leadinginworship

A prayer for a thousand tongues

God of every tongue and nation:
thank you for the multiplicity and beauty of languages,
each one a treasure, each one unmatched and irreplaceable.
Thank you for their slow growth over time,
their plasticity and adaptability,
their ability to convey and carry culture,
the heart of a people.
As a white Canadian, I mourn the colonial decision
to declare only two languages official,
the languages of white people.
We waged war on First Nations and Inuit,
doing everything we could to eradicate their mother tongues,
kidnapping and torturing children,
trying to deafen them to the voice of their people.
For the peoples and languages that are no more,
God of memory, preserve them in your heart.
I give thanks for the resilience and strength
of indigenous people who refused to forget.
Strengthen them, and give them ingenuity
as they work to resuscitate ways of speaking
known only to small communities.
Show us our part in supporting their work.
When newcomers to Canada
feel they must shed their languages
like coats that no longer fit,
help us to be welcoming of diversity,
celebrating the plural voice.
Open our ears to the virtues of the vernacular.
Set us the multilingual task of learning our own
and each other’s languages by heart,
taking seriously the challenge of
a thousand tongues to sing your praise.

Canadian Pastoral Prayer

God of every country,
thank you for this country:
for its beauty…from coast to coast to coast,
for blue oceans on three sides,
for great prairies, vast forest and stretching tundra,
for every rushing river and great lake
for Hudson’s Bay and the islands of the north,
all created by you, giving glory to you.
We are thankful people!
Thank you for all the creatures with whom we share this country;
the polar bear and the bowhead whale,
the mighty moose and the fox,
the Canada goose and the honey bee,
the Coho salmon and the beaver.
Thank you for Canadian people, rich in cultural diversity,
from First Nations and many nations.
Thank you for cities and towns and all the little villages,
for people living on the land.
Thank you for democratic government,
we pray for wisdom and guidance for our Prime Minister _____________,
our MP ____________ and our MLA______________,
and our mayor _______________.
From local to national, give our politicians the gift of honesty,
and strength to resist temptation that power brings.
Help them use their gifts as a gift for our country’s good.
Lord, we need help in our country to live in peace.
We need help with our relationship to the land
to the air, to the water, to the creatures,
to all peoples inside our borders and outside our borders.
You have a vision of what peace is,
help us live in that peace and towards that peace.
Help us to be a people of vision, and courage, and commitment,
offering your hope and comfort to all we meet.
Be with us this week, especially with those in our congregation
who are sick in mind or body, and those who grieve,
we think especially of ______________________.
Give us strength as a church to live as citizens of your kingdom
as we work for the peace in our country, Canada.
We pray all this in the name of Jesus, the Prince of Peace, Amen.

Guesthouse

My life is a guesthouse
and each day brings its visitors.
Years of regular customers,
rational and sensible,
ordered and predictable—
they cause no trouble.
Steady Contentment, calm Happiness,
busy Industry, pleasant Enjoyment.
Every once in a while Temper checks in,
turning the whole house upside down for a while,
but he doesn’t stay long.
Green-eyed Jealousy is a sly guest
who no one likes,
but she rarely lingers.
Take it from me,
running a guesthouse is a good life,
you wake up each day with a smile.

Then one day it all changes.
The doctor phones, results are in
and suddenly Fear is banging on my door.
He barges in uninvited
and claims the best chair
planting his muddy boots on the table.
Every other guest flees from his presence.
He’s not going anywhere fast,
and worse than that,
he invites his unpleasant friends—
Despair, Bitterness, Anger.
They’re loud and obnoxious
and they fill every room.
As they turn on the NO VACANCY sign,
I realize with a sinking feeling
that these are not visitors.
This is an occupation.

Tonight they are all talking at once,
and I can’t hear myself think.
I crouch down in a corner of what was once my life,
huddling in the tiniest outbuilding,
on the edge of everything
and it’s precisely at that moment
that I hear the insistent knocking.

It’s a hugely pregnant woman and her husband
who obviously have not read the sign.
That’s all we need right now,
some baby crying in this wilderness. 

 

*with thanks to Rumi, for his wonderful poem "Guesthouse"

Breathing Thankfulness Call to Worship

God of all creation, our chief end
is to glorify you,
and enjoy you forever.
Our deep delight is in your presence,
our fondest thoughts are of you,
our strongest longing is for your house.
In this hour of worship,
help us to become who we are meant to be--
a community that breathes thankfulness,
voicing your praise in all we do.   Amen.

Prayer of the Unemployed

In the wrench of job loss, we fall at your feet, Lord Jesus.
Occupation and income all suddenly thrown aside,
our life’s apple cart overturned.
Uncertainty is thrust upon us,
not-knowing haunting our waking hours,
anxiety our companion all night long.

Jesus stand among us.
Look in our eyes with love,
assuring us that we are loved just as we are,
even as people without jobs.
Grasp us by the shoulders,
giving us confidence for the job search ahead.
Shake us awake
when we feel like lying down and sleeping forever.
Whisper words of identity in our ears
when we wonder who we are.
God of the unknown journey and the twisting path,
be our guide in this time of grief and change.
Enlighten us to the work you would have us do.
Keep our eyes focused on the employment that never ends,
the work we do for your kingdom, 
trusting that you will provide for our needs.

a faith without bells

I belong to a faith without bells.
No crystal clear call to worship
floating over fields and factories,
whispering over shopping malls;
come, come, come.

I belong to a faith without bells.
No insistent tugging reminder
more universal than any cellphone
piercing even concrete with its message,
the bell calling one and all;
now, now, now.

I belong to a faith without bells.
No steady rhythm marking the days,
chiming the hours, calling to service,
bells that have rung for centuries,
beyond the hearing of my ancestors;
time, time, time.

I belong to a faith within hearts.
We are tuned to the Spirit’s pitch,
her pure tones humming always
on the edge of hearing,
a ringing endorsement
for those with ears to hear;
love, love, love.

A Working Prayer

God our Creator, thank you for giving us life and breath and work.

You expect us to do what we can with what we have,

to work with peace and patience,

to balance busyness with rest, work with Sabbath.

Give us healthy bodies, and the nourishment we need.

Help us to do our jobs without complaint,

with all our strength and might.

You see what we do, even when no one else is watching.

Every day, in every task, give us wisdom to remember who we are,

your children, your workers.

 

Spirit of God, thank you for your presence

lifting our hearts, equipping us to fulfill our calling.

Empower us with just what we need;

determination and cheerfulness for those with hard physical work,

patience and compassion for those who deal with people,

insight and skill for those who must solve complex problems,

integrity and humbleness for all with power over others,

eagerness and a keen mind for those who study.

Lighten our work with joy and humour.

Breathe life into our community to provide support and encouragement

to all who labour and are heavy-laden.

 

Jesus, son of God, and of a carpenter,

walk with us as we shoulder our work this week.

The deep breath, the first step, the big push,

all done in your name.

Help us to give and receive advice graciously

and to leaven our day with words of encouragement for others.

Fortify us to resist temptation,

to reject laziness, and to go a second mile.

Lord of the working world, we labour for you.   Amen.

Prayer for Openness

Jesus, you open us

to new life, new hope, new possibilities.

You conquer the way we

close up, close down, and close in.

Jesus, lover of us all,

open our  hearts to feel your compassion

for people we would rather walk by;

open our ears to hear the cries of the suffering

deep inside where we cannot fail to be moved;

open our understanding to new ways of living

that do not diminish anyone;

open our eyes to see a vision of this world

as you would have it.

May these prayerful words on our lips

become the meditations of our hearts

as we live in ways that are acceptable to you

O God, our Rock and our Redeemer.