March 27, 2022 Prayer of the People - Westminster Presbyterian Church, Pasadena

With grateful hearts,  Dear God, we gather together in a place we love … a place filled with

history and memories, friendship and faith, learning and much love … a place wherein the call of Christ is proclaimed with joy … the challenges of life are faced with courage. A place, O LORD, you have sanctified with your presence! A place where you have promised to meet us.

We dedicate this moment to the high and holy purpose of Christ - to bring good news to the poor, release to the captives; recovery of sight to the blind; and to let the oppressed go free.

We vow anew, Dear God, to follow Christ where’re he lead … to live his truth, and trust his grace. Deliver us, we pray, from ideas and behaviors that harm our loved ones, and damage our souls. 

With grateful hearts, O God, we pray:

For loved ones, family and friends … for your mercy in all they undertake, your love in every moment, the power of forgiveness to hold them, and the peace of Christ to guard them.

We pray for the leaders of our nation - for the women and men who wear the mantle of politics … we pray that your Holy Spirit will guide their thoughts and frame their words. And may they, one and all, reflect the great ideals of our nation, and the highest ambitions of humanity.

O LORD our God, We pray for the people of Ukraine - surrounded by death and destruction - we pray that the nations of the world will provide adequate support in all regards, and peace will win the day.

We pray for the people of Russia, that the light of truth will help them counter the instincts of war, to find a better pathway to national security and their future.

And here in this blessed moment, we consider ourselves, Dear God - we know so well how fragile we are … we carry burdens no one else can see … we’re often afraid and dispirited … that you should love us is our comfort; that you should hear our prayers, and guide our ways, is our peace.

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. 

I Am Against ...

I am against The Wall.
I am against Liars and Cheats.
I am against Maggot Hats.

I am against private white schools.
Even Catholic ones.

I am against private schools that
Bar LGBTQ teachers and make life
Miserable for LGBTQ students.

I am against bigotry and hate
Claiming "just being Christian."
Such is nothing less than a baldfaced lie.
A heresy of incommensurable evil.

As I oppose such things, dark and wicked.
Mindless and malevolent;

I stand up for:
LGBTQ rights, across the board.
A woman's right to choose, in all matters of health.

Transgender rights.
Voter Rights.
Free birth control.
Sex education.
Fully funded public education.
All across the board.

I am for freedom of thought and religion.
For Equal Opportunity.
Equal wages for women.
Universal Heath Care.
Higher taxes on the upper crust.

Taxes are nothing more than the ancient
Art of Alms-giving.
The redistribution of wealth.
To help the poor.
And save the souls of the rich.

I am for fresh air and clean water.
Clear skies and job training.
For safe food.
And unions.

For all the things that make life good.
For all of God's creatures.
Great and Small.

I do this from the heart of my being.
My faith in God.
And the work of Christ.
Who fed the hungry.
Confronted the pious.
Tweaked the noses of the proud.
Refused Pilate's mindless chatter.
Freely expressed his doubts and fears.

And in ways never to be understood.
Came through death to life.
And with the angels, rolled away the stone.

I believe these things because they speak of love.
Of hope and faith.

And that's why I oppose the shenanigans
Of the power-hungry.
And elements of the Christian Family who are
Flat-out wrong, or so I think, and so I believe.
It's not the first time that Christians are wrong.
Nor the last.

And perhaps I'm wrong, too.
And if I am, so be it.
I can only be here and how.
With what I have, and what I hope.
And the way I see it.

By the Spirit, by reading and prayer.
In the company of good friends.
I do my best.
To honor what is best in the human story.
God's story, too.
From Cradle to Cross.
From Genesis to Revelations.
From the Tree of Life to the healing of the nations.