God of ash and dust, our ashes fill the world this year. The ashes of loss are present all around us: grief and mourning fill our days. Lost lives, lost time, lost companionship, lost work. We are ready to tear our garments with grief. The ashes of bitterness are present here: political strife and injustice… Read More
Wednesday Prayer
Loving God, it’s pre-game time. As we plan services, put ashes in little containers, and fill Lent bags…for us, Lent is here already. So, we pray, quiet our fingers, and lead us back into the mystery. Stop us, so we can sit in your presence. Let the services, the music and the bags rest, as… Read More
Worship Words: Transfiguration Sunday (2/14) and Ash Wednesday (2/17)
Are you looking for some liturgical language that helps express where we are in these days? Here are some offerings from around the RevGals community, for you to use or adapt. Please give credit in video descriptions or manuscripts, but no verbal attribution is necessary. TRANSFIGURATION SUNDAY Prayer: Glory, by Christine Jerrett, posted on Christine… Read More
Wednesday Prayer: Ash Wednesday
Eternal God, on this day of ashes, even before they touch my forehead, I can taste them in my mouth. The taste of things I should not have said, of my own foolishness, of pride, unkindness, of ignorance. I feel them in my throat, the silence where I should have spoken and the grief that… Read More
The Pastoral is Political: Ashes to Ashes
Ashes with worship? Ashes all day? Ashes to go? Ashes with glitter? As the liturgical calendar winds its way certain discussions can be predicted. With Advent its advent candles colors. With Ash Wednesday it’s the way in which we make/dispense ashes. Ashes are political. They are symbolic word act of our very real inability to… Read More
Wednesday Prayer
God we hear Your loving, yet powerful call as we enter into this season of reflection, remembering and returning We respond With symbols plain for all to see on our faces Gentle reminders on our hands Resolute promises in our hearts We are ready to put in the work To reflect on our sins, woundedness… Read More
Tuesday Prayer
Spirit of Calm and Chaos… In these moments before our Lenten pilgrimage begins, we take a look at our dusty world- Where active shooter trainings are reality, Where middle-age icons die of strokes, Where our youth can’t see themselves in the ways you see them, and our powers-that-be can’t see the image of God in… Read More
Monday Prayer – Shiny Shoes
Old Shoes made shiny and new. Transfiguring God! Help us to be transfigured too… shiny shoes and shiny people Glowing with your love sharing that love and allowing it to shine bright. As the season of preparation approaches… and the shine is banished for 40 days remind us, to wash our faces and show the… Read More
The Pastoral is Political: Church Seasons
Jesus said, “Have you never read what David did when he & his companions were hungry? He entered the house of God and ate the bread of the Presence, giving some to his companions too. In the same way, the sabbath was made for humanity’s sake — humanity was not made for sabbath’s sake. The… Read More
Ash Wednesday Prayer
With a sigh and a muffled sob, I set down my ashes: this fragile life, this frail ego, these vain illusions of all that I might do…might have…might be. With a sigh and twinge of regret, I set down my ashes: dreams I have chased, wounds I have clung to, fears that have crowded out… Read More