05 Friday Feb 2021
The world is a brighter place
with you in it.
The ocean is a deeper blue
for the color
you splash into my life.
The trees are a softer green
for the compassion
you offer me.
The road is a wider way
for the happiness
you spread before me.
Life is sweet
and sweeter still
with you
and only you.
~ Mark Lloyd Richardson
For Dallis Ann Day
June 2002
29 Monday Oct 2018
Posted in Prayers
Tags
awe, compassion, creation, forgiveness, Future, healing, love, praise, prayer, salvation, wholeness
Prayer to the God of many names
May I reside in your boundless compassion,
and may my soul reach its wholeness in you.
May I feel awe in your generous creation,
and may my heart song rise in praise to you.
May I love with a fearless abandon,
and may I speak with a voice that is true.
May I trust with a heart that is healing,
and may forgiveness abound in me too.
May I hope in a future always open,
and leave the work of salvation to you.
O God of many names, hear my prayer.
(c) 2018 Mark Lloyd Richardson
06 Sunday May 2018
Posted in Prayers, Worship Liturgy
Tags
Communion prayer, communion table, compassion, God's table, grace, Jesus, joy, love, peace, sacraments, Worship liturgy
We used this communion liturgy I wrote in worship this morning, playing off of the words and music of the lovely communion song by Barbara Hamm titled “Come to the Table of Grace,” found in the songbook Worship & Song. Please feel free to use in your worship context if you find it meaningful.
Liturgy for Holy Communion
(Singing #3168 “Come to the Table of Grace”)
This is God’s table.
Here we are invited to taste grace,
the grace that lightens the human heart
and widens the human soul
by creating an opening for God to enter –
the God who brings healing to bodies, minds, and spirits,
the God who meets us in the deep center of life itself
where we discover truth that sets us free.
This is a feast of grace
for the saint and sinner in each one of us.
Let us come to the table of grace.
Sing verse 1: “Come to the table of grace.”
When we gather at the table of our Lord
it is an invitation to live in peace with our neighbors.
The Prince of peace comes among us
and extends a word of peace –
peace for our troubled hearts,
peace for our troubled relationships,
peace for our troubled neighborhoods,
peace for our troubled environment,
peace for our troubled global community.
In Christ we are empowered to lay down our swords,
whether they be cutting words or violent actions,
whether they be divisive symbols or self-justifications,
and yield ourselves to the Savior
who comes with peace on his lips,
peace in his very presence.
Let us come to the table of peace.
Sing verse 2: “Come to the table of peace.”
When Jesus met with his friends
on the night he was betrayed and arrested,
he took the bread that sustains life,
and he blessed and broke it before them.
He took the common cup filled with wine
and he claimed that these ordinary parts of their meal
were in truth sacred reminders of the gifts of God.
The bread reminded them of the manna
their ancestors received to ease their hunger in the wilderness.
The cup reminded them of the miracle of new wine
at a Cana wedding and at the heavenly feast to come.
Together these ordinary signs tell the story of God’s love
being expressed to all generations.
They show how Jesus himself modeled divine love
as he welcomed the outcast, forgave the sinner,
healed the sick, showed compassion for the hungry,
and called a child to come sit on his lap and be blessed.
Now it is for us to live the way of love of Jesus,
to love outside of our comfort zones, our arbitrary walls,
to love extravagantly as though it can’t run out.
Let us come to the table of love.
Sing verse 3: “Come to the table of love.”
God who sets this bountiful table before us,
a table of grace and peace,
a table of love and joy,
pour out your Holy Spirit upon us
and upon these gifts of bread and wine,
that through Christ’s presence here
we may become a people of grace,
a source of joy, a witness to love,
and instruments of your peace.
By your Holy Spirit,
make us one with Christ,
one with each other,
one with all who walk in your light,
and one in ministry to the whole world, no exceptions,
until we feast at the heavenly banquet.
Let us come to the table of joy.
Sing verse 4: “Come to the table of joy.”
Words (c) 2018 Mark Lloyd Richardson
14 Saturday Oct 2017
Posted in Peace with justice, Prayers, Worship Liturgy
Tags
Church universal, clean water, Common good, compassion, grace, healing the world, health care, Jesus, justice, Pastoral Prayer, peace, resurrection, spirit, wisdom
God who watches over our world,
who companions us along life’s way,
who breathes life into our lives,
we come to lift our praise-filled voices,
to utter our heart’s trembling cries,
to be still, and to know,
to be struck again by the audacity of divine love.
Jesus, Lamb of God,
the one in whom we see love most freely given,
the one who is Rabbi, healer, and friend,
this Jesus invites us to open our eyes
and look with compassion on the needs of the world –
needs for basic necessities of food and shelter,
adequate health care and clean water,
needs for spiritual nourishment and hope,
a cup of life-restoring water,
needs for community and solidarity,
bridging differences with other children of God.
Jesus, the Christ of love’s kingdom,
in whom broken places are mended
and neighbors find common cause healing the world,
this Jesus invites us to open our ears
and hear the summons to follow –
following the Master’s voice,
becoming people brimming with holy grace,
following to places where our comforts are put aside
by the one who disturbs the status quo,
following the call to reshape the world around us
by going where Christ’s love and footsteps show.
Spirit of love, holy wind, breath of life,
replenish our spirits and claim us anew.
Grant us the strength we need
to break down walls of injustice,
to speak up for those on the margins,
to stand with all who are suffering,
to follow all the way to the cross, no turning back.
Spirit of truth, holy word of life,
charge us with a mission of mercy,
a partnership of peace,
that we might more fully live
into your vision of wholeness & shalom.
May your Church,
Creator, Christ, and holy wind,
be faithful in service,
courageous in witness,
steady in fighting injustice,
loyal in our allegiance to the gospel,
savvy in confronting evil,
persistent in walking the path of peace,
and above all,
loving in our actions toward friend and foe.
Bless this earthly home with protection and care.
Bless your people with resurrection power.
Bless decision-makers with a compassionate wisdom,
journalists with the boldness of truth,
and citizens with boundless energy
in the pursuit of the common good.
We pray all of this in the name of Jesus,
who pronounces blessings upon anyone seeking
to align their lives with your kingdom of love. Amen.
Words (c) Mark Lloyd Richardson, 2017
13 Sunday Dec 2015
Posted in Peace with justice, Poems, Prayers, Reflections
Tags
Christmas, compassion, creation care, Earth care, God with us, healing, hope, human suffering, justice, Mystery, mysticism, peace, wholeness
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
09 Wednesday Dec 2015
Posted in Justice, Peace with justice, Reflections
Tags
Beyond Bethlehem, Christ child, Christmas story, Colorado Springs, compassion, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Ginghamsburg United Methodist Church, Gospel of Luke, gun violence, human community, Mike Slaughter, Paris, San Bernardino, Syrian refugees
Syrian children march in the refugee camp in Jordan. The number of Children in this camp exceeds 60% of the total number of refugees hence the name “Children’s camp”. Some of them lost their relatives, but others lost their parents.
Scripture is the story of God’s activity in the world, among peoples and cultures, with a universal scope of concern for all creation. The God we come to know in scripture is a God who seeks to gather all of humanity into a community of sisters and brothers, a community of mutual care and hospitality.
The gospel accounts for this time of year set the stage for the Christ child who enters the world in an ordinary stable. We tell the story of Jesus’ birth each year, of course, and like any good story, we don’t mind hearing it again and again. We love the familiar details of shepherds standing transfixed under the night sky and angelic choir visitations.
There is one line though in Luke’s telling of the story that gives me pause this year: “And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in bands of cloth, and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn.” ~ Luke 2:7
This is how life begins for Jesus, with the doors to a place of warmth and shelter closed. Jesus once said of himself – “the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head” – a poignant reflection from someone who seeks to take up residence in our hearts and lives.
I am led from these traditional images in the story of Christ’s birth to the images of refugees fleeing war, oppression, and violence in our own day. The gospels reveal many of the same conditions in the ancient world. Indeed in Matthew’s telling, the holy family is forced to flee Bethlehem after Joseph is warned in a dream of Herod’s plan to destroy the child. This is followed by a massacre of all of the children in and around Bethlehem who were two years old or younger. It is a brutal reminder of the inhumanity that has plagued humankind since the dawn of time.
However, it seems as though the world has had more than it can bear of tragedies of late. Most recently in Paris, Colorado Springs, and San Bernardino, we have been witnesses to indiscriminate violence with unclear motives. The victims have been people of diverse races, colors, nationalities, religions, genders, and stages of life. We cannot comprehend the ideology of those who kill so freely and value human life so little. What we do know is that hateful ideology is not defeated on the battlefield. We know that the goal of terrorism is to instill fear; yet scripture teaches us that “there is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear.” ~ 1 John 4:18
The story of Christ’s birth, you see, is not told in a vacuum. It is told and retold into the very places that make our hearts ache. It serves as a reminder that it is precisely into the world of human suffering and pain that God finds a way to come and be among us. Dietrich Bonhoeffer once said, “Only a suffering God can help.” God is with us in the tragedies of life in ways that help us cling to hope.
Some lawmakers are suggesting that we shut the doors to refugees from certain regions of the world. They are feeding the fear of the stranger to promote their political careers. Our faith causes us to look at the issues differently, through the eyes of Christ who walked in compassion with the poor and the oppressed and invited them into the kingdom of God.
Recent United Nations statistics tell us that three quarters of the Syrian refugees who are waiting to enter the U.S. are women and young children. Followers of Christ have always felt the call to show compassion to the most vulnerable members of our human family. Times like these test where our true allegiances lie.
I encourage you to go to www.cokesbury.com/beyondbethlehem to see what Pastor Mike Slaughter and Ginghamsburg UMC in Tipp City, Ohio are emphasizing this Christmas. They are challenging their congregations to spend only half of what they normally do on their own family Christmas and give a sacrificial offering that will serve the 60 million refugees Christ loves. Pastor Mike writes, “As Christians entering into this expectant time of advent, let’s welcome those seeking healing and hope as we build strong communities of acceptance, inclusivity and harmony.” May it be so.
Words (c) 2015 Mark Lloyd Richardson
Photo credit: http://www.milwaukeejewish.org/syrian-refugee-crisis/
01 Thursday Jan 2015
Posted in Prayers
Tags
beauty of creation, compassion, creative presence, goodwill, kindness, New Year, newness, peace, prayer, spiritual wholeness
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
04 Thursday Dec 2014
Posted in Prayers, Worship Liturgy
Tags
comfort, compassion, creation, faith, forgiveness, healing, hope, prayer, Prophet Isaiah, reconciliation, season of Advent, Shepherding God
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
17 Monday Nov 2014
Posted in Prayers
Tags
compassion, divine blessing, God's immanence, joy, justice, peace, prayer
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
06 Saturday Sep 2014
Posted in Sermon portions
Tags
centered life, compassion, Elizabeth Barrett Browning, holy ground, Jesus, justice, LGBTQ inclusion, Moses, prayer, Rosa Parks, scripture, social justice
In her poem “Aurora Leigh,” Elizabeth Barrett Browning wrote:
Earth’s crammed with heaven
And every common bush afire with God:
But only he who sees, takes off his shoes,
The rest sit round it, and pluck blackberries.
The story of Moses and the burning bush (Exodus 3:1-15) has long fascinated believers. Moses is going about his usual business as a sheepherder when he catches a glimpse of something unusual in his peripheral vision, and decides that he must turn and look. Like other call stories in scripture, this one provides a window into how we interpret the ways God calls us.
The story of Moses, and the story of each person who has been grasped by God’s unconditional love, shows that there is One who knows us and calls us by name. There is One who calls us to a centered life, a life full of burning bushes, a life lived on holy ground. These burning bushes are everywhere. We need only open our eyes.
Our primary source as Christian disciples is Scripture, not because it’s free of error or contradiction, but because it is the remembered story of a people seeking after God. We read it, study it, and wrestle with it. Scripture is a burning bush, demanding our attention.
Anything that brings our attention to our Creator is potentially a burning bush. Prayer can be a burning bush, as can meditation. Other people can be windows into the divine. Relationships sometimes cause us to look deeply within ourselves to encounter the intrinsically relational nature of life. Events sometimes converge in such a way that we find ourselves brushing up against what it means to be human. As we engage our conscience and take moral stands a bush is burning in our midst!
As followers of Christ, the shape our lives take in the world is the cross, reflective of the self-giving love of Christ. “If any want to become my followers,” Jesus tells his disciples, “let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me” (Matthew 16:24). Jesus knew that the God-centered life always involved a willingness to put one’s life on the line in order to participate in the divine presence in the world.
Therefore a person like Rosa Parks boldly refused to cooperate with the evil of segregation by refusing to sit at the back of the bus that day many years ago in Montgomery, Alabama. Every day, ordinary people work for social justice, among them the advocates for the full inclusion of our LGBTQ neighbors in society and in the church.
Then there are those dear souls who daily show mercy to others – nurses, teachers, social workers, first responders, caregivers, hospice workers. There are those who go beyond what is reasonable to cheer the depressed, to comfort the grieving, to feed the hungry, to clothe the naked. Burning bushes, every one!
God cannot be kept on a shelf, or in a private corner of our lives. God tells Moses, “I AM WHO I AM.” Therefore we walk into the world with this One whose name is I AM, and realize that we can’t take anything for granted, and we surely can’t assume to know what comes next. We worship the God who is the great I AM, whose relationship with the world is dynamic and active. We turn aside often to see what God is doing. We take off our shoes, and feel the holy ground beneath our feet. We remember that in our baptisms we put on Christ. We become the presence of Christ as we move out into the world. We go in the name of the great I AM, the Lord of life and hope!
Words (c) 2014 Mark Lloyd Richardson
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