1.22.23 Prayer of Church & Community, Westminster Presbyterian Church, Pasadena, CA

The turn of a page,

The twist of an age.

Time runs on.

And the day is won.

O LORD our God.

Good is your name.

And faithful you are.

In love the same.

We cannot be but who we are.

Along the road ever so far.

You are the faithful companion.

In canyons dark and shining mountain.

With gates of gold.

Laughter never old.

Hope and light.

Shining bright.

Stir our hearts this day dear God.

Bring to life our weary sod.

Lift us to our feet, we pray.

To dance and sing and ever sway.

For the sake of love and all the folk.

We claim the story of Christ our hope.

The light of the world.

A peace unfurled.

Bless us, we pray, to stay the way.

In faith, and hope, and never betray.

The truth, the life, that belongs to all.

And grows large and never grows small.

For our loved ones we offer up our hearts.

That life in all of its fits and starts.

Will be good and light.

And faithfully right.

And for our blighted and struggling world.

We lift our hearts and reach for a word.

To sing a song of praise and peace.

For all the children, that war may cease.

All of this, 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. 

6.5.22 Prayers of Church & Community, Westminster Presbyterian Church PasadenaL

LORD God Almighty, maker of heaven and earth, we give thanks for the gift of Christ, and the

work of the Holy Spirit … your goodness at work all around the world … in time and in space; in the bright avenues of life, and in the shadowy corners and darkened alleys of disappointment and sorrow … you are present, with grace, mercy, and peace … no place beyond your reach, no life beyond your touch, no sin greater than your forgiveness, no sorrow too vast for your kindness … no time or place surpassing your all-surpassing love.

Our world, dear God, has trouble aplenty … give us the strength, we pray, to live in this world, honestly, creatively, patiently, to yet see the good that remains: the cup of blessing and our daily bread - friendship and faith, folks who care … the love that remains.

Strengthen those who uphold the best and the noblest of the human story. 

Help us, we pray, to carry the cross of awareness, the cross of care and concern, the cross of love … yet give us rest, O God - when we’re tired, troubled, and tested … when we cry out and weep … you stand by us when we can no longer walk; you lay down with us when we cannot rise.

This day, O God, we pray especially for the children of Ukraine - little hearts and tender minds, impacted by unimaginable savagery … the sounds and smells of war - scarring their souls. Be merciful to the little ones, O LORD, for they are so utterly vulnerable to the sadness and misery of war.

Bless our church, we pray, that we might know the love of Christ all the more, that our church would remain a safe and welcoming place, a sanctuary of healing and hope … ready for a new day, a new era of mission, a new chapter to be written.

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. 

Save Us, We Pray

In a world of deep fractures and violence,
We are tempted to allege the guilt of others,
And protest our own clear and inviolable innocence..


Save us, O God, from such childish palaver,
That we might more honestly assess the nature
Of our broken and bleeding world.


For those injured, our prayers.
For the dead, our blessing.
For the grieving, our tears.


For those who can find no other recourse,
But their own death for the death of others,
We pray for the causes of such despair and hatred.


For the nations of the West which have so
Arrogantly toyed with the Middle East; the British
For the sake of India.


France for glory.
Russia for the Orthodox Church.
The United States for oil.


Bombs dropped from altitude kill, as well:
Children and babies and mothers and fathers.
And we say, "We sorry!"


And the rogue State of Israel continues
To foment outrage and instability.
While eradicating the Palestinians.


Where are the innocent?
Not in the capitals of power, that's for sure.
But the children.


Always the children, O God.
They're the innocent ones.
And Moms and Dads on their way.


O God, save us from mindless palaver.
The easy assignment of blame.
The autocratic pretense of political innocence.


Remind us, dear God, of Joshua.
Who ran to the man in the road.
Demanding to know on whose side he stood.


And the angel of the LORD said:
On no one's die.
And Joshua bowed down.


And so we pray, for the mechanisms of justice.
For a new resolve in the West to honor the Middle East.
To corral Israel and free the Palestinians.


And to pay attention to our Muslim neighbors and friends.
To honor those who seek for peace.
And correct the vast imbalances.


In a world of deep fractures and violence.
O LORD.
Hear our prayer. Amen!

Jesus and His No-Borders World ... and the Children

Jesus and Paul demolished forever the reliance upon borders to define God's People.

One God, one world, and we're all sisters and brothers, one to another.

Let the little children come unto me.

This is not some spiritual thin soup, but realty - how many times Jesus watched adults push children away.

For me, I say, LET THEM COME ...

I bet our brightest people and most compassionate of leaders will find solutions.

I'm willing to say that if we can fly to the moon and mount trillion dollar wars, we can find ways and means of providing for these children and their families, and maybe doing something constructive for the economies of Central and South America that our crazy trade-practices have ruined.

As for "God's Christian People," here is a place for us to make our Christian voice heard - defending borders is the talk of war and violence. In Jesus' world, there are no borders - when some would have gone around Samaria, Jesus went through it, and met the woman at the well.

His bold hometown sermon talks about God's prophet's crossing borders for widows and healing the foreigner. No wonder the hometown folks, who thought he was pretty cool, suddenly turned on him when he dismissed their beautiful boundaries.

In a world where borders were everything, Jesus makes it clear: he has no borders, nor should there be any for those who follow him. For God so loved the world ...

Victory - What an Odd Word

Just to say a few words ... but what are words?

Strange things, to be sure.

An amalgam of letters, and what are they, but symbols from

Some ancient past.

When folks told stories by campfire.

And in time,

On cave walls, or

Parchment, or 

Vellum,

To become a scroll, a book, a story from the shelf, a

Tall tale of giant sea monsters and

bright stars ... to make children shudder with

Delight ... or shriek with laughter, or

Curl up and go to sleep,

Dreaming of ancient heroes and warriors,

And high waterfalls and wintry mountains,

And ...

Just to say a few words ... but what are words?

In my time, they launch a ship into the sea, and the ship goes off to 

War ... and women and men fight valiantly, for dimly known

Causes ... but for the one at their side. And too many die

For the sake of conquest or victory, and talk about strange word?

What does victory mean?

When standing in a pool of blood?

With death all around?

In the midst of our constant, unyielding, mortality?

Is it immortality that we desire?

In the death of others, we might add more time to our failing candle?

Is it power that delights us?

Our testosterone-driven stories?

Victory! What an odd word!