Sunday Prayer: By the Oaks of Mamre

Stay awhile, O Stranger,
for the night has been long and cruel
and our souls are not yet wrung dry from weeping.

Stay awhile, O Stranger,
for the fires are raging on cultic altars
built to sacrifice precious fruit to ravenous gods.

Stay awhile, O Stranger,
for the day has burned our eyes
with violence against your holy blessings.

Stay awhile, O Stranger,
for the heavy dust of inhospitality and racism
must be washed from our feet and picked from our toes.

Stay awhile, O Stranger,
for the moon rises on our endurance
and the candles of hope must be relit and shared.

Stay awhile, O Stranger,
for your impossible stories make us laugh
and laugh until joy looses our bonds and sets us free.

Stay awhile, O Stranger,
until dawn finds us toasting to life
with overflowing cups of wisdom and peace.

The Rev. Rachel G. Hackenberg‘s book with co-author Martha Spong, Denial Is My Spiritual Practice (and Other Failures of Faith), searches for faith through life’s trials. Rachel has also written Writing to God, a popular Lenten devotional, among other books.

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