Allahu Akbar

A litany for worship inspired by Psalm 104

Let blessings leap from your lips, you People of Mercy!

For the One who saves is the One who serves.

Bring all that you are to this holy abode. Take off your shoes and lean into God’s breath.

Bring your heartaches and your hallelujahs; your disconcerting fears and your delightful fiestas.

Bring your grinding disappointment and your grandest dream; your seething sorrow and your side-splitting laughter.

Whatever you have, bring it here, lay it down.

For the One we adore is great beyond measure: Allahu, Allahu, Allahu Akbar!

 Clothed with majesty, the Blessed One lingers.

Awash in radiant light, God’s chariot rides the clouds, descending on winded wings, anchoring the earth to its bedrock of hope.

Come, joy; come sorrow, every day and every morrow, every vict’ry and defeat now embraced at Mercy’s Seat. Allahu, Allahu, Allahu Akbar!

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Background: “Allahu Akbar” is an Arabic phrase commonly translated as “God is great.” Many Middle Eastern Christians use “Allah” as their term for God. Others, especially in Egypt, tend to use “Al Rab” meaning “the Lord.” In 2014 Malaysia’s highest court made it a crime for non-Muslims to use “Allah.

©Ken Sehested @ prayerandpolitiks.org