Prayers of the People #

Friends, let us join together in prayer.

All the rivers go to the sea and yet the sea is not full. The sun rises and the sun sets and the wind whips round the earth and on its rounds the winds return. When Judah fell they cried out “How she sits alone, the city once great with people, She has become now like a widow. Great among nations, reduced to forced labor.” And what now do we cry out for? We, our mouths are filled with dust, our throats are parched shut, what croak can we raise up to You, oh God? What season is this when in Missouri your beloveds plod circles in the fields, keeping pace with the cooling spray off pivot irrigators in the murdering heat of the day, for they have no other cool place to go? And in Imperial county how many children groan for bread? If there is a time for every matter, when is it in Chicago that they must cough out from their lungs the ash of a Canadian tree? What season is this, oh God? If this is the time of weeping, we pray, bring on laughter. If the time of war, we pray, deliver peace. Have mercy on us, oh God.

God in Your mercy,
Receive our prayer.

When did You ever say, “Repent and then I will heal you.” Or when did You ever say, “Give just a small donation to Judas there and I will wake your daughter from death.” And when was it that You said, “Samaritan woman, there is no room for you or your kin in my father’s house.” When did You bless the mighty for their power, or praise the rich for their fine things? When did You congratulate the merchant in the Temple for his excellent buying and selling? You who speak from whirlwinds, You who whisper gently on the wind, You who melt mountains with a mere touch and walk of an evening in the Garden rustling only the leaves, You came and You spoke none of these things, nor the bare hint of them. You came and You spoke peace to the aggrieved and You spoke comfort to the agonized and You spoke healing to the afflicted. You came and You spoke of a strange mercy, boundless and unconditional, a mercy which was not earned, cannot be earned and yet it is abundant. Did You not come and speak of communion, of the binding love of God with all and between all? We, hearing your words, seek to live as You did, kin and friend to all. We remember especially this day the Stonewall rebellion of June 28, 1969. On that day the New York Police Department raided the Stonewall Inn, aiming to arrest those inside and shut down the bar as they had done often enough to other queer bars in those days. And on that day did not Your beloved ones say no, enough? And did they not rebel, yearning for freedom, at great risk to themselves? They did, and we bless them, those that live still, and we bless the memories of those that have died as we bless those that live in imitation of You, naming those that carry out Your work now, either aloud or in our hearts.

God in Your mercy,
Receive our prayer.

We search for You, oh God, our throats thirst for You, our need for You we feel in the marrow of our bones. David declared your kindness better than life and we too, while we yet live, bless You. And do we not know that You are not the God of the dead but the God of the living? And do we not know that those who are dead are merely sleeping in Your eyes? And yet You took pity on those whose brother died, saw and shared their sorrow. You wept, You who could put flesh onto dry bones. We weep, oh God, for those who have died, for those that may die. We weep for those in pain, for those sick. We weep for ourselves. Dry our tears, oh God, and turn Your face to those of us that most desperately need Your care, those who we name now either aloud or in our hearts.

God in Your mercy,
Receive our prayer.

May the mouths of liars be muzzled. May those who wish to dwell in peace find Your peace burst like spring flowers about their feet. May orcas sink every yacht built with money stolen from the poor and may everyone that chooses to live by the sword wake one fine day to find each and every blade beaten to plowshares. May Your Justice roll like a mighty river into this parched land over which we zig and zag. Much, we know, will change, must change, as the way is made straight and level to Your holy mountain. Oh God, bless us, make our eyes to see the ground shifting that we may rejoice in it and lift our palms up to You in praise and thanksgiving. Set, oh God, our feet on the path and walk with us awhile on it.

God in Your mercy,
Receive our prayer.

Friends is this not the day that the Lord has wrought and should we not rejoice on it? Amen?

Amen