Creating One,In an era of destruction, as bombs fall once again on the innocent, you call us to remember that we live in your image. In our lives, in our nations, in all that is born today and every day, give us the radical courage to be as you would have us be. In all… Read More
The Pastoral Is Political – What I Wish You Knew About Portland
You’ve seen Portland, Oregon on the news. But the clips that make enticing news stories don’t tell the whole story by a long shot. So it’s hard to get the real story from the news. The real story is that you can find Christ and Christ’s reign every night on the streets here. I wish… Read More
Saturday prayer – For Those In Meetings
Dear God – We gather around tables, we invoke Your name and then we begin. We listen. We speak. We raise our hands in affirmation. We caffeinate. We take notes. We decide. And in all these things, we are striving after You – straining to know Your will for us. Bless the work we are… Read More
Saturday Prayer – City Prayer
The city is terrible, of course. Too much concrete and not enough trees. The houseless suffer and the wealthy prosper. Nazis, who don’t even bother to be neo anymore, walk the streets unbothered. And don’t even get me started on the traffic, God. And yet, sometimes, when the sun is setting, and her lines are… Read More
Saturday Prayer – Old Growth
Creator God, You made all of these things. Leaves. Lichen. Sunlight. Ants. Ferns. Worms. The seed that nestled into the earth. The seed that grew into a seedling that became this majestic tree. The wild wind that blew her down one winter night. And me, standing here in the buzzing silence of rain forest, my hand… Read More
Saturday Prayer – Prayer Beads
How do these prayers work, I wonder. Are they many prayers strung along a line, hung like laundry to dry on a humid morning? Or is there just one prayer here? One prayer, with stops along the way? Are there pauses punctuating the one prayer with a ! or a ? or maybe… Read More
Saturday Prayer – Resurrection
This is your resurrection promise, Holy Friend. From death, life will grow. Remind us that that new life does not always Look like what we had planned or hoped or imagined. Help us to see the new life You spread extravagantly, abundantly, beautifully, even the most unlikely places. Amen. ________________________________________________________________________________________ Jennifer Garrison Brownell serves as… Read More
Saturday Prayer – Cause and Effect
I tossed a pebbleand watched as the ripple grew into a wave that surged and crested. I was already up past my knees before I knew to call it a flood. Living Water, today my prayer is only keep me afloat. Amen. Jennifer Garrison Brownell serves as pastor at Vancouver United Church of Christ… Read More
Saturday Prayer – Be Still
Be still and know that I am God – Psalm 46:10 Holy one, in our coming and going in our errands and parties in our preparation and procrastination. Help us to hear your voice and to even for a moment be still. Amen. Jennifer Garrison Brownell serves as pastor at Vancouver United Church of… Read More
Saturday Prayer – Between
Here we are, Lord, slung between death and resurrection. Suspended in the moment between the blank page and the final word the desperate argument and the forgiving embrace the pink slip and the new offer the last tear and the first smile the diagnosis and the treatment plan the caught breath and the exhale. Here… Read More
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