Prayer for today ...

O Holy One,
Come build your church ...
some blocks fit together smoothly and easily,
others need some cleaning and shaping,
some just do not fit and bring challenge and opportunity ...

O Holy One,
be with us as we struggle to find our place,
help us work and live with others as they struggle too,
remind us that each of us are different, and our diversity is grand,
be with us as we seek to build your Church ...

O Holy One,
open our eyes to see the opportunities,
open our hearts to embrace our diversity,
open our beings to the work that is to be done,
and be with us every step, every moment, every breath ...

O Holy One,
we are your church,
and yet we tend to tear down when you call us to build up,
we fear the unfamiliar and the different,
we yearn for uniformity and sameness ...

But then your Holy Spirit come and blasts through us and around us ...
Be with us O Holy One ... and inspire us to look beyond what is,
and to embrace, welcome and celebrate what will be!!

thanks be to you O God. AMEN

O God of Hope ...

God of Hope ...

We pray for the people of Boston and area ...
We pray for the victims of violence both near and far ...
We pray for those gripped with fear ...
We pray for those bold enough to emody hope ...
We pray for our human family ...

Hear our prayers O Holy One, and pour out your love upon us ...

Hear our prayers for those struggling in the darkness ...
hear our prayers for those undergoing tests and procedures ...
hear our prayers for those continuing their recovery and healing ...
hear our prayers for those gripped with uncertainty and fear ...
hear our prayers for your children in need ...

Hear our prayers O Holy One, and pour out your blessings upon us ...

Listen to the unspoken fears that roil within us ...
listen to the apprehension and uncertainty that grips us ...
listen to the prayers we yearn to speak but can not ...
listen to the feelings and thoughts that come to us in the dark moments ...
listen to us when we feel alone and cry out to you ...

Hear our prayers O Holy One, and embrace us with your love ...

Loving God, it is to you we turn,
and it is from you we find the strength and courage to carry on ...
Be with us ...
Hold us ...
strengthen us ...
love us ...
and grant us patience, courage and faith
to know that we are your children and you are with us always ...

Hear our prayers O Holy One, and envelope us with your Hope
now and always ... Amen

Prayer for today ...

Oh Holy One ... there are sometimes no words ...
Around us are mind-numbing tragedies ...
losses at a staggering scale ...
stories of pain and sorrow pile in upon each other ...

We struggle to catch our breath ...
the tears fall from our eyes as we behold the suffering ...

Emotions raw and nerves tender,
we fall in prayer calling on you,
asking the questions knowing there are no answers ...

Yet in that moment ... in that profound moment ...
you speak without words ...
you give strength beyond our doubt ...
you comfort with a love that surpasses all understanding ...

You take our anger and hurt and bring transformation,
you wipe our tears and offer the comfort of shalom,
you envelop our doubt and fear and give us courage and faith ...

O God of ALL Hope ... hear our prayers
hear the words that escape our lips,
the cries that fill our mouths,
the lamenting that resonantes on our tongues ...
Hear our prayers and in your love answer ...

Today we pray for peace ... we cry out for peace ...

(I offer this prayer for the victims of the bombings in Boston, and the many lives touched by this tragedy including my dear life-long friend Darin who participated in the Marathon, and was in Boston with his family when the tragedy unfolded ... and I offer this prayer for the victims of violence in corners of the world like Afghanistan where a bomb fell in a rural village on a wedding celebration leaving 20 dead and dozens wounded ... this prayer is for the victims of violence wherever they are found ...)


Holy One ... in moments like this there are few words we can offer ...
The death and destruction takes our breath away and leaves us gasping for hope ...

Today we know the brutal reality of bombs ...
whether they lie hidden in the streets of Boston,
or in the skies over Afghanistan ...

Today we know that bombs respect no life ...
children die ...
women die ...
men die ...
lives are devestated and destroyed ...
blood is shed and bodies shattered ...
... amid the carnage and the suffering whisper Hope O Living One ...

Hear our prayers of thanks for
those who in the face of tragedy offer help and care
those who work to breath hope into desperate places
those who reach out and offer care in the face of violence
those who cry out for peace and Shalom ...

Hear our prayers for those
broken and bloodied
battered and frightened
weeping for their dead and praying for their wounded

Hear our prayers O Loving One
whether those voices cry out in English or Arabic
whether those voices cry out here or half a world away
whether those vocie call upon The Risen Christ or Allah ...

Hear the prayers of your children
who yearn for peace and cry out of an end of violence ...

Loving God into your hands we commend
the people of Boston
the participants of the marathon,
and the emergency personell and ordinary citizens who ran to help ...

into your hands we commend
the victims of violence here and there,
and whereever life is touched and devestated by such senseless acts ...

Hear our prayers O Holy One ... and in your love answer ...