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 ...

On a journey just begun ...

Oh Holy One ... as the crowds dispersed that first Palm Sunday, so to does the rumble and grinding of the world close in around us and blot out the peace and tranquility you offer to us in such abundance ...

As the journey into Holy Week begins we see the lengthening of the shadows and the darkened corners where murmurs and whispers abound ... we heard the thump of sandals and the clang of armour ... we hear the snap of whips and a slap of striking fists ... we hear the echo of nails pounded and wood groaning under the weight ...

We hear and see and know what lies ahead ... and in the silence we struggle ...

We struggle to place one foot in front of the other ... we struggle to keep moving when our weariness and our exhaustion wants to stop and sit and wait ... yet even in our waiting, events unfold around us and the world overwhelms us ...

Be with us in the quiet O Holy One ... be with us in the shouting of the crowds and in the madness of the mobs ... be with us as the shadows cover us and we find ourselves in a deep darkness ...

Grant us the courage and faith to know that no matter how dark the days may become, the looms a bright and glorious dawn that will break over us and transform us into children of the Resurrection ...

Oh Holy One be with us now and always ...

Prayer for All Saints ...

Holy One, be with the people of Bella Coola
and be with the family who gather today to say farewell:
his mischievious grin will be missed,
his wise counsel will linger, but his blunt voice will be mourned,
his laughter and humour and generosity will remain as his legacy,
but we weep for what we've lost ...

Loving God, on this day of Remembrance
as the Saints who have gone before us are remembered and celebrated,
be with those who remember and celebrate this unlikely saint ...

He was a son, brother, husband, father, grandfather,
and he was most of all a friend ...
he shared his care and love with those around him,
and he offered himself without apology or regret ...
and for that we thank you for the gift that was his life ...

Holy Creator, embrace your people in thier grief,
bind up their breaking hearts,
wipe away their falling tears,
and whisper to their souls reminding all of us
of the gift of life everlasting ...

Blessed One, the earthly journey has ended,
his legacy remains,
and we entrust him into your keeping
with the ancestors and saints who have journeyed before us,
and who with you, continue thier journey in a place of
love, laughter and live everlasting ...

Hear our prayers O Holy One,
and be with those who this day mourn
those who have gone on before us ...

AMEN.

Prayer for today ...

Holy One, in our busy and noisy world, may we find room and time to pray ...

May we remember your holy presence, and your gift of grace and shalom ...

May we pause in the midst of our busy-ness, and stand in your love ...

Hear us today as we pray for those in need in our world, our community
and in our circle of family and friends ...

Hear our prayers for those who are hurting ... struggling ... feeling alone ...

Send healing to those facing illness and uncertainty ...
sending your Spirit to rest with them, bringing healing, comfort, wholeness and peace ...

Send strength and courage to those rest in hospital beds and care facilities ...
may they feel the care our prayers, and the wholeness of your loving grace ...

Send tranquility and calm to those who struggle and feel alone and frightened ...
may they know that place of shalom - that place of peace that you alone offer ...

Loving One, our friend, our companion ... be with us on this journey ...
Hold us in our weakness,
dance with us in our joy,
comfort us in our sorrow,
uplift us in our praise for you and all you offer us ...

Hear our prayers today O Loving God,
and be with us now and always ...

AMEN

It is time to pray ...

Holy One, it has been one of those weeks ...

Busy-ness has kept me from pausing to remember you ... yet, you break in and remind me that you are not far from me, and that our conversation continues even if I fail to pause and properly pray ...

Loving One, I remember those in need today:

Young D and his Mom as they recover from their surgeries and treatments ... be with them, holding them in your shalom and love every moment of this journey ... be with their circle of family and friends as we pray ...

Be with M as she continues her journey, having said farewell too soon, and too quickly to one whom we've loved and lost ... hold her and her circle in your love and strength ... pour out your spirit on them as they mourn and heal ...

Rest with S and others in care homes, hospitals and places of rest and recuperation from illness ... bring strength and healing and wholeness to them and to their circle of care and support ...

Continue the healing of R and J and P and others who have had surgeries and who struggle to be well and to return to normalacy ... and be with their partners, their children, their friends as they offer support and as they themselves sometimes falter and struggle ...

Be with those of us who grieve and mourn and who realize the burden that weighs heavily on our shoulders ... the journey sometimes is long and challenging and just as we crest another hill we find our steps faltering and the path becomes hard to see ... hold the light for us, and take us by the hand O Holy One, that we may know your presence, your courage and your love ...

Loving One ... hear our prayers ... those we've dared to speak, and those we've held within ... hear our prayers and pour out your love and blessings upon us ... In your name we draw before you, and in your name we dare to pray.

Dayenu!!

A prayer for those in need ... (Sept. 12th 2012)

Oh St Benedict Joseph ... hear our prayers ...
Our prayers for those who are broken,
our prayers for those who are frightened,
our prayers for those who are struggling,
our prayers for those who are alone ...

O St Benedict Joseph ...
you know the lonely struggle of those who have no home,
you know the gut wrenching fear that grips those living at the margins,
you know the yearning of the soul of those who are alone and frightened ...

Hear our prayers O Loving God,
our prayers for those who are struggling,
our prayers for those who are ill of mind, body and spirit,
our prayers for those who are frightened,
our prayers for those who are fighting illness and waiting ...

Loving God ... into your hands we offer our prayers,
our worries our concerns, our fears, our burdens ...
Hear our prayers and in your love answer them with love, grace and Shalom ...

a prayer for today ... (August 30th 2012)

Holy One,
all about us people are in turmoil ...
economics have alienated and battered many ...
politics have divided and angered even more ...
people yearn for answers and certainty, but find only questions ...
and even in our Congregations and faith communities,
we are torn apart by divisive opinions and misunderstandings ...

Whisper to us again O Blessed One ...
remind us of what is important ...
hear us in our moments of weakness,
and hold us when we stumble ...

Call to us over the clamour and the tumult ...
Speak to us with love and care ...
and bless us with your gift of Shalom ...

We yearn for peace in a world torn apart ...
We crave comfort in a world that offers none ...
We stumble through the darkness searching for light ...

And through it all you are still there ...
loving us ...
caring for us ...
holding us ...
and strengthening us ...

Hear our prayers O Blessed One,
and be with us today and always,
as we seek your strength and comfort,
trusting always in your grace and love ...

In your name we pray ... AMEN.