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dreamprayact

~ Reflections of a preacher, poet, and contemplative activist

dreamprayact

Tag Archives: creation care

Emmanuel

13 Sunday Dec 2015

Posted by mark lloyd richardson in Peace with justice, Poems, Prayers, Reflections

≈ 4 Comments

Tags

Christmas, compassion, creation care, Earth care, God with us, healing, hope, human suffering, justice, Mystery, mysticism, peace, wholeness

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

 

A Planetary Prayer

08 Monday Dec 2014

Posted by mark lloyd richardson in Peace with justice, Prayers

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

change, creation care, hope, international peace, justice, wholeness

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

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