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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?

We remember today the buoyant life of Carol Robertson, age 14, caught up in the deadly virtue of bomb-laden revenge.

The cowered, the forlorn—yes, even we who cling to our paralyzing pallets—await the angels’ erupting presence.

We remember today the buoyant life of Cynthia Wesley, age 14, caught up in the deadly virtue of bomb-laden revenge.

By what authority dares anyone say, “Stand up. And walk.”

We remember today the buoyant life of Addie Mae Collins, age 14, caught up in the deadly virtue of bomb-laden revenge.

Gracious One, take us to that water that we may

Wade in the water that wears down the rock, walk in the power that can’t be stopped.

©Ken Sehested @ prayerandpolitiks.org. Inspired by John 5:1-9 on the 50th anniversary of the bombing of the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church, Birmingham, Alabama. The final verse adapts language from the refrain of Pat Wictor’s “Love is 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.

Come to the Mercy Seat, to hear
the Word of gracious imperative:
Love is more than reciprocal affection;
     more still than curried favor
           or compounded interest.

Come to the Mercy Seat, to hear
the Word of gracious release:
You have been sired in Mercy
     and suckled in pardon;
           weaned on grace and
           restored by forgiveness.

Come to the Mercy Seat, for earth
has no sorrow that Heaven cannot heal.

©Ken Sehested @ prayerandpolitiks.org. Final phrase from the hymn “Come, Ye Disconsolate,” Thomas Moore, alt. by Thomas Hastings.

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!

Shower encouragement everywhere you go.

Trust the deepest longings of your heart with the One who takes great delight in loving you. Make gratitude your point of orientation every day, and do everything you can to stay on its trail.

Shower encouragement everywhere you go.

If you practice these things, your life will experience the kind of buoyancy that will keep you afloat even in the worst storm. Indeed the greatest peace possible is the fearless confidence that nothing essential can be taken from you.

Shower encouragement everywhere you go.

In the grip of Serenity’s Presence you’ll be able to think clearly in the midst of turmoil; and your heart will guide you, even in the worst wilderness, to the place of refuge and nourishment.

Shower encouragement everywhere you go.

©Ken Sehested @ prayerandpolitiks.org. Inspired by Philippians 4:4-7.

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.

May that day mark the end of those
with no ears for the tears of distress,
with no pity on the forlorn,
scorning desolated souls
who cower and genuflect
in hopes of a morsel of bread and a sip of joy.

©Ken Sehested @ prayerandpolitiks.org. Inspired by Psalm 73:7 & Isaiah 55:12.

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.

Shot. Gassed. Starved. Worked to death.

Incinerated.

At least one million children. Two million women. Three million men.

We acknowledge that many among those who devised and implemented this unspeakable horror were those who breathed your Name in their liturgy of carnage.

Gott mit uns (“God with us”), inscribed on the belt buckle of every German soldier, has been the motto of empires of every age.

Including our own “one nation, under God.”

Free us, we pray, from the tyranny of all such gods. Grant us the gumption to be heretics in the face of every such fraudulent use of your Name.

Bind our hearts and hands in the manner of Immanuel*, as in God-with-us Jesus, who faced with disarmed truth the terror of his own age.

©Ken Sehested @ prayerandpolitiks.org. For a service commemorating Yom Ha’Shoah, commonly known as Holocaust Remembrance Day. *Isaiah 7:14, 8:8; Matthew 1:23.

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.

From landless oppression to harvest aplenty, by a path through deep waters of drowning lament.

For barren Elizabeth: a seed now conceives, for redemption of shame and repentance to preach.

For priestly Zechariah: now muddled, befuddled by angel’s ascent, implausible news now arresting all speech.

To such are conception and vision conveyed. Disgrace now removed and tongue soon released.

The dawn shall soon break on all shadow-bound eyes: guiding, confiding all footsteps to peace.

Then John grew in stature, in measure and spirit.

Wilderness dwelling, all penitent hear it.

©Ken Sehested @ prayerandpolitiks.org. Inspired by the story of Elizabeth and Zechariah in Luke 1.

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!”

“Every bit of the earth is filled with the Blessed One’s caress!” And in my vision, Heaven’s Voice made the mountains shake and the meadows rumble.

And I said, “I am not worthy to see such things! My lips cannot speak such wonder. My hands cannot hold it. I am only a little girl.”

But the One who breathes every breath said to me: “Do not say ‘I am only a little girl.’ For you shall go where I send you, speak what I command you. Fear not, fear not.”

That’s when the Hand of Strength reached out and touched my mouth, saying, “I am putting my words in your mouth.”

It was as if coals of fire reached my lips. Not with pain, but with cleansing speech and clarifying conviction.

And I said: “OK. Here I am. Send me where you want me to go.”

Blessed is the journey in and through the turmoil. And blessed is the One who seeks the abandoned, who sings the harmony of life, who sows the seeds of justice and reaps the harvest of peace.

Send us. Send me.

So let it be.

Amen and Amen.

©Ken Sehested @ prayerandpolitiks.org. Inspired by Isaiah 6:1-8 and Jeremiah 1:7-9; leader’s part read by one of our 9-year-old girls.

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.

Who can believe such news?

Only those with open eyes, willing hands and supple hearts.

The voice of Jesus speaks anew.

Follow me!

And we shall follow.

We follow not because of worthy claim.

For our lives are marked by tattered hopes and failed dreams.

Shame and disappointment stand in accusation.

But their threats wither in the face of grace.

The voice of Jesus speaks anew:

Follow me!

The humiliating power of the cross has been scattered; the stone of the burial tomb rolled away. Come, my friends. The journey continues. Provision is promised. Mercy is assured to fuel the mission at hand. Be of good cheer.

All with ears to hear, draw near, draw near. Be of good cheer, be of good cheer!

©Ken Sehested @ prayerandpolitiks.org.

In the beginning the Verdant One saw everything that was made, and behold, it was lavish and delightful. (Genesis 1:31)

The earth is satisfied with the fruit of God’s greening hand. (Psalm 104:13)

Let the heavens be glad and the earth applaud. Let the sea roar, and the field exult, and all trees of the forest rejoice. (Psalm 96:11-12)

For the earth is the Lord’s, and the fullness thereof. (Psalm 24:1)

Give thanks, sun and moon; praise God, shining stars! Fire and hail, snow and frost, stormy wind fulfilling God’s command! Mountains and hills, fruit trees and cedars! Beasts and cattle, creeping things and flying birds! Let all praise the name of your Maker. (Psalm 148:3, 7-10, 13)

The heavens are telling the glory of God. (Psalm 19:1)

Why then is there no faithfulness or mercy, no knowledge of God? Lo, the envoys of peace weep bitterly and the land mourns. From every house framed in greed, the stone cries out from the wall and the beam from the woodwork responds. (Hosea 4:1, 3; Isaiah 33:7, 9, 10; Habakkuk 2:9-11)

If you defile the land, it will vomit you out. (Leviticus 18:28)

Nevertheless, the days are coming, says the Beloved, when the mountains shall drip sweet wine. On that day I will make a covenant with the beasts of the field, the birds of the air, and the creeping things of the ground; and I will abolish the bow, the sword, and war from the land, and make you lie down in safety. (Amos 9:13; Hosea 2:18)

You will go out in joy and be led forth in peace; the mountains and the hills will burst into song, and all the trees will clap their hands. (Isaiah 55:12)

Ask the animals, and they will teach you; the birds of the air, and they will tell you; ask the plants of the earth, and they will teach you; and the fish of the sea will declare to you. In God’s hand is the life of every living thing. (Job 12:7-8, 10)

Give applause and acclaim to the bounteous Name who grants beauty its grandeur and fame!

©Ken Sehested @ prayerandpolitiks.org.

May the Blessed One grant you the desire of your heart and hoist your hands in praise.

May you be like a tree planted by the water, whose roots know neither thirst nor famine,

Whose leaves blossom fearless against the threat of heat, whose fruit ripen with succulent joy.

For I know the plans I have for you, says the Beloved, plans to prosper, not peril;

Plans for radiant light and sheltering night; no scorching heat or terror’s blight.

Your Future calls you by name.

May the Christ who lightens every burden, and heightens every cheer, be ever-near, ever-here, no matter the road’s rutted way, no matter the journey’s bitter dismay.

Taste and see that the Lord is good, Who prepares both banquet and abiding shelter.

Hear the well-wishing of Heaven’s delight, and the Glory framing your countenance.

Listen for that which no libelous tongue can say nor grief-plugged ear can hear:

The One who suckles you and savors you and thrills at the sound of your beating heart—this One knows your need and will bleed in your defense.

Stand on this Rock against every turbulent sea and threatening gale.

Your Safe Harbor awaits your return from every raging storm.

©Ken Sehested @ prayerandpolitiks.org. Inspired by Psalm 20:4, Jeremiah 17:7-8, Jeremiah 29:11, Matthew 11:28-30, Psalm 34:8, Numbers 6:24-26.