals community.

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