Look, I’m doing the best I can. I pray to you, dedicating thought, word, and deed. I call you by names that bring consolation and hope and names that are in a language that is not my own. I dare to speak on your behalf- to interpret your works, your character, your will. I throw… Read More
Friday Prayer: Nonviolent Persistence
Holy Christ, Prince of Peace, Pioneer of our faith, I find myself immersed in the words of Psalm 137. Even though I do not wish actual harm on people or their children or their animals, I can feel the urge – lingering at the edges of the least-evolved, least-sanctified, least-formed parts of my reptilian brain.… Read More
Friday Prayer:
During my husband’s first deployment to Iraq, I felt so swamped by grief and fear that I would sometimes have to pull over to pray. I sought help for not making an idol of being terrified- giving it my attention, my energy, my time. I frequently sang over and over, “On Christ the Solid Rock… Read More
Friday Prayer: Faith of our Mothers
Holy Tamar, fierce and proud, pray for us to be strengthened in the fight for reproductive rights, freedoms, and safety for all. Holy Shulamite woman, dark and beautiful, pray for us to be strengthened in the fight to support all women, their stories, and their truth. Holy Abigail, quick and clever, pray for us to be strengthened… Read More
Friday Prayer: I Beg
Oh, God- I beg you- do not let my heart become hardened. In the midst of grief and fear, frustration and pain, despondency and despair, I beg you- do not let my heart become hardened. As I continue to press that Black Lives Matter, that vaginas are not second-class reproductive organs, that LGBTQ people… Read More
Friday Prayer: A Word to Ponder
… Because imagining other possibilities for our lives would remind us of the painful gap between who we most truly are and the role we play in the so-called real world. As we become more obsessed with succeeding or, at least, surviving in that world- we lose touch with our souls and disappear into our roles.… Read More
Friday Prayer: The Mileage
Lord, Who was it who said, “It’s not the years, it’s the mileage.” This has been a trip around the sun, like any other. And, yet, the mileage accrued on this trip has taken a toll. Brakes pumped. Extensive acceleration in hopes of changing course or arriving just in time. Spark plugs misfiring. Starters giving… Read More
Friday Prayer: Making a List
For those whose infants are in the NICU, we pray… For those who need dialysis, we pray… For families who hope to hear from the one wandering, we pray… For those on deployment, we pray… For those celebrating in secret, we pray… For those who have decided to speak their truth, we pray… For those… Read More
Friday Prayer: I’m Out of Words
Look, Lord, I’m out of words. Wiped clean of nice phrases. Exhausted from shouting and pleading. I put one foot in front of the other. Barely. Slowly. Let it be enough. Amen. The Reverend Julia Seymour serves Lutheran Church of Hope in Anchorage, AK. She blogs at lutheranjulia.blogspot.com and readsallthethings.com. She contributed to There’s A Woman in the Pulpit. RevGalBlogPals… Read More
Friday Prayer: Yearning
May he defend the cause of the poor of the people, give deliverance to the needy, and crush the oppressor. – Psalm 72:4 God in heaven, what would this look like? You withstood David’s murder of Uriah and his adulterous tendencies, allowing the defenseless Bathsheba not only to be raped, but to experience the death of her child.… Read More
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