The Reverend Dr. Katie Snipes Lancaster

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You O God are with us, and we praise you. Our words of thanks tumble out: thanks for this good day, for the rain which nourishes, the community which gathers, the gift of life and breath within which in your boundless love buoys us.

Thanks and ever-thanks.

We are immersed in and infused with your love. We feel your gentle inner stillness tugging us, a crescendo of your holy company clarifying and centering us. Christ, we know your tender heart for neighbor and stranger, disciple and sojourner alike. On this day in this place, with your vast and embodied love, we ask that you draw us into your circle of light, a blessing to protect and heal and strengthen, a blessing to treasure, mend, and repair.

Hold and make holy the journey we have made to get to this place, to this day. And at the same time map a way forward. Chart a path into our own unknown, the future yet untraveled.

Let this moment of prayer strengthen us, instill hope within and a reminder that your presence goes with us, our bodies a temple of your own making.

Love is embodied here. Here within us. Let that love guide us.

Our own hearts are tender for the loved ones in our lives and so our prayers arise for their safekeeping. For vulnerable bodies made weak by illness, give health and wellbeing, healing, and freedom from suffering. For those in hospice, last days and hours drawing near, give gentle traveling partners, hands to hold, familiar voices at bedside who guide and wait, the most sacred waiting.

For those who descend into the mystery of memory loss, give the gentleness of committed care, dignity-wrapped custody, partnership, and deepest love.

For those who find themselves frustrated, angry, left out, unaccompanied, worried, spiraling, in need of something not yet found, let heartbreak fall away. Open your wide welcome and let them join your feast of love.

Beyond the small corner of our own lives, our own loved ones, our own troubles, we pray for the community, the city, the nation, and the globe. Fill the world God, with wise people who work in medicine, climate science, and green technology.

Create places of civility, justice, and responsibility.

Where thorny toxic politics, preventable suffering and humanitarian crisis hold sway, mark the way with people of kind heart and unerring affection, who will understand what is needed, find a sense of urgency, focus on the safety of children, and protect the most vulnerable. 

For the people of Morocco, reeling from earthquake, for the people of Libya, searching for thousands of missing people after heavy rain, for the children in Yemen who lack safe water and so much more, we pray: Lord hear our prayer.

We trust you. We need you. We ask that you call us into service, so that we too might put our mark on this world, for the sake of your justice and love. So that we might follow you into your vision for this life. And now hear us as we pray: Our Father…. Amen.