Holy One of Power and Glory, We wonder why bad things happen and look for explanations that will reassure us, hurrying past disaster and loss. We sometimes think the injured are the very worst sinners, outside the circle of your care and beyond our need to consider. We make assumptions and judgments; we lash out… Read More
Saturday Prayer: An Offering
God, I have some offerings for you today. You probably don’t particularly want them, but I know you don’t want me to have them. So, I offer my resentments for the things I have to do for others for the things no one is doing for me for how early I have to get up,… Read More
Friday Prayer: Flattened
Holy One, This mess we’re in… I know it’s one of our own making, and we’ve managed to mess up your Creation rather completely… But please, Mighty One, save us from ourselves! This stench we smell… I know we have chosen to roll around in the biggest pile of (um) “fertilizer” we can find… But… Read More
Saturday Prayer: The Unity of Kindred
“How very good and pleasant it is When kindred live together in unity,” I read. Really, God? How about Cain and Abel (we all know how that ended) or Joseph and Esau (which, come to think of it, actually did have a happy ending, but only after considerable strife)? But even Jesus who refused to… Read More
Friday Prayer: Lamenting and Confessing
This week I was fortunate to be present for the A.C.T. Now! Anti-Racism Rally on the National Mall in Washington, DC. This prayer was born from my experience. When we do not see in one another the Imago Dei, we “other” them. May all who are Called be change agents for reconciliation and peace. Oh… Read More
Friday Prayer: Ashes Again
I saw the wildfires, Lord. The flames licking at houses, scorching trees. The stuff of homes and families and memories… GONE. I am undone. The raging power of the flames scared me, their passion was so all-consuming. but unlike the fires, You are not capricious. You are not destructive. I searched my heart… In the… Read More
The Pastoral is Political: I Am Racist
Dear white sisters, brothers, siblings: I have a very difficult confession to make. I am racist. I wish so much that I wasn’t. I try so hard not to be. But I am. I think this is such a difficult confession to make because we often think people who are racist are “bad” and are… Read More
Friday Prayer
Holy one, you know me entirely my love for words blogposts and poems Facebook comments and tweets. Even in faceless communication I find you often. For online are your beloved children who open my eyes my ears, my heart to ideas, thoughts, experiences beyond my own life. Yet sometimes my enthusiasm – well-intentioned, sincere! –… Read More
Saturday Prayer – Confession
Dear Heart, We confess that we are bored with our confessions. Forgive, we pray, the half-truths, the trifling hurts, our obstinate triviality. Dear Heart, We confess that we falter in our confessions. Forgive, we pray, the supercilious modesty, the stuttering mutter, our obstinate hesitancy. Dear Heart, We confess that we are exhausted by… Read More
