a prayer for palm sunday

on palm sunday, the people cry out:

“hosanna! blessed is the one

who comes in the name of the LORD!”

the one who comes and

flips the tables of injustice

heals the hurting and calms the sea

proclaims woes to the rich and lifts up the poor

says “bear fruit worthy of repentance” and “follow me”

rides in on a donkey and prays earnestly

hosanna! hosanna in the highest!

create a spirit within us that desires what you desire, o God.

the humble walk, the healing kingdom, the new creation.

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a prayer for mealtime

God, we thank you for this food. Just as you formed us from the soil, so, too, has this sustenance sprung forth from the dirt. Let us never forget this. We pray for the regeneration of its home, the well-being of its tillers and transporters, and the lives of those who have prepared it. We thank you for this table, those gathered around it, and who they are in this world. Thank you for bringing us together in this place. Let us not take it for granted. Amen.

a prayer for bedtime

days are busy, impulse flooded, inertia-bound

trains on tracks that i cannot stop. it is

so hard to turn off, away, or toward you.

mold me, if the sunrise comes

into a creature who cherishes my creator,

believes in Her power, sings with the carrion,

and never forgets to look out of the train.

i pray if my body rests here tomorrow

it will have been a beacon of hope

and a vessel of your presence.

a prayer for the creature (me)

i do not pray for the earth

not the soil, the cliffs, or the sea

called to keep and till, we have

ravaged and plundered, forsaken and forgotten

it does not need my prayers

it needs a new me

i do not pray for the earth

i pray for my body, my God

for my senses to be renewed

for my eyes to see your creation

for my ears to hear the wood thrush

for my tongue to taste the berries

for my hands to climb trees

for my feet to feel the silt

for a body transformed by God’ grace

that feels myself as one amongst many

not one above all

created to sustain, not stomp

to sing, not blot

to live in harmony with the birds of the air and lilies in the field

a prayer for the morning

o God

i pray for conviction

to stand when it is easier to sit

to march when it is easier to watch

to give when it is easier to withhold

to create when it is easier to consume

to think when it is easier to react

to love when it is easier to hate

grant me the bravery and courage of those who have gone before me

to stand, to march, to give, to create, to think, and to love

when it is easier to be comfortable