some prayers

i wrote these prayers to be spoken aloud, as part of an evening exploration into how it is a community could come together and pray together. they are weak in that they were written quickly, they are weak in that the very prayers reveal weaknesses in those doing the praying. but they are strong in that these are, i feel, honest prayers. an attempt to take seriously the call to pray, and to be willing to pray for things that need prayer

the first prayer was written realizing that to pray is to drop self protection a little bit, to be vulnerable, so it is a prayer of openness ...

a call to prayer

we offer ourselves in prayer.

we are willing to be moved
we are willing to be wounded
we are willing to be burdened

if we receive comfort
if we receive healing
if we receive freedom

let it be from you

amen

the next prayer is attempt to say "what prayer can i pray for victims"

a prayer for the courage, and for the victims

we will look with you
at those things which overwhelm us.

after the civil war
after the hurricane
after the tsunami

we know your gaze is fixed
on the homeless
on the fatherless
on the motherless
on the chidless

in your hand is healing and redemption
great enough for even this

and on the ground
the bare ground
hope seems dead

we pray for courage to
behold these things with you

we pray for blessing,
on those who move in your name

we pray that we would be a blessing,
that we would know how to live a prayer
for the victims

we will look with you
at the things which overwhelm us

amen

the third prayer is prayer for where we live. i went open loop on this, and this is what came out

a prayer for our land

lord deliver us,
from a land where only the rich can be happy

rescue us, who have everything we need
and are all alone

have mercy, show mercy, be mercy
mercy mercy, we cry mercy

every square foot of land has a deed,
a deed without your name on it.

bathed in light unearned,
we sell your favor to the highest bidder

mercy mercy we cry mercy

we pray for change

that your name
would be written
all over this land

amen

next up was a prayer for the president ... found a web site dedicated to coordinating prayer for the president and it was so empty feeling. "help him speak about the global economy at the flum-sloggers convention next week". this prayer is probably a reaction to that web site.

a prayer for the president

we pray for a miracle
we pray that a man with a first, middle, and last name
with a busy schedule
of speeches and policy briefings ...

a man who can't even mispronounce one word
without being subject to ridicule ...

we pray that a man like this
would lead our nation
in a way which is pleasing to you

give him wisdom
give him courage
give him strength
give him humility
give him compassion

amen

this one was also hard, and what came out was more prophetic/poetic ...

a prayer for iraq

sound your horn
angelic breath resonating
let it ring over the nation of iraq

in stunned silence
let trust grow where fear was sown

by divine power
bring hope
in entanglement
in complexity
bring hope

honor
fidelity
sacrifice

bring them all to rhyme
with the sounds of justice and mercy
let the angels sound the horn

amen

for the last one, i picked the one prayer from my researching that i really liked:

final prayer, written by st. francis of assisi

lord, make me an instrument of thy peace;
where there is hatred, let me sow love;
where there is injury, pardon;
where there is doubt, faith;
where there is despair, hope;
where there is darkness, light;
and where there is sadness, joy.

o divine master,
grant that i may not so much seek to be consoled as to console;
to be understood as to understand;
to be loved, as to love;
for it is in giving that we receive,
it is in pardoning that we are pardoned,
and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.

amen.

Comments

[Chris(tine)]

Michael - thank you so much for posting these! I loved your prayers when you spoke them at the Cafe - and I love reading them now. That evening may have been small - but it was very moving to me. I'm glad we did it...

[Michael Toy]

Thanks, I'm not sure, outside the context of that evening, if these make any sense, but I thought I'd post them anyway just in case they'd be beauty to someone else.