In dark cells
and pits of despair …
held captive by clanging chains
and by agonizing grief
and by debts that cannot possibly
be repaid … Read More
Saturday Prayer
Lord, it is definitely fall around hereThe colours are starting to changeAnd there is a hint of frost in the airBy the time we go to bedMornings are briskAnd we are starting to look at wooly sweatersWhich have been stored For the past several months I thank you, Lord,That summer is drawing to its endAnd… Read More
Friday Prayer: Note to Self from Psalm 103
Note to self: Bless the Lord. We’re in the middle of a marathon slog, but God has not abandoned us. Intermittent joys have sustained us beyond what we could have imagined. The Lord has stayed our hand from slapping the foolish and, sometimes, from typing the thing we cannot take back. Come on, soul. It… Read More
Thursday Prayer
This one is a blessing for you. For you, who are tired. And frustrated. And feeling like a failure. You are loved. For you, who are angry, full of rage, and don’t want to be consoled. You are loved. For you, as you are overwhelmed, as you are worried, as you don’t know what to… Read More
Wits’ End Day: COVID Hymns
In these days of COVID, I find that some of our beloved hymns are troubling–all of that breathing and touching and singing. So I’ve re-written a few favorites to be more appropriate for our physically-distanced, virus-conscious lives. (You really should sing them to get the full effect.) (But don’t sing them while you’re in a… Read More
11th Hour Preacher Party: Things We Can’t Forget Edition
There are things we can forget, at least for a little while (just for instance, posting the Preacher Party at the correct time). But there are things that we can’t forget to do, at least not for very long: eat, drink water, sleep. And, “write a sermon” falls on that list of things we can’t… Read More
Wednesday Prayer
Our Parent God, When Jesus taught us to pray “thy kin-dom come on earth” could it be because he knew the hell we would experience? Was it meant as a “go to” to ground us when all hell is breaking loose on earth? A way to conjure up a bit of heaven – calling on… 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
Tuesday Prayer
God of Creation, As the fires mar the landscape of California, may your children discover ways to extinguish this great inferno quickly. Keep our siblings in harm’s way safe. Create avenues of escape for all your living beings. May the winds die down, the rains fall, the heat lessen. Oh how we forget that we… Read More
Worship Words for 13 September 2020: I Beg Your Pardon
If you’ve struggled to find liturgical language adequate to this moment (pandemic, climate crises, political crises, civil unrest, widely publicised injustices, and so much more), you’re not alone. Here we have some contributions from our RevGals community to help — feel free to use as-is, adapt, or use for inspiration. If you use them in… Read More
