August 9, 2009 - Prayers of the People

Almighty God, Father in heaven, from whom all the graces of life flow freely to your creation, we give thanks for your mercy, your love, your kindness … and most of all, for Jesus Christ our LORD, in whom the fullness of your glory was pleased to dwell … who came to preach peace to all who were far away and peace to those who were near …

This day, O God, is the first day of the rest of our life.

Today, O God, we begin anew.

We let go of the past and push on to the future.

We look to your promise of grace, in this life and in the life to come.

Grant us, we pray, today, our daily bread.

Needful things necessary to life – food and shelter, family and friends, employment and income … and the wellbeing of our nation, and those who lead us.

Help us, we pray, to eat with gratitude, to appreciate what we have, and to look upon our family with reverence and regard our friends with tenderness … to be ever-grateful for our work, and to manage our income with generosity … building bridges and healing wounds, and if we can’t take down the fence, O God, we’ll install a gate, a gate that swings both ways, so that we can, in Christ, be brothers and sisters unto one another.

Almighty God, we commend to you this day those for whom life is hard …

And we vow, O God, to do all within our power to make this world a world of peace and justice as you would have it … that those who much won’t have too much, and those who have little won’t have too little.

Teach us, O God, how to live profoundly.

How to live in Christ.

How to live for you.

How to live for one another.

We pray, O God, for the leaders of the world who strive for peace.

We pray especially for the nations of Iraq and Iran, Pakistan and Afghanistan … we pray for Israel and for the Palestinians … we pray for the United Nations and the World Court …

We pray, dear God, for Doctors Without Borders, for the Peace Corps and missionaries around the world …

We pray for our soldiers and their chaplains … especially we pray for Chaplain Ed Brandt and his family, and his church, Pacific Palisades … hasten the time, O God, when our soldiers can lay down their arms and come home to the arms of their loved ones …

Stir within us, O God, the best of instincts and the brightest of hopes. Help us, we pray, to be the light of the world and the salt of the earth, as Jesus said we could be.

And when we pass from this life, O God, we will leave a legacy worthy of our name, a legacy of faithfulness and kindness, a legacy of a better world, more just and peaceful, for our having passed this way.

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 …

The Old Phone

A friend was kind enough to send this story to me ...

The Old Phone

When I was quite young, my father had one of the first telephones in our neighborhood. I remember the polished, old case fastened to the wall. The shiny receiver hung on the side of the box. I was too little to reach the telephone, but used to listen with fascination when my mother talked to it.

Then I discovered that somewhere inside the wonderful device lived an amazing person. Her name was 'Information Please' and there was nothing she did not know. Information Please could supply anyone's number and the correct time.

My personal experience with the genie-in-a-bottle came one day while my Mother was visiting a neighbor. Amusing myself at the tool bench in the basement, I whacked my finger with a hammer, the pain was terrible, but there seemed no point in crying because there was no one home to give sympathy.

I walked around the house sucking my throbbing finger, finally arriving at the stairway. The telephone! Quickly, I ran for the footstool in the Parlor and dragged it to the landing climbing up; I unhooked the receiver in the parlor and held it to my ear.

'Information, please,' I said into the mouthpiece just above my head. A click or two and a small clear voice spoke into my ear.

'Information.'

'I hurt my finger,' I wailed into the phone, the tears came readily enough now that I had an audience.

'Isn't your mother home?' came the question.

'Nobody's home but me,' I blubbered.

'Are you bleeding?' the voice asked.

'No,' I replied. 'I hit my finger with the hammer and it hurts.' 'Can you open the icebox?' she asked.

I said I could.

'Then chip off a little bit of ice and hold it to your finger,' said the voice.

After that, I called 'Information Please' for everything. I asked her for help with my geography, and she told me where Philadelphia was. She helped me with my math. She told me my pet chipmunk that I had caught in the park just the day before, would eat fruit and nuts.

Then, there was the time Petey, our pet canary, died. I called, 'Information Please,' and told her the sad story. She listened, and then said things grown-ups say to soothe a child. But I was not consoled. I asked her, 'Why is it that birds should sing so beautifully and bring joy to all families, only to end up as a heap of feathers on the bottom of a cage?'
She must have sensed my deep concern, for she said quietly, 'Wayne, always remember that there are other worlds to sing in.'

Somehow I felt better.

Another day I was on the telephone, 'Information Please.' 'Information,' said in the now familiar voice. 'How do I spell fix?' I asked.

All this took place in a small town in the Pacific Northwest. When I was nine years old, we moved across the country to Boston. I missed my friend very much. 'Information Please' belonged in that old wooden box back home and I somehow never thought of trying the shiny new phone that sat on the table in the hall. As I grew into my teens, the memories of those childhood conversations never really left me.

Often, in moments of doubt and perplexity I would recall the serene sense of security I had then. I appreciated now how patient, understanding, and kind she was to have spent her time on a little boy.

A few years later, on my way west to college, my plane put down in Seattle I had about a half-hour or so between planes. I spent 15 minutes or so on the phone with my sister, who lived there now. Then without thinking what I was doing, I dialed my hometown Operator and said, 'Information Please.'

Miraculously, I heard the small, clear voice I knew so well. 'Information.'

I hadn't planned this, but I heard myself saying, 'Could you please tell me how to spell fix?'

There was a long pause. Then came the soft spoken answer, 'I guess your finger must have healed by now.'

I laughed, 'So it's really you,' I said. 'I wonder if you have any idea how much you meant to me during that time?'

'I wonder,' she said, 'if you know how much your call meant to me. I never had any children and I used to look forward to your calls.'

I told her how often I had thought of her over the years and I asked if I could call her again when I came back to visit my sister.

'Please do,' she said. 'Just ask for Sally.'

Three months later I was back in Seattle a different voice answered: 'Information.' I asked for Sally.

'Are you a friend?' she said.

'Yes, a very old friend,' I answered.

'I'm sorry to have to tell you this,' she said. 'Sally had been working part-time the last few years because she was sick. She died five weeks ago.'
Before I could hang up she said, 'Wait a minute, did you say your name was Wayne ?' 'Yes.' I answered.

'Well, Sally left a message for you. She wrote it down in case you called. Let me read it to you.' The note said, 'Tell him there are other worlds to sing in. He'll know what I mean.'

I thanked her and hung up. I knew what Sally meant.

Never underestimate the impression you may make on others.

Whose life have you touched today?



Lifting you on eagle's wings. May you find the joy and peace you long for.

Life is a journey ... NOT a guided tour. So don't miss the ride and have a great time going around. You don't get a second shot at it.

I loved this story and just had to pass it on. I hope you enjoy it and get a blessing from it just as I did.

August 2, 2009 Prayers of the People

We lift our hearts to you, O God …To find our bearings and regain our souls …
To learn again the lessons of life, real life … life lived in the grace and goodness of Jesus Christ our LORD …

We give thanks this morning for your love …
A world-encompassing love …
At work at in all things for good …

Before we leave here, O God, before this hour is up,
Touch our souls with your love …
Heal the wounds of fear and pride that make us angry and set us against one another …
Heal us, we pray, of every bigoted thought, every racist inclination, every prejudice and all paranoia … rid our souls of fear, we pray, and then fill our souls with Christ.
That we might live in the joy and responsibility of love … and, yes LORD, we’ll take our chances with the world …
Your son paid quite a price for daring to love.
You son was despised by powerful politicians who dreamed of wealth and empire …
Your son was rejected by powerful preachers who loved their buildings and wielded their influence for personal gain.
Your son stood with the poor and the lame …
The outcast and the rejected …
Your son welcomed the woman at the well and Zacchaeus up a tree …
His kindness shook the foundations of the world …
His love unnerved the powerful …

It is your son, O God, whom we love and serve today … and we promise with all our might, to be faithful to him when tomorrow’s sun rises on another day …

That in our discourse with one another,
In our business dealings and in our plans,
The way we stand in the checkout line at Von’s,
And the way we drive our car,
Something of Christ will shine in our patience and our trust,
In our words and in our values.

That others could see Christ within us.
May it be so, O God,
For this is what we believe,
And this is what we want.

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 …

July 26, 2009 - Prayers of the People

We give thanks, O God …
For you have called us from the realms of darkness and sadness into the light and grace of our LORD Jesus Christ.
You have washed us and made us clean …
You have revealed to us our gifts …
You have given us a calling …
And you have given us a purpose.

To glorify you in the days of our lives …
To be mindful of you in all that we think and all that we do …
To pay attention to Jesus the Messiah …
Who opens the kingdom to us …
Paves the way for us …
Teaches us about you, our Father in heaven …
Leads us to mission …
And grants us life – here and now, then and there.

We pray all the more, O God, for the indwelling of your Holy Spirit, that we might be pleasing in your sight … for we can’t do this on our own … we confess our sin … the dark materials of our soul … the relentless self-interest that twists and distorts all that we are …
We need your mercy, O God …
We need your grace …
We need forgiveness and spiritual healing …
That our minds might find their rest in you …
And our hearts be filled with love and hope.

For we are tired of ourselves …
The same old patterns and the same old thoughts …
Relying on ourselves way too much …
For we need to rely upon you, O God …
To surrender our hearts and trust your grace …
To put our lives into your hands …
For you to make all things new …
To grace us with the gifts of your faithfulness:
Life in the face of death …
Light in the midst of darkness …
Doors closed to our strength now open …
And where no door was to be found, you made a way for us.
As you did for Noah and the ark …
Moses and the children of Israel …
David and Goliath …

Marvelous is your mercy, O God.
More than we could hope for or expect …
Greater than all dreams …
Larger than reality itself …

You are true and good and kind …
You are the springtime of life,
The hunger of the heart …
The yearning of the soul …
The thirst of the spirit …
You are the beginning of every journey …
The end of every road …
You are the Alpha and the Omega …
The God of everlasting …
The Ancient of Days …
The LORD of Hosts ...
Eternal Bread and Living Water …
The way, the truth and the life.

We thank you, O God, for the church of Jesus Christ …
Spread across the world …
Soaring cathedrals and solemn liturgies …
Thatched roof sheds and boisterous prayers …
Megachurches and praise bands …
Country churches and potluck dinners …
Churches in living rooms and basements …
Storefronts and coffee shops …
Churches all around the world …
And our church, here, O God …
The church of our memories, and the church of our dreams:
Covenant on the Corner …
Covenant Presbyterian Church …
And all who have served you here …
In thick and thin … sick and sin …
Who loved you first and served you best …
Who gave of themselves, above and beyond …
Who made the most of their time …
To glorify you in word and deed …
To make disciples along the way …
To meet needs in our community …
In an ever-changing world …
With the changeless gospel of Jesus Christ our LORD.

In his name we pray,
Seeking to live the prayer he taught us:

Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed by thy name, thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven …

July 19, 2009 - Prayers of the People

Dear God, we lift our thoughts upward …
We look to you … and to your Son, Jesus Christ our LORD.
To find solace for our troubles …
Hope for our journey …
Guidance for the hard decisions we have to make …
Wisdom to make mid-course correction.
Courage to live life to the full …

To love and be loved …
To forgive and be forgiven …
To serve and be served …
To make something of these lives of ours …
Worthy of Christ …
A discipleship life …
A cross-carrying life …
A Christ-centered life …
To spread the word …
That he is risen from the dead,
Ascended into heaven,
And shall come again to finish the work.
To put things to right …
And make all things new.

Help us, we pray, to live in your Kingdom,
So we can live well in our world.

Use us, we pray, as a catalyst for good.
That your love might flow through us to friends and neighbors.

Help us, we pray, to enjoy our life.
To find pleasure in the simplest of things …
To taste our food with thanksgiving …
Enjoy a drink with gratitude …
Mow our lawn and till a garden,
Remodel our home and repaint a few rooms.
Make the bed and scramble some eggs …
O God, we give you thanks …

To keep our eyes wide open to the beauty of your world …
The glory of the sun …
Crashing surf …
Mountain grandeur …
A towering pine …
A babbling brook …
O God, we give you thanks …

And to celebrate what humankind can do.
To celebrate the human spirit rising to the occasion …
The dreams and visions that inspire people beyond themselves …

The women and men of business and industry …
Those who entertain us and make us laugh …
The woman who wields an acetylene torch and the man who turns the wrench …
The pilot in the cockpit and the baggage handler on the ground …
The surgeon and the nurse …
The guy in the golf cart and the man on the lawnmower …

Remind us, God, that in spite of our social differences, we are all human beings, created in your image.
We all want to love and be loved.
Our lives are finally rather simple, O God;
Help us to keep that straight …

And when the social gap grows to large,
When the powerful are too powerful,
And the poor are too poor,
Help us to act …
Help us to be wise …
Help us to make the adjustments we need …
To right the ship of state …
To make it better for all …

You have endowed us, O God, with tremendous gifts …
You have given us a generous portion of your very own power … to create and make things right.
You have given us your wisdom, energy and drive.
You have given us the ability to do great things.

Help us, we pray:
To live well …
To laugh often …
To bring light to dark places …
And comfort to the grieving …

We can do these things, O God,
In Christ, who strengthens us.

Praying now as he taught us to pray, Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven …

July 12 2009 - Prayers of the People

Eternal God,
Forever and the same …
Just and loving,
Kind and merciful …
But not to be trifled with …
Nor scammed by religious schemes …
You are not beguiled by our hymns and pretty buildings …
Nor our prayers and our programs …
LORD, remind us: the church is not a building, but a people.
A people searching and serving,
Living and loving,
Listening and learning …
Giving and forgiving …
Hoping and helping …
Finding and sharing …

Dear God, do you ever get tired of us and our religion?
We talk so easily of Jesus …
Getting saved.
Going to heaven.
With mumbled prayers and casual duties …

Forgive us, we pray …
And by your Holy Spirit,
Revive us …
Refashion these hearts of ours …
Hearts too often cold and hard …

We need the warmth of a new love, O God …
Religion isn’t good enough …
We need something deeper and richer,
Higher and healthier …

We need you, O God, up close and personal.
We need your grace and your power.
Your love and your purpose.

A purpose big enough to change the world.
A purpose worthy of our life, and then some.
A purpose worthy of the name Christian.

Revive us, we pray, with the Spirit of Christ.
That we might take up our cross and follow him.
To be salt-laden disciples.
Light-shining disciples …
Filled with good works,
To bring faith, hope and love to our world.

To put love to work and make it justice …
To set things right …
Lift up the downtrodden and settle the score,
Keep things in balance,
So those who have much won’t have too much,
And those who have little won’t have too little.

LORD, we love the Bible.
Help us to read it well …
To know the women and men who fill its pages …
To learn from their stories …
To see something of ourselves in their faith and in their failures …
To see your grace at work in all things,
And in all things to seek your glory.

In the name of our LORD Jesus Christ, who taught us to pray, saying, Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed by thy name …

July 5, 2009 - Prayers of the People

On this weekend of fireworks and picnics, O God, we give thanks for our nation, for the women and men who founded our land with dreams of liberty and justice  … who set before us a lasting challenge worthy of our prayers and our devotion.

You have blessed us mightily, O God, with peace and plenty.
From soaring mountains to shining seas, a vast and beautiful abundance.
We have put our hand to the plow, and our mind to the task.
With our power, and your blessing, we have a built a great nation.
We count our blessings gratefully.

But all is not well, LORD.
We confess our sins, as we must, in the light of Christ.
Too many folks are homeless and too many out of work.
Too many children go hungry.
Too many schools in bad repair.
Too many folks who work in hideous environments.
We are not proud of this, LORD.
We know it all too well.

So give us the strength, we pray, the moral and political resolve, to tackle our problems with faith, hope and love … in your grace, all things are possible.

Help us, we pray:
To face our challenges with fresh vision and new ideas.
To fashion a government of the people, by the people and for the people …
To speak wisely and humbly to a world often suspicious of our motives.

Help our soldiers, we pray, to do their best, and protect their souls from the corrosive acids of war and death.

Help our teachers, we pray, and school administrators … their students and their families …

Help our churches, synagogues and mosques to be places of faith and peace … creative places where good questions are asked,  … questions of conscience and soul.

Help us, we pray, to live lives worthy of the name Life.
And worthy of Christ our LORD.
Worthy of the cross he bore and the death he died.
Worthy of the hope he gives, because he is risen from the dead.

At the foot of the cross, O God,
Help us to find our place and our purpose,

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 …