Eternal God, always our father, forever our mother … source of light, wellspring of love … alpha and omega, the beginning and the end …
All glory, laud, and honor to you, dear God … our praise, thanksgiving, and hope … in the company of Christ, led by your Holy Spirit, we are your people, in this place, and for these times.
We take up our cross of care and service, with gratitude and with reluctance … bless our gratitude and deepen it, we pray … manage our reluctance that it not win the day.
In such times, O God, times of uncertainty … competing narratives, truth and lies commingled, power worshipped, glitz and glamour overwhelming our capacities to think.
By your Holy Spirit, dear God, help us to maintain our balance … keep up our spiritual health and that of our bodies … give to us , we pray, the discernment of the Prophets, the passion of Moses, the wisdom of Solomon, and the focus of Christ.
We pray for our Food Pantry … giving thanks that we can make a difference for people who are food insecure … for whom life is difficult and sometimes dangerous.
We pray for our communities, O LORD, our government leaders, our schools and teachers, our police forces and firefighters … a host of people who protect and guide us … public servants for the common good.
We pray for loved ones, dear God … keep them safe in their comings and goings … where there is illness, provide relief and healing … where there is death, grant the comfort of Christ … where there is despair, O God, grant the light of hope … where there is conflict and anger, give refreshment of spirit, and a new determination to build a better world.
Help us, O God, to fulfill our purpose, in this life, and for the life to come … to be servants of love, to create hope and peace, to seek what’s best in the human story, and that which is eternally true, and forever good.
In the name of our LORD Jesus Christ who taught us to pray, saying:
Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy Kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread; and forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors; and lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory, forever. Amen.
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