Litanies & Prayers

Attention,
all you spiritual shoppers.
There are no discounts. No sale prices.
No fifty percent off summer specials, no bonus miles,
no pre-inventory clearance or back-to-school savings.

There are no shortcuts to faith, no money-back guarantees, no lifetime warranties or last-minute deals.

There are no wading pools. The depths are deep and
turbulence is standard. Every minute is your last.

In seasons of dark desire eyes strain for Eden’s refrain and flickered light ’mid the fright of earth’s travail. Oh, Beloved …

Unleash your Voice of Pardon from wrath’s consuming reign. Speak peace to the hungered of heart.

Spring from the ground, hope-soaked, heeding Glory’s approach and steadfast love’s embrace. Oh, Beloved . . .

As the nations rage, as the memory of bitter blood stains our hearts, we languish on the porticoes of pain, near to the healing water’s stir. But who dares carry us to the resurrection pool?

We remember today, fifty years since past, the buoyant life of Denise McNair, age 11, caught up in the deadly virtue of bomb-laden revenge.

The blind, the lamed, the halt and shamed assemble to ask: Who can take me to the water?

Come to the Mercy Seat, to hear
the Word of gracious entreaty:
Life is more than bartered goods;
more still than hedged funds
                 and market share.

Come to the Mercy Seat, to hear
the Word of gracious appeal:
Faith is more than philosophical posture;
          more still than fondling guarantee.

Come to the Mercy Seat, to hear
     the Word of gracious insistence:
Hope is more than risk aversion;
     more still than fingers crossed
           or fanciful dreaming.

Revel in the Beloved’s presence, every day and every way. Organize every nerve in your body to help you stay in touch with God’s nearness.

Shower encouragement everywhere you go.

Fretfulness and anxiety are like monsters in the closet. Get up, go over and throw open the door, yelling “AM-SCRAY!” Get lost!

Beloved, we give thanks:
For those who plow and plant,
those who harvest
and those who harbor
the promise of the day when all shall eat and be satisfied.

We give thanks:
For the day when all go out in joy
and are led back in peace,
the hills bursting in song, the trees in applause.

On that day no backs
shall bend in stress,
no arms ache or hands callous,
nor shirts drench in sweat,
with the bounty bound for the tables
of those whose eyes already swell out in fatness.

Background: When the Nazi party took power in Germany in 1933, they began an organized campaign to exterminate the Jewish race. By the end of World War II, 6 million Jews lay dead. Never has there been a more systematic, intentional attempt at genocide. In addition, the Nazis executed at least another 5 million others considered “undesirable,” including dissidents, prisoners of war, Romani (Gypsies), the disabled, and homosexuals.

Dear God: We confess that it is beyond our capacity to imagine the magnitude and meaning of the holocaust of the Jews.

Hunted. Hounded. Herded.

Blessed be the God of earth’s garden-green home. Great is your mercy; and tender, your might.

You raise up a Ransom to barter our fate from death’s sure dominion and every dark fright.

From slavery’s chains you fashion a scepter to heal and reveal Heaven’s righteous intent.

It was a time of great turmoil in the land. The Spirit of God bypassed all the famous leaders and came to me with a dream.

And I saw the Ruler of All Creation sitting on a throne, high and lofty, with majesty filling the sky as far as the eye could see.

Angels filled the air, shouting, “Holy, holy, holy! Just and Righteous and Merciful is God’s name!”

We gather in wonder at the times in which we live.

As with the disciples of old, the seasons of crucifixion seem endless.

Yet life beyond what was imagined appears and beckons us forward.