Prayer for Community and Communion

Charles Conkin | October 29, 2019

A Prayer Offered in Worship on Sunday, October 23:

O God of everlasting hope and everlasting peace,

It is right for us to give thanks for today. Maybe it’s not the prettiest. Maybe it’s not the nicest or warmest of days, but it is always a wonderful day when we are here together in this place. For we have chosen to join our lives with each other in worship and in community. We have said “yes” to sharing our lives together. And we say “yes” to the invitation of this table before us; a table that accepts us as our true selves.

But we also come to remember those in our city and world, that do not that same hope. For the struggle over power and protection has created a society of division. We confess, O God, that we too fall to the trappings of isolation in effort to produce a future of promise. And we know we take part in creating these divisions when others don’t look like us, or live like us, or worship like us.

O God, we this morning that you:

Open our eyes to the visible world. To those hurting, those lonely, those in pain of rejection, or in anger of being left out one more time.

Open our arms to the people in our world that need a friendly hug, a neighbor they can count on, or a cup of cold water or the comfort of a warm coat.

And open our voices to speak out again the hate being spread from the powerful podiums of our country. The hate that keeps many stuck in camps and cages while they wait for others to debate their freedoms. May we speak the language of love and justice for those who cannot.

O God, we come not to be a part of something for ourselves, but to be a part of something beyond ourselves and for each other.

So we are thankful, for the wonder of the day. For the spirit that moves in each of us. For the sacred invitation to gather once more at the table of grace, and to continue the path toward acceptance as we share in the abundant love before us.

Amen