Prayer for Twentieth Anniversary of 9/11

 

Holy One, we stop and remember the events of 9/11-lifting those killed in the Twin Towers, at the Pentagon, and on Flight 93 during these attacks. We remember where we were, what we felt, as we tried to take in what was so rapidly and tragically happening- horrified, sickened, grief-struck, even scared for our own safety. Continue to to comfort and care for all those who survived those attacks, the loved ones of those who died, and the responders who are still dealing with illness and still dying from the attacks of that day. Remind us that we still have a responsibility to them even now 20 years later.

Help us to remember the other scenes we witnessed that day- shop owners opening their doors and urging people to come in for shelter. Fire and rescue, ems, police personnel putting aside their own fears to help others. Passengers on a plane willingly giving their lives to save others. Bring up for us also the images of merchants and people giving away food, clean clothes, swapping heels and dress shoes for sneakers for those who had to walk out of the city. The feeling that we were one people, politics, race, language, beliefs, none of that mattered for at least a few days. Even nationality melted away as acts of remembrance and condolences came in from around the world, from friends such as England and Japan, and from perceived adversaries as Iran.

Make that the legacy of this day- not a pain that seeks revenge or retribution, or a life of fear of it happening again. A desire to reach across those boundaries so that we may experience each day in joy what we instinctively knew for a few moments that day in pain; we are one, that those distinctions and labels we apply are false, for we share in the humanity you created us all to be part of. The reality that we are all your children, and  what effects one impacts us all.

In Jesus’ name. Amen.

 

 

Prayer for Labor Day Weekend 2021

 

Most loving and gracious God, through this pandemic you have opened our eyes to who truly are essential workers, needed by us in a variety of ways.

Grocery clerks and stockers. Farmers and truck drivers. Janitors and garbage collectors. Hospital workers who assist Doctors and nursesby washing sheets, mopping floors, helping patients change  clothes, and all the ways they assist in caring for others. Too many for us to list. We celebrate them this Labor Day weekend.

Yet too frequently peopoe don’t fully seem them, see their situation. Too many are treated unjustly- we don’t care for them as you have called all your people to do throughout time.

Too many are working poor despite working fulltime-struggling to put a roof over their family’s head, food on the table, clothe their children and all the necessities we take for granted.

Too many are carefully scheduled so that they don’t reach the threshold of hours to receive health insurance coverage, or other benefits. So they work multiple jobs to try to cobble together the equivalent of full-time work.

Frequently they are seen as a means to an end- to someone else’s profit, to keep prices low on the things we buy.

Again and again they are the last to be thought of, and the first to be cut.

Open our eyes and hearts to see as you do. Give us the humility to see where we might be complicit, and change what we can to treat those we celebrate with this holiday with justice and equity. Give us the courage to make the decisions and changes needed to treat them with the dignity and fairness they deserve.

We lift this up in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Prayer for the 11th Sunday after Pentecost, August 8, 2021

O God, we are weary. Weary of CoVID. Weary of trying to decide what is best for us and others- to mask or not mask, travel or not travel, vaccine or no vaccine, keep plans or make them.  

We are weary of the accumulating losses – of loved ones, of time with family and friends, of plans, of being able to see smiling faces- and it wears us down.

We are tired of the divides the pandemic creates, as it seems everything we value is on the line depending on what one does or doesn’t do. A divide fed by the weaponization of this pandemic by leaders no matter their party or affiliation. We mourn the loss of compassion and understanding for those who disagree with whatever decision we make.

And so you remind us- come to you and rest. Come to you for we are not alone or left to get through this on our own.

You offer us sanctuary. You offer us a place of retreat-a place for you to nourish us.

Your sanctuary invites us into your love and your care. A place to just be, to recognize again that we are your beloved, no matter what. Lead us to these places O God, whether it be for a brief moment before we speak, an hour in the day to quiet our spirits, or longer, whatever is needed to renew our spirits.

Then when we have rested in your love and care, allow us to be that sanctuary for others, offering a peaceful spirit. Save us from accepting invitations to every debate or fight.  Compel us to look for the beloved in others, no matter how difficult we find it, to listen, to understand even when we don’t agree.

 Yet give us the courage to stand in humility for what we feel is right, especially when it comes to others whose voices may not be heard. Keep us following the ways of Jesus, who somehow lived out with others these practices, knowing love for others meant for all.  

And when fear starts to spill out sideways, through anger and frustration at others such as  servers or friends, by fighting for control over something because we feel at the mercy of the pandemic, help us recognize our fears, and bring them to you rather than bearing them on our own.

And if we are weary O God, how exhausted must be those dealing with other challenges, other disasters on top of this. Whole towns threatened and wiped out by wildfires in California and the west. People impacted these fires that it is changing local weather patterns or blanketing their area with smoke and ash. Nourish them through your love.

And for those dealing with the battles that don’t make social feeds or front pages, those facing illnesses or injury in body, mind or spirit, preparing to take the last breath or watch a loved one do so, who grieve, who face addictions, or whatever pain they may carry- remind them to that you offer them a sanctuary, a place of rest and peace, And if we may be that place, O God, let it be so.

We pray this in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Prayer for the Eighth Sunday After Pentecost - July 18, 2021

How easy it is to forget O God, that you create us to be as one. All the diversities in how we look, what we believe, our traditions and practices, where we live, even what we eat- it seems at times we are more different than alike.

And yet you don’t see these as strange or based on them divide people into “us” and “them”. You give us these as gifts to be celebrated, appreciated, that are intended to be just that- differences. You still call all of us with one name- your children, siblings encompassing the whole of humanity. Thank you for possibilities this diversity provides us.

Yet too often we don’t see possibilities. We judge these differences as making others as better or worse, wrong or right, at times even safe or a threat. When presented with someone new or unknown, too often we fail to avail ourselves of the opportunity to learn something new, or to discover something that may enrich our lives. Instead, we construct barriers, designating the rules that need to be followed to keep “them” distant from “us”. Too often even when we know their names, we still relate is if they are strangers to us, others who must be changed at best, or gotten rid of at worse.

Hear our prayers this morning O God, that you turn our understanding of those we would call strangers into knowing them as siblings. If it is someone we haven’t met before, may we approach them as a friend yet to be.  For those we would define as adversaries, turn our hearts to see them as friends. Help us recall the times we have felt like outsiders, when told we weren’t in the right group, we were chastised for believing the wrong things, or that we could be nothing but a stranger to others. Use that to fuel our desire to treat others with the welcome, the openness, and the love that we so desired, and that you offer all of us. 

Bring up those memories of times we were viewed as a stranger when disagreements arise.  When differences over what should be done lead us to begin disparaging another, restrain us from the temptation to label others as somehow less than human. When heated disagreements tempt us to turn friends into strangers with declarations of “I thought I knew you”, nudge us to recall that we do know- they are yours, held in your love.

 Make us into the seeds that you nurture and grow to heal the divisions that exist in so many places, in communities, the nation, and the world.

For it is only when we no longer see someone as a stranger that we can have compassion for them. We witness this in Jesus, who never met a stranger, only a member of your family, a sibling of his to love. As we follow Jesus’ ways, provide us the hearts and actions that do the same.

We lift up all these prayers, as well as the unspoken ones of our hearts and spirits, in the name of Jesus. Amen.