Category Archives: Prayers

That We Might Be Healers Too

05 Wednesday Apr 2017

Posted by in Poems, Prayers

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Pali Coast

Pali Coast, Kauai

The world of your creating is beautiful, O God.

You are master sculptor of imposing mountain ranges,
rugged seascapes, luxuriant valleys, bubbling volcanoes.

You give thought to the birds of the air,
the cattle on the hill, the sea creatures and crawling things.

You orchestrate the sights and sounds of creation
to be a harmonious symphonic masterpiece
that all might know the abundance of your goodness.

There is no detail you leave unattended,
no part of this world beyond your concern.

And amazingly,
you are mindful of human beings –
made in your image,
made for relationship,
made of dust and water,
made of breath and hope,
made of dreams for becoming,
made to live at peace,
made to create,
made with a spark of divinity,
made with a twinkle in your eye,
made to hold and to heal,
made to trust,
made from a deep abiding love.

Our burdens begin
when we misplace our mindfulness of you.

Anxieties follow
when we forget who it is who holds our lives.

Troubles mount
when we boast that this is all meant for us.

Sorrows breed
when we ignore what you intend for our wholeness.

Heal us.
Shake us from our complacency.
Renew in us a vision of life’s harmony.
Restore in us a thriving hopefulness.
Stir up in us a righteous anger at injustice.
Prevent us from doing any more harm.
Call forth from us what is beautiful and true.
Lead us back to our sacredness.
Heal us, we pray, that we might be healers too.

Mark Lloyd Richardson
(c) 2017

An Advent Prayer for All God’s Children

27 Sunday Nov 2016

Posted by in Prayers, Worship Liturgy

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children-photo-by-susan-barrett-price-creative-commons

Photo by Susan Barrett Price on Flickr Creative Commons

God of all the seasons of life,
here we are in Advent –
a season of expectant watching and waiting –
and we are aware of the grand struggles
playing out on this earth …
… struggles for human dignity
… for freedom from oppression
… for sustainable living
… for responsible stewardship of this precious earth.

Holy and mighty God,
you speak of a day when we will know
that Christ is near, even at the door.
You warn us to keep awake
and not succumb to the sleepiness
of casual accumulation and comfort.
There is so much need around us
our eyes and hearts cannot contain it.
So many of the world’s children
whom you love
suffering
through no fault of their own.

In this holy season,
while the world dances transfixed
before the dazzling lights of commerce,
we are invited
to sit in wonder beneath a brilliant nighttime star,
to seek the true light that shines in the darkness,
to follow where the child of Bethlehem leads,
to listen anew to the Word made flesh.

Draw us up short, Lord,
from any pretensions of piety we may have,
and surprise us again by the miracle of hope,
that this child who is to be born
may remind us of all the world’s children
who carry within them your image
your life
your love
your light!
Amen.

(c) 2011 Mark Lloyd Richardson

Let us not grow weary

10 Thursday Nov 2016

Posted by in Justice, Peace with justice, Prayers

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flame

When our days feel precarious,
and our hearts are worn down
with the fatigue of worry,
the unsettledness of concern,
your promise, O God, remains with us.
Indeed it resides within us,
burning at the center of our beings,
a flame of hope that will not be extinguished.

You are always leading us into the new.
You are continually remaking us
into a people formed in your love.
You invite us each morning to yield our hearts
to the work of justice, peace, and reconciliation.
In all times, you call forth our better angels.

Give us, we pray, the grace we need for this day
as we rise to meet the challenges before us.
May we live today from our deepest humanity,
granting to a neighbor the gift of humble listening,
extending to a stranger a smile of recognition,
offering to the other a gesture of welcome,
being gentle with ourselves and those near to us.

The little things are the big things in your realm.
The least are not forgotten,
the last become first,
the lost are surely found.
So help us believe that even the mustard seed
of our small faith makes a difference.
Let us not grow weary in doing good.
Let us rise to meet this day knowing
that your promise remains with us and within us,
indeed it burns with a hope that will not go out.

In your holy love we pray. Amen.

(c) 2016 Mark Lloyd Richardson

Breath Prayer

05 Saturday Mar 2016

Posted by in Poems, Prayers

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Alice Keck Park SB March 2016 (1)

Alice Keck Park Memorial Gardens, Santa Barbara, California

On this lovely day
with a heart that is restless and unsure
I am gladdened by glory’s simple display
and grateful for sun-warmed sacred moments
as color catches the corner of my eye
while I walk in the park
with no purpose or intention
other than

to breathe in
the life around me

and breathe out
the troubles of the day.

Words (c) 2016 Mark Lloyd Richardson

Emmanuel

13 Sunday Dec 2015

Posted by in Peace with justice, Poems, Prayers, Reflections

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NASA Cloudy Earth medium

NASA Cloudy Earth, Flickr Creative Commons

What was spoken through the prophet is fulfilled:
Look! A virgin will become pregnant
and give birth to a son,
and they will call him, Emmanuel.
(Emmanuel means “God with us.”)

 In bomb-shattered cities
children unable to play freely in the streets

In poverty-wracked slums
families struggling to put food on the table

In violence-plagued neighborhoods
the young learning early that life is cheap

On tear-soaked refugee trails
people desperately looking for a way to freedom

On vulnerable island shores
communities fighting the futile battle against rising sea levels

In the midst of everyday pain,
in the grip of widespread suffering,
the promised one comes and takes up residence among us.

Emmanuel – God with us in our deepest need.

There is no one left out of this divine scheme,
no one whose accident of birth disqualifies them,
no one whose skin color lessens their sacred worth,
no one whose race or gender changes their standing before God,
no one whose religion or lack thereof alters God’s affection for them.

God’s concern is with the whole.
God’s dream is that we all will one day see:
What affects one affects all.
Injustice anywhere is injustice everywhere.
Suffering is never isolated or contained.
We weep with those who weep,
our tears mingling with the tears of divine compassion.

God with us—
the whole human race,
the whole soul-stirring creation,
the whole beguiling mystery of what it means to be alive.

God with us—
in our search for wholeness,
in our poverty of spirit,
in our labor for peace with justice,
in our reaching out with hearts and hands to help,
in our holding on tenaciously to hope.

Words (c) 2015 Mark Lloyd Richardson
Photo Credit: NASA Earth Observatory

 

As the Sun Paints the Sky

11 Saturday Jul 2015

Posted by in Prayers

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Birch Bay, Washington state Photo credit: Janelle Bruland

Birch Bay, Washington state
Photo credit: Janelle Bruland

Precious Lord,
walk with me this day
as you have in days past.
Wrap me in your deep presence
for the work you place before me.
Center me in your holy companionship
for these disquieting times.
Lift my spirit
that I might in turn lift others.
Lend me the perspective of your creative love
to help me perceive each person’s sacred worth.
Hold me accountable to the divine image within me
that it might be visible through my actions and words.
Then as the sun paints the sky at day’s glorious end
let my soul find its rest in your peace.
Awaken me renewed in the morning
to rise and meet the summons of a new day
sustained by the bounty of your grace. Amen.

Words (c) 2015 Mark Lloyd Richardson

Newness

01 Thursday Jan 2015

Posted by in Prayers

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Douglas Family Preserve, Santa Barbara, CA

Douglas Family Preserve, Santa Barbara, CA

Create in us, dear God,
minds that appreciate truth wherever it is found,
hearts that revel in the beauty of this world,
spirits that sing of peace and goodwill for all.

Challenge us to see the problems of our day
and not be overcome by them.

Encourage us to begin one new endeavor,
open one new chapter,
relate to one new person,
learn one new skill,
trust one new intuition,
bless one new relationship,
with our whole selves.

We may not solve the world’s problems,
but we will become part of the answer.

We will be compassionate.
We will be kind.
We will be open.
We will be your children
with and for one another.

Words (c)2015 Mark Lloyd Richardson

A Planetary Prayer

08 Monday Dec 2014

Posted by in Peace with justice, Prayers

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Flags in New York
Having participated in an Interfaith Prayer Vigil for Peace today in Santa Barbara, and seeing the wonderful involvement of persons from many religious traditions, I was reminded of a prayer I wrote several years ago.

A Planetary Prayer

In a world aching to be healed,
among nations longing for peace,
on a planet wealthy in resources,
in a time ripe for change,
for a dream greater than us all,
with divine aims to guide us,
we dare to face this day with hope.

Power higher than the heavens,
Song sweeter than the birds’,
Strength more enduring than the hills,
Peace more resilient than discord,
Passion breathing life into our lives,
Presence both fierce and tender,
keep us ever in love with you,
with one another,
and with creatures great and small,
so that our labors for justice
on this fragile, swirling planet
may bear the fruit of wholeness,
as you call us forever forward
into a new and brighter day.

In your many names. Amen.

Words (c) 2009 Mark Lloyd Richardson

God of Earth and Sky and Sea

04 Thursday Dec 2014

Posted by in Prayers, Worship Liturgy

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DSCN0779

A Prayer for the Second Sunday of Advent:

God of earth and sky and sea,
God of rich and poor and in-between,
God of lost and God of found,
God who is like a shepherd to us,
we walk the path of Advent awakenings,
mindful of your call to repentance and change,
thankful for your offer of mercy and grace.
You are ever before and behind us.
You are the one constant amid a sea of change.
You are the shepherd who feeds his flock,
the one who gathers the lambs in his arms (Isa 40:11).
You long for us to receive your word of comfort.
You announce that our penalty is paid,
that we are free to live with godlike compassion,
that we are empowered to bring comfort to the world.
Still we turn away,
and walk in paths that suit our own interests,
and fail to welcome the one who is different,
and justify our prejudices with Scripture verses.
Forgive us our sins, and change our hearts, O God.
In this time of waiting and watching,
we pray for all who need the comfort of your presence,
for all who need the comfort of your Church.
To those who are sick or in pain, bring wholeness.
To the lonely and discouraged, renew hope.
To the grieving and troubled, speak comfort.
To any who struggle with self-judgment, extend your grace.
To any who are exiled from your Church, awaken their faith.
(We silently bring our prayers for particular persons now.)
Make of us your forgiven and reconciling people.
Use us to welcome others into your kin-dom.
Stir up within us the faith to trust you with our blind spots,
our shortcomings, our very lives.
And even though our lives are transient like the flowers of the field,
feed us with your word that stands forever (Isa. 40:8).
In the name of the Christ who comes among us to heal and to save. Amen.

Words (c) 2014 Mark Lloyd Richardson

Song of the Ages

17 Monday Nov 2014

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IMG_0022-0.JPG
Song of the ages,
you sing across the glistening waters of time.
You sing with an eternal enjoyment
of everything your hands have made.
Your song is a gloria carried on the winds
and punctuated by pulsating waves.
Your song sings itself into our lives
for our very being is hidden within you.
Song of the ages,
may all of our days harmonize
with your deep notes of justice, compassion and peace.
May our lives sing out with joy too
so that all may hear of your blessing
and want to join in your unending song.

Words (c) 2014 Mark Lloyd Richardson