Create in Us a Passion for Truth

True God of true God, create in us a passion for truth. Make us lust for, long for, taste, feel, roll in the grass of your love, your truth. Free us from the fear of truth by making us God-fearers. May we hate all that which would tempt us to settle for the greatest of all lies, the half-truth. So formed, give us simple speech, graceful speech, lovely speech, so that we might truthfully speak to one another, that we might love one another in truth. Honor us with honesty that we might be honorable and, thus, trustworthy people. Oh! We so long to be capable of trust. We are so tired, so bored, by our cynicism. So yes, dear Lord, we pray that you will make us truthful servants so that we may say to ourselves and one another, "You can trust me." Amen.

~~Stanley Hauerwas

Hauerwas, Stanley. Prayers Plainly Spoken. Downers Grove, IL: Intervarsity Press, 1999. 103

Wednesday Prayer

Take, Lord, and receive all my liberty,

my memory,

my understanding,

and my entire will,

all that I have and possess.

Thou hast given all to me.

To Thee, O Lord, I return it.

All is Thine,

dispose of it wholly according to Thy will.

Give me Thy love and Thy grace,

for this is sufficient for me.

~ Ignatius of Loyola

Paraphrased by David Fleming, S.J.

Image: Ignatius the Pilgrim

In the Catholic Church, Saturday is the Feast Day of St. Ignatius of Loyola.

Tuesday Prayer--Trinitarian Tune (Inclusive Language)

God our Father, God our Mother.
Holy Spirit.
Jesus Christ.
You are holy. You are awesome.
Gentle Lover. Three in One.

(May be sung to the tune of the song, "Sanctuary." Lyrics by Cody E. Maynus.)

A Sunday Prayer; Proper 12C

Accept, O Lord, our thanks and praise for all that you have done for us. We thank you for the splendor of the whole creation, for the beauty of this world, for the wonder of life, and for the mystery of love.

We thank you for the blessing of family and friends, and for the loving care which surrounds us on every side.

We thank you for setting us at tasks which demand our best efforts, and for leading us to accomplishments which satisfy and delight us.

We thank you also for those disappointments and failures that lead us to acknowledge our dependence on you alone.

Above all, we thank you for your Son Jesus Christ; for the truth of his Word and the example of his life; for his steadfast obedience, by which he overcame temptation; for his dying, through which he overcame death' and for his rising to life again, in which we are raised to the life of your kingdom.

Grant us the gift of your Spirit, that we may know Christ and make him known; and through him, at all times and in all places, may give thanks to you in all things.
Amen.


(The Book of Common Prayer, page 836)

Crossposted on RevGalBlogPals and SeekingAuthenticVoice

Amen and Alleluia

All shall be Amen and Alleluia.
We shall rest and we shall see,
We shall see and we shall know.
We shall know and we shall love.
We shall love and we shall praise.
Behold our end which is no end.

~~Saint Augustine

Tutu, Desmond. An African Prayer Book. NY: Doubleday, 1995. 33.

Wednesday Prayer

That this evening may be holy, good, and peaceful,
We entreat you, O Lord.
That your holy angels may lead us in paths of peace and goodwill,
We entreat you, O Lord.
That we may be pardoned and forgiven for our sins and offenses,
We entreat you, O Lord.
That there may be peace to your Church and to the whole world,
We entreat you, O Lord.
That we may depart this life in your faith and fear,
and not be condemned before the great judgment seat of Christ,
We entreat you, O Lord.
That we may be bound together by your Holy Spirit
in the communion of all your saints,
entrusting one another and all our life to Christ,
We entreat you, O Lord.

Here.

Sunday Prayer 11C

Gracious and generous God, creator of all,
Birth giver of summer, of sun and warmth
Of the green earth and blue seas,
We give thanks for the many blessings
Flowing from you to us, like
A basket of summer fruit.

Gracious and generous God, creator of all,
Pouring your love into Christ Jesus,
Your steadfast promise of love, of
Hope, to us, our faith.
May we hear your words calling,
us to be your Body.

Gracious and generous God, merciful lover
Of souls, tend to those who grieve.
We pray for the suffering of this world
Of body, mind, and spirit, may your
Healing love embrace the pain
Holding it with tender care.

Gracious and generous God, merciful lover
Of souls, take our worries and the
Brokenness of the world and heal it
As only you are able. Speak into
Our lives and show us the way
To be your love, healing.

As Martha offers hospitality to the stranger
As Mary listens carefully to your word
May we learn from our sisters to
Be your hands and heart in the world.
Amen.


Crossposted on RevGalsBlog Pals and SeekingAuthenticVoice

Blessing Our Cities #4

Today we pray for leaders, for stability, for God-pleasing beauty.

"First of all then, I urge that entreaties and prayers, petitions and thanksgiving, be made on behalf of all people, for kings and all who are in authority..."

We pray for government leaders and those who are positioned in any place of authority. Grant them great wisdom to lead in ways that are pleasing to you, O Lord. Bring stability and prosperity so that they can bring forth what is truly good for all, and honoring to You.

"...in order that we may lead an unprovoked and quiet life for every kind of practiced devotion, and with a holy beauty. This is good and pleasing to God our Savior. I Timothy 2: 1-3

Bring such enduring stability and thriving prosperity to the land that strong leaders will provide an environment for daily spiritual beauty to flourish. May godly lives be honored. May You, O Lord, be pleased with the daily beauty of our lives. Amen

Thursday Thought

Do you hear what the music is saying?
"Come follow me and you will find the way.
Your mistakes can also lead you to the truth.
When you ask, the answer will be given."

~~Rumi

Rumi. Rumi: Hidden Music. Tr. Azima Melita Kolin and Maryam Mafi. Barnes and Noble, Inc. by arrangement with Harper Element, 2009. 182.

The Circle is Open

Merry part, dear sisters and brothers...it has been an honor reading and posting on and coordinating the prayer blog.

The circle is open, but never broken, and the Goddess loves her people!

Sunday Prayer Proper 10C

God of love and compassion
have mercy on us
lying here in this ditch of life
give us your hand
tend our wounds with your love.

God of love and compassion
tend to the suffering
in the world today and every day
be a gentle balm
that soothes our pain of body and spirit.

God of love and compassion
reach out to those
afflicted by war, famine, oil spills,
tragedies of weather or economic failure
and comfort them as only you are able.

God of love and compassion
embrace those who have died
lift them into your arms of love
comfort their families and friends
with the assurance of your grace.

God of love and compassion
we give you thanks
for the gift of life, and especially for
the gift your love poured out in Christ Jesus.
May we be that love in the world. May we be
the hands and heart of Christ.
Amen.

Blessing Our Cities #3

Peace upon an entire city:

Seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you...Pray to the LORD for it, because if it prospers, you too will prosper. Jer. 29:7

God of Peace, we continue our prayer for peace in the cities where we live and serve. Bring a slow, rising tide of peace and grant that longing hearts will find peace in you. May the people of our cities prosper so abundantly that they become a source of wealth and wisdom to other people in this world. Amen

Free Us from Self-Fascination

Lord Almighty, we say we want to serve you, we say we want to help others less fortunate than ourselves, we say we want justice. But the truth is, we want power and status because we so desperately need to be loved. Free us from our self-fascination and the anxious activity it breeds, so that we might be what we say we want to be--loved by you and thus capable of unselfish service. Amen.

~~Stanley Hauerwas

Hauerwas, Stanley. Prayers Plainly Spoken. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1999. 49.

Wednesday Prayer

All animals who lift their voices at dawn sing to God. The volcanoes and the clouds and the trees cry to us about God. The whole creation cries to us penetratingly with a great joy about the existence and the beauty and the love of God. The music roars it into our ears, the landscape calls it into our eyes. In all of nature we find God's initials, and all God's creatures are God's love letters to us.

All of nature burns with love created through love to light love in us. Nature is like a shadow of God, a reflection of God's beauty. The still, blue lake is a reflection of God. In every atom lives an image of the trinity, a figure of the trinitarian God. And also my own body is created to love God. Each of my cells is a hymn about the Creator and an ongoing declaration of love.

Ernesto Cardenal, To Live Is to Love - with thanks to inward/outward and The Mercy Blog

Monday Prayer

Happy are they whom you choose
and draw to your courts to dwell there!*

they will be satisfied by the beauty of your house,
by the holiness of your temple.

Psalm 65:4

Proper 9C

God of all creation, of Me and you, of
Earth and sea, of Sky and stars, God of
All, bless us this day with the freedom
Of your love, freely given, freely shared.

God who suffers when we are arrogant,
When we are prideful and hurtful,
God who weeps when we turn away
From your love, freely given, freely shared.

Be with those who suffer this day and night
Suffer at the end of life. Suffer from rich oil which gives
So much to life and yet can take life just as easily.
From all the tragedies of the world, love us whole.

God bless us with prophets who dare to
Speak to us in the ordinary, in the every day
Unnamed voices calling out and showing us the
Depth of your love, freely given, freely shared.

May we listen, may we hear, may we follow,
may we lead, may we pray in your name,
may we heal in your name, may we be your heart
may we help as once again you make the world whole.

God transform us with your love, make us whole
That we can make whole those we meet, strangers,
Family, friends, enemies, one and all, together in the
Depth of you love, freely given, freely shared.

And if we cannot lead, if we cannot follow if
Others are deaf to the love we bring, to the hope
you offer through us, if your love in us is rejected
may we gently walk away still free to love generously,
as you love.
Amen.

Crossposted on RevGalBlogPals and SeekingAuthenticVoice

Thursday Thought

God makes his home in you. They are not empty words. It is true. "Make your home in me, as I make mine in you." This is prayer. Isn't this the answer to all our yearning, our searching, our anguish, to all the longing, the incompleteness of our lives and of our loving? Until we dwell in him and allow him to dwell in us we shall be strangers to peace.

~~Mother Frances Dominica

Peace Prayers: Meditations, Affirmations, Invocations, Poems, and Prayers for Peace. San Francisco: Harper San Francisco, 1992. 59.