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dreamprayact

~ Reflections of a preacher, poet, and contemplative activist

dreamprayact

Monthly Archives: June 2013

Sowing Seeds in God’s Global Garden

30 Sunday Jun 2013

Posted by mark lloyd richardson in Prayers, Worship Liturgy

≈ 6 Comments

Tags

abundant life, discernment, Global garden, God the gardener, justice, mercy, Pastoral Prayer, peace, spiritual growth, Summer, wholeness

DSCN0050Pastoral Prayer for Summer

God of sunshine and rain,
God of foggy and clear skies,
we are amazed by the bounty you create.
In you we experience life and health.

You are the consummate gardener
sowing seeds of justice, peace, and wholeness
in hearts that are open to new growth.

Plant within us, we pray, the seeds of discernment,
that we might listen to your voice,
and comprehend your call upon our lives.

Grant that we not become discouraged
when growth is slow in ourselves or others.

In your global garden you desire us
to plant seeds of mercy, justice, and compassion.

You want us to participate in the growth of your life
among everyone we meet and serve.

You want us to remember the needs of your people
for healing and wholeness, and so we pray today for ….

You want us to respond to the needs of a hurting world
wherever hunger, pain, loss, or suffering endure.

You want us to refrain from responding in kind
to the violence and oppression we witness in the world.

You call us to a better way,
a way that sows the seeds of justice, peace, and wholeness,
spreading them widely and freely,
so that all within your global garden
might share in the abundance of your life in our midst.

May we have ears to hear and the will to act,
through Christ, our Lord. Amen.

Words (c) 2002 Mark Lloyd Richardson

Let Us Claim this Day for Love

26 Wednesday Jun 2013

Posted by mark lloyd richardson in Peace with justice, Reflections

≈ 6 Comments

Tags

beloved community, biblical obedience, California Proposition 8, covenant, Defense of Marriage Act, ecclesial disobedience, human rights, marriage, marriage equality, same-sex marriage, social justice, United States Supreme Court

scotus-domaTwo historic and significant rulings came out of the United States Supreme Court today – one striking down key provisions in the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) and giving legally married gay and lesbian couples a pathway to receive federal rights and benefits already enjoyed by straight couples, and the other one ruling that California’s Proposition 8, which banned same-sex marriage in the state, could not be defended on appeal. It is a wonderful day for fairness and equality under the law! It is a day to celebrate that human rights must exist equally for all people regardless of sexual orientation! It is a day to acknowledge that marriage is at its core a covenantal relationship of love between two human beings!

Episcopal Bishop Steven Charleston writes of this historic day: “Let us claim this day for love. You and I, all of us who share in the witness of faith, let us stake our claim on the next twenty-four hours as a sacred space. Let it be a time of freedom. A time of peace. A time of healing for all people, without distinction, without restriction, a time set aside for those who need a place of safety in which they can recover, hope and be filled with the strength of dignity. Let us announce to the world: this is our time and these, all of these, are members of our beloved family.”

From a Christian point of view, I affirm the following:

1)    All of us are members of God’s beloved community;

2)    There is no distinction in God’s eyes between us;

3)    Each of us is free and empowered by God’s abundant grace to become the person we are intended to be;

4)    Each of us learns what it means to be fully human through the most trusting and intimate relationships we are able to fashion with another;

5)    Marriage is about love, and we love because God first loved us, not because we are so naturally good at it;

6)    Marriage is a covenantal relationship in which persons seek God’s blessing as they give themselves to one another for a lifetime;

7)    Marriage is about the deepening of love and commitment, not gender;

8)    It is far more important to the success of a marriage to have the qualities of integrity, honesty, compassion, forgiveness, humility, humor, and mutual respect, than it is to have one man and one woman.

There is so much more work to be done for equality and justice for all of God’s children, both in society and in the church. My own church, the United Methodist Church, is trailing behind other mainstream progressive denominations in this regard. I wish I did not have to say that – on the other hand, there are hopeful and courageous signs that we are becoming more inclusive and may eventually get it right. In the meantime though, “ecclesial disobedience” and “biblical obedience” will only increase. It is not possible for us to do otherwise!

More to come.

Words (c) 2013 Mark Lloyd Richardson

images

Prayer Changes Me

20 Thursday Jun 2013

Posted by mark lloyd richardson in Prayers, Worship Liturgy

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Tags

C.S. Lewis, fears, Gerasene demoniac, Gospel of Luke, Healing prayer, Jesus, Luke 8:26-39, personal change, power of prayer, restlessness, Revised Common Lectionary, spiritual wholeness

prayer-virtuous-pagans

C.S. Lewis once wrote, “I pray because I can’t help myself. I pray because I’m helpless. I pray because the need flows out of me all the time, waking and sleeping. It doesn’t change God. It changes me.”

Here’s a prayer inspired by the miracle story of Jesus’ encounter with the “Gerasene demoniac” in Luke 8:26-39 (Gospel Reading for Proper 7, Year C, Revised Common Lectionary).

Healing Lord,
in this world of disconnection and disrepair,
in which we often walk past each other’s pain,
you come among us as a calming presence.

At times our very identities are at risk
and we feel disoriented by waves of change.
Yet you do not remain at a distance.
You come near to reassure and remind us
that our lives are formed within your love
from which we can never be separated.

Each of us faces our own demons.
We are threatened by troubles within and trials without.
The loneliness of isolation continues to plague us.

Then your voice reaches through our restlessness,
your powerful presence casts out our fears –
rescuing us from our addictions,
releasing us from our anxieties,
reclaiming us from our wounds.

We are made whole again,
we are unbound and set free,
we are changed!

Words (c) 2013 Mark Lloyd Richardson

God writes the gospel

07 Friday Jun 2013

Posted by mark lloyd richardson in Prayers

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

Bible, creation, Divine Artist, God, God's glory, Gospel, Martin Luther, nature, praise, souls, stars

Arboretum, Harrisonburg VA, Summer 2012

Arboretum, Harrisonburg VA, Spring 2012

“God writes the gospel not in the Bible alone,
but on trees and flowers and clouds and stars.”
~ Martin Luther 1483 –1546

O Divine Artist,
whose brushstrokes splash color across creation,
we receive the gospel in a morning walk,
among the fragrant flowers,
in the shade of sycamore and oak,
in moments of holy amazement.

O Divine Artist,
whose glory sparkles in the night sky,
we receive the gospel in hours of rest,
among the sleeping landscapes of our souls,
beneath the canopy of constellations,
in moments of sacred surprise.

Grant us grace to receive your gospel,
however it is manifested in your world,
that we might live to the praise of your glory. Amen.

Words and photo (c) 2013 Mark Lloyd Richardson

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