Our hearts are saddened by the news from Mumbai … bloodshed and tears … families torn apart … the depths of human hatred, O God, stun us when seen so clearly …
We pray for the victims and their families … we pray for the terrorists who see the world from a perspective we cannot understand …
We pray this morning for the nations of India and Pakistan … and we pray that religious leaders in both lands will calm fears and ease anger …
In this Season of Advent, O LORD, we’re reminded of the world in which our LORD was born … a world so similar to ours, the human penchant for fear and prejudice remains a constant in our stories …
We cry out, O LORD, for your help and your healing.
We cannot do this on our own …
Without divine counsel, the human heart curls itself around the worst instincts and darkest thoughts …
All of us, LORD,
Need your Advent grace … the gift of love, and peace, and kindness.
Help us, in this place,
Covenant on the Corner,
To embody the virtues of your Kingdom …
The goodness of your governance …
May the world see something of value in us …
Not our words,
Nor our buildings, but the way we love …
The way we forgive and the way we welcome …
Barring no one … receiving everyone as brother or sister …
Bringing down the walls others raise up …
Building bridges over the chasms others are so quick to dig …
Help us, we pray, to read our Bibles well …
To follow Jesus with new devotion …
To open our hearts all the more to his influence …
To be the light of the world and the salt of the earth …
We pray today for our families …
For our fiends …
We pray for the Presbyterian Church, here and around the world …
We pray for religious leaders everywhere: for priest and rabbi, for pastor and imam …
We pray for President Bush …
For President-elect Obama …
For Governor Schwarzenegger
For Mayor Villaraigosa and all their families …
In this remarkable season of Advent, O God, help us see the power and the glory of your grace … Gabriel’s visit to Mary, her perplexity and Joseph’s uncertainty … the distress of the inn keeper to make room for one more family … the surprise of the shepherds to be included …
LORD, widen our hearts … give us large thoughts to think …
And large deeds to do …
We pray in the name of our LORD Jesus Christ, who taught us to pray, saying, Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name …
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