Prayers & Blessings
Feel free to review the following prayers and reflections as writing samples;
please remember that each prayer is delivered within the context of a worship service and specific faith community.
please remember that each prayer is delivered within the context of a worship service and specific faith community.
Prayer for Martin Luther King, Jr. Weekend
We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in in a single garment of destiny. Let us take a moment to sit quietly as a community, alone with our thoughts and yet connected with each breath we share. Holy spirit, we bid you welcome. Come and be with us now in our time of silent prayer and meditation.
(Silence.)
Holy spirit, God of many names, but who knows each of us as Beloved, come and rest in our hearts.
Rest with us in our time of sorrow, and our time of joy. Rest with us in our unease, and our complacency. Rest with us when we are restless, when justice compels us toward action.
Holy of holies, open our eyes. Help us see what we have ignored for so long. Help us remove our blinders, pull away the veil of willful ignorance. Help us understand that injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. Help us so that when we speak truth to power, our voices do not shake.
We have been afraid too long, and it is time to speak. It is time to act. It is time to break open our hearts to the painful truth of inequality in our world.
This is not an easy task.
We are afraid.
We feel guilt and shame.
We feel inauthentic and fraudulent.
We feel inadequate.
Holy spirit, open our hearts to compassion. Open our hearts to truth, even if it is difficult to hear. Open our hearts to one another, so that we can learn to love.
Let us narrow the gaping chasm between our proclamations of peace and our lowly deeds. Let us live how we are called to live as people of faith. Let us embody the spirit of mutuality and interconnectedness. Let us go out today loving who we are, loving our neighbor as ourselves, and fighting for justice, compassion, and equality throughout the world.
We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in in a single garment of destiny. Let us take a moment to sit quietly as a community, alone with our thoughts and yet connected with each breath we share. Holy spirit, we bid you welcome. Come and be with us now in our time of silent prayer and meditation.
(Silence.)
Holy spirit, God of many names, but who knows each of us as Beloved, come and rest in our hearts.
Rest with us in our time of sorrow, and our time of joy. Rest with us in our unease, and our complacency. Rest with us when we are restless, when justice compels us toward action.
Holy of holies, open our eyes. Help us see what we have ignored for so long. Help us remove our blinders, pull away the veil of willful ignorance. Help us understand that injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. Help us so that when we speak truth to power, our voices do not shake.
We have been afraid too long, and it is time to speak. It is time to act. It is time to break open our hearts to the painful truth of inequality in our world.
This is not an easy task.
We are afraid.
We feel guilt and shame.
We feel inauthentic and fraudulent.
We feel inadequate.
Holy spirit, open our hearts to compassion. Open our hearts to truth, even if it is difficult to hear. Open our hearts to one another, so that we can learn to love.
Let us narrow the gaping chasm between our proclamations of peace and our lowly deeds. Let us live how we are called to live as people of faith. Let us embody the spirit of mutuality and interconnectedness. Let us go out today loving who we are, loving our neighbor as ourselves, and fighting for justice, compassion, and equality throughout the world.
Prayer for an Installation
Let us begin with a moment of silent prayer and meditation.
(Silence.)
Listen to the charge from Sue Phillips:
“You are good. And you are good enough. Slow down. May you feel yourselves part of a great conspiracy of goodness.”
We are sharing in a great conspiracy in this congregation. The Latin root of the word “conspire” is “com” which means “together” and “spirare” meaning “to breathe.” So, literally “conspire” means “to breathe together.” This great conspiracy of goodness is founded on our coming together in community.
When I breathe in, I breathe in peace.
When I breathe out, I breathe out love.
We, as a congregation, are close enough to one another so that we may breathe together in this space, and to conspire for goodness. Amid the chaos of our lives, amid the ego-centric self-importance, we are taking the time to build community. We are conspiring together, sitting in these pews, sharing this moment.
Each of us holds our unique selves, our individual dreams and aspirations, our joys and sorrows, our talents and challenges. Two of us together are partners. Three of us are a team. Four of us are a committee. All of us? We are a congregation. We choose to leave behind our separateness. We choose to come together in community, in this community. We choose here, and now. We choose this community.
May we continue to conspire together, delighting for love to abide in our midst. Sitting here, breathing together, may we create a great conspiracy of goodness and love.
Let us begin with a moment of silent prayer and meditation.
(Silence.)
Listen to the charge from Sue Phillips:
“You are good. And you are good enough. Slow down. May you feel yourselves part of a great conspiracy of goodness.”
We are sharing in a great conspiracy in this congregation. The Latin root of the word “conspire” is “com” which means “together” and “spirare” meaning “to breathe.” So, literally “conspire” means “to breathe together.” This great conspiracy of goodness is founded on our coming together in community.
When I breathe in, I breathe in peace.
When I breathe out, I breathe out love.
We, as a congregation, are close enough to one another so that we may breathe together in this space, and to conspire for goodness. Amid the chaos of our lives, amid the ego-centric self-importance, we are taking the time to build community. We are conspiring together, sitting in these pews, sharing this moment.
Each of us holds our unique selves, our individual dreams and aspirations, our joys and sorrows, our talents and challenges. Two of us together are partners. Three of us are a team. Four of us are a committee. All of us? We are a congregation. We choose to leave behind our separateness. We choose to come together in community, in this community. We choose here, and now. We choose this community.
May we continue to conspire together, delighting for love to abide in our midst. Sitting here, breathing together, may we create a great conspiracy of goodness and love.
Reflection - After We Die
I have no idea what happens to us after we die. I don't think we will ever fully know, ever fully settle our questions and fears about the end of life. But not knowing is never a reason to stop asking questions. If anything, it is a reason to keep asking.
My faith isn't founded in things I know to be true, things that are proven facts. It is founded in things I believe, in my heart, to be true. That we are loved. That we are worth loving. That the life we experience is a blessing. That God loves us and wants us to be happy.
So I don't know what happens to us after we die, but I believe in a love ever after. A returning to the Oneness, the Eternal Love that our soul was birthed from, and to which we are always striving to return.
"From dust you are
and to dust you shall return."
My home church has a dedication ceremony we use to celebrate babies. I was dedicated this way many years ago, and one day my children will be dedicated. We stand in community and say: "You come to us with stardust in your hair, the rush of planets in your blood." From dust we are, and to dust we shall return? From STARDUST we are, and to STARDUST we shall return. We are part of this great cosmic experiment called the World, we are lucky enough to have this life to explore, and one day-- we will return from whence we came, our souls returning to and merging with Eternal Love.
As we live our lives here and now, our faith is an expression of yearning for God. Our souls are yearning, our hearts are yearning to find that fulfillment, that peace. So we go to church, we pray, we sing, we talk about Jesus or Moses or Mohammad. These are all expressions of our universal need to connect with this Eternal Love that we refer to as God. I believe that when we die, we are reunited with God. Our bodies return to dust, letting natural processes take control of our physical shell. Our consciousness is released, separated from the body that was its vehicle for community in this world. And our soul, our core-self, is returned to God.
Muslim saint Rabia of Basra wrote that "the moon was once a moth who ran to her lover." The poem goes on to tell of Her wings falling to the earth, sanctifiying the meadows, and angels burying her body. She closes, saying,
"The moon was once a moth who ran to God,
they entwined.
Now just her luminous soul remains
as we gaze at it
at night."
The moon was once a moth, and now her soul remains luminous and with God, hanging in the starry sky, eternally tucked into the cosmos by His side. Our stardust was shaken loose to earth so we could experience life, and our stardust will be collected when that is over. We will return to God's embrace. What will happen when we die? I don't know, but I don't need to know. So when I look above us, gazing at the untouchable, glowing, moon and stars, I know my soul will one day return to entwine with God.
I have no idea what happens to us after we die. I don't think we will ever fully know, ever fully settle our questions and fears about the end of life. But not knowing is never a reason to stop asking questions. If anything, it is a reason to keep asking.
My faith isn't founded in things I know to be true, things that are proven facts. It is founded in things I believe, in my heart, to be true. That we are loved. That we are worth loving. That the life we experience is a blessing. That God loves us and wants us to be happy.
So I don't know what happens to us after we die, but I believe in a love ever after. A returning to the Oneness, the Eternal Love that our soul was birthed from, and to which we are always striving to return.
"From dust you are
and to dust you shall return."
My home church has a dedication ceremony we use to celebrate babies. I was dedicated this way many years ago, and one day my children will be dedicated. We stand in community and say: "You come to us with stardust in your hair, the rush of planets in your blood." From dust we are, and to dust we shall return? From STARDUST we are, and to STARDUST we shall return. We are part of this great cosmic experiment called the World, we are lucky enough to have this life to explore, and one day-- we will return from whence we came, our souls returning to and merging with Eternal Love.
As we live our lives here and now, our faith is an expression of yearning for God. Our souls are yearning, our hearts are yearning to find that fulfillment, that peace. So we go to church, we pray, we sing, we talk about Jesus or Moses or Mohammad. These are all expressions of our universal need to connect with this Eternal Love that we refer to as God. I believe that when we die, we are reunited with God. Our bodies return to dust, letting natural processes take control of our physical shell. Our consciousness is released, separated from the body that was its vehicle for community in this world. And our soul, our core-self, is returned to God.
Muslim saint Rabia of Basra wrote that "the moon was once a moth who ran to her lover." The poem goes on to tell of Her wings falling to the earth, sanctifiying the meadows, and angels burying her body. She closes, saying,
"The moon was once a moth who ran to God,
they entwined.
Now just her luminous soul remains
as we gaze at it
at night."
The moon was once a moth, and now her soul remains luminous and with God, hanging in the starry sky, eternally tucked into the cosmos by His side. Our stardust was shaken loose to earth so we could experience life, and our stardust will be collected when that is over. We will return to God's embrace. What will happen when we die? I don't know, but I don't need to know. So when I look above us, gazing at the untouchable, glowing, moon and stars, I know my soul will one day return to entwine with God.