God, oh God, oh God– give us the courage to speak up and out to name the pain the injustice the suffering– to look at it to feel it to take action however small it may be because the sum of countless small acts can make big change.
Proverbs 31:8-9 Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves, for the rights of all who are destitute. Speak up and judge fairly; defend the rights of the poor and needy.
Isaiah 1:17 Learn to do right; seek justice. Defend the oppressed. Take up the cause of the fatherless; plead the case of the widow.
Amos 5:24 Do you know what I want? I want justice—oceans of it. I want fairness—rivers of it. That’s what I want. That’s all I want.
God, our parent, you know what it is to hold your children close. Thank you for the early morning snuggles with my sweet child– for the way she wiggled her feet under my legs to warm her toes and whispered “Mama, on my next birthday I’m going to be this many” as she raised five fingers and held them close to my face. Thank you for these moments of joy and connection– for we need them when the going gets tough.
Psalm 73:23-24 I’m still in your presence, but you’ve taken my hand. You wisely and tenderly lead me, and then you bless me.
Our creator, one who crafted our intricate bodies, help us to live at home in them. Help us to release fear, anxiety, envy, shame, the need to control with every breath out and to welcome love, joy, gratitude, wonder, openness with every breath in because what we hold in our bodies matters– for they are your living sanctuaries.
1 Corinthians 6:19-20 Or didn’t you realize that your body is a sacred place, the place of the Holy Spirit? Don’t you see that you can’t live however you please, squandering what God paid such a high price for? The physical part of you is not some piece of property belonging to the spiritual part of you. God owns the whole works. So let people see God in and through your body.
All wise teacher, thank you for the guides you place in our lives. We ask that you would give us ears to hear, eyes to see, hearts to feel, minds to be open, and bodies to know the lessons you gift us– if we pay attention– for you are ever teaching.
Matthew 13: 16-17 But you have God-blessed eyes—eyes that see! And God-blessed ears—ears that hear! A lot of people, prophets and humble believers among them, would have given anything to see what you are seeing, to hear what you are hearing, but never had the chance.
Proverbs 20: 12 Ears that hear and eyes that see– we get our basic equipment from God!
God of Moses, the everlasting I Am, help me to learn that I am not what others think of me– I am not even what I think of me. May I remember that my worth is found in you, for I am who I am– your beloved child.
Exodus 3:13-15 Then Moses said to God, “Suppose I go to the People of Israel and I tell them, ‘The God of your fathers sent me to you’; and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ What do I tell them?” God said to Moses, “I-AM-WHO-I-AM. Tell the People of Israel, ‘I-AM sent me to you.’” God continued with Moses: “This is what you’re to say to the Israelites: ‘God, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob sent me to you.’ This has always been my name, and this is how I always will be known.
1 John 3: 1 What marvelous love the Father has extended to us! Just look at it—we’re called children of God! That’s who we really are.
Sovereign God, tender healer, who offers to carry our burdens, help me to rest in you– for how often I get worn out hustling day in and out trying to please and earn and control, thinking it all depends on me– when in truth it all depends on you, the one who holds all things together in vibrant harmony.
Matthew 11:28-30 Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly.
Colossians 1:17-20 We look at this Son and see the God who cannot be seen. We look at this Son and see God’s original purpose in everything created. For everything, absolutely everything, above and below, visible and invisible, rank after rank after rank of angels—everything got started in him and finds its purpose in him. He was there before any of it came into existence and holds it all together right up to this moment. And when it comes to the church, he organizes and holds it together, like a head does a body. He was supreme in the beginning and—leading the resurrection parade—he is supreme in the end. From beginning to end he’s there, towering far above everything, everyone. So spacious is he, so expansive, that everything of God finds its proper place in him without crowding. Not only that, but all the broken and dislocated pieces of the universe—people and things, animals and atoms—get properly fixed and fit together in vibrant harmonies, all because of his death, his blood that poured down from the cross.
Ever present creator, help me receive the gift of presence, of pausing to look for your holiness in each moment– in the patter of my toddler’s wobbly footsteps, her waving hello to the dog, the trees, the geese, the creek, the chicken eggs, the neighbors, the grass, the mud, the sky, the world– your presence is everywhere.
Galatians 5:22-23 But what happens when we live God’s way? He brings gifts into our lives, much the same way that fruit appears in an orchard—things like affection for others, exuberance about life, serenity. We develop a willingness to stick with things, a sense of compassion in the heart, and a conviction that a basic holiness permeates things and people. We find ourselves involved in loyal commitments, not needing to force our way in life, able to marshal and direct our energies wisely.
God of Moses, God of the exiled, your love is strong for the immigrant, the refugee those fleeing violence, oppression, poverty those searching for safety, provision, opportunity. I pray for an open heart and open hands, ready to share ready to welcome your people, for that is your way– the way of love.
Deuteronomy10:17-18 God, your God, is the God of all gods, he’s the Master of all masters, a God immense and powerful and awesome. He doesn’t play favorites, takes no bribes, makes sure orphans and widows are treated fairly, takes loving care of foreigners by seeing that they get food and clothing.
Hebrews 13:1-2 Stay on good terms with each other, held together by love. Be ready with a meal or a bed when it’s needed. Why, some have extended hospitality to angels without ever knowing it!
Jesus, you know all, and yet you call us into relationship with questions and curiosity. You know but don’t assume. May we leave our assumptions and our agendas by the wayside. May we bring questions and curiosity and deep listening into relationships with others, because that is how we begin to see and know with love.
John 5: 1-9 Soon another Feast came around and Jesus was back in Jerusalem. Near the Sheep Gate in Jerusalem there was a pool, in Hebrew called Bethesda, with five alcoves. Hundreds of sick people—blind, crippled, paralyzed—were in these alcoves. One man had been an invalid there for thirty-eight years. When Jesus saw him stretched out by the pool and knew how long he had been there, he said, “Do you want to get well?” The sick man said, “Sir, when the water is stirred, I don’t have anybody to put me in the pool. By the time I get there, somebody else is already in.” Jesus said, “Get up, take your bedroll, start walking.” The man was healed on the spot. He picked up his bedroll and walked off.
Mark 5:30-35 At the same moment, Jesus felt energy discharging from him. He turned around to the crowd and asked, “Who touched my robe?” His disciples said, “What are you talking about? With this crowd pushing and jostling you, you’re asking, ‘Who touched me?’ Dozens have touched you!” But he went on asking, looking around to see who had done it. The woman, knowing what had happened, knowing she was the one, stepped up in fear and trembling, knelt before him, and gave him the whole story. Jesus said to her, “Daughter, you took a risk of faith, and now you’re healed and whole. Live well, live blessed! Be healed of your plague.”
John 4:3-14 So Jesus left the Judean countryside and went back to Galilee. To get there, he had to pass through Samaria. He came into Sychar, a Samaritan village that bordered the field Jacob had given his son Joseph. Jacob’s well was still there. Jesus, worn out by the trip, sat down at the well. It was noon. A woman, a Samaritan, came to draw water. Jesus aid, “Would you give me a drink of water?” (His disciples had gone to the village to buy food for lunch.) The Samaritan woman, taken aback, asked, “How come you, a Jew, are asking me, a Samaritan woman, for a drink?” (Jews in those days wouldn’t be caught dead talking to Samaritans.) Jesus answered, “If you knew the generosity of God and who I am, you would be asking me for a drink, and I would give you fresh, living water.” The woman said, “Sir, you don’t even have a bucket to draw with, and this well is deep. So how are you going to get this ‘living water’? Are you a better man than our ancestor Jacob, who dug this well and drank from it, he and his sons and livestock, and passed it down to us?” Jesus said, “Everyone who drinks this water will get thirsty again and again. Anyone who drinks the water I give will never thirst—not ever. The water I give will be an artesian spring within, gushing fountains of endless life.”
Creator of all, you named me into being stitched me together in my mother’s womb and called me good. May I remember– deeper than in my bones– may I remember in the depths of my soul: I am good. I am valuable. I am loved. Because I forget over and over, and in the forgetting I follow any path and lose the very person you created me to be. So may I remember every day every hour every minute every moment because you, oh creator, loved me first. Because in you, oh creator, I am held. Because in you, oh creator, I am found.
Psalm 139: 13-16 Oh yes, you shaped me first inside, then out; you formed me in my mother’s womb. I thank you, High God—you’re breathtaking! Body and soul, I am marvelously made! I worship in adoration—what a creation! You know me inside and out, you know every bone in my body; You know exactly how I was made, bit by bit, how I was sculpted from nothing into something. Like an open book, you watched me grow from conception to birth; all the stages of my life were spread out before you, the days of my life all prepared before I’d even lived one day.
1 John 4:19 We, though, are going to love—love and be loved. First we were loved, now we love. He loved us first.
Our Master Gardener, 