Imagine in Us

Imagine in us!
Imagine in us new ways of seeing
    doing
        being -
Bringing hope
     joy
         peace
             to the world -
Dreaming dreams
    living dreams
         sharing dreams.
Point us in the direction of
     doing work that matters
        making play matter
           making relationships matter.
Help us to imagine ways to make the impossible possible.

For nothing is impossible with God!

Imagine in us!

[Check out the website for Paul Foreman's mind maps at www.mindmapinspiration.com. Wonderful stuff! Okay - so other prayers  for the letter "I" include: inspire us (too obvious!), inform us, instruct us, involve us...do you have other ones?]

Heal Us

Illustration by Daniel Erlander

When I thought of the word, "healing," I thought of one of my favorite Medical Mission Sisters songs, "Come Down, Lord" (words by Miriam Therese Winter):

Come down, Lord, my son is ill
Wracked with fever the live longday.
He is life to me. If you will
Drive death away, drive death away.

Lord, do not come to my house I'm unworthy.
Speak and the promise is sealed
For when your word, O God, is spoken
He shall be healed, he shall be healed.

Come down, Lord, my soul is ill
Wracked with anquish the livelong day.
All my sorrowing will be still
If you but say, if you but say.

Lord, do not come to my house, I'm unworthy.
Speak and the promise is sealed.
For when your word, O God, is spoken
I shall be healed, I shall be healed.

Come down, Lord, the world is ill
Wracked with bloodshed the livelong day.
We must struggle for peace until
You show the way, you show the way.

Lord, do not come to our house, we're unworthy.
Speak and the promise is sealed.
For when your word of love is spoken
We shall be healed, we shall be healed.

Heal us.
We hunger for your healing touch for our sick world.

When we are mentally, physically or spiritually ill,
      Heal us;
When we latch on to fear and hold it like a shield,
      Heal us;
When we use language that separates ourselves from others,
      Heal us;
When we embrace a culture of death rather than one that embraces life,
      Heal us;
When we start believing that we are good and our enemies are bad,
      Heal us;
When we do things that harm the earth,
     Heal us;
When we put our self-interest before the needs of others,
     Heal us.
         
Give healing to your world.
Speak your word of love:
Heal us and make us whole.
   

Gather Us

At that very hour some Pharisees came and said to him, ‘Get away from here, for Herod wants to kill you.’ He said to them, ‘Go and tell that fox for me,^* “Listen, I am casting out demons and performing cures today and tomorrow, and on the third day I finish my work. Yet today, tomorrow, and the next day I must be on my way, because it is impossible for a prophet to be killed away from Jerusalem.” Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often have I desired to gather your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing! (Luke 13:31-34)


The fox is out there.
Waiting.
Lurking.
Ready to pounce at any unsuspecting moment.

Desire for power and wealth
Consumerism
Self-sufficiency
Idolatry
Isolationism
This is our fox.

What we don't know
Will hurt us.

The mother hen knows the danger
And bids us come under her wings
Where it is warm and safe
Close to her heart.

Would we rather be scattered than gathered
If we knew that the foxes in our lives
Are not good for us?
(But, we do know.)

Gather us in
All of us, under your wing
Where we can know your protection
And know one another.

Freeing Us

Freeing us

Arms outstretched and releasing,
being vulnerable,
facing life with gusto
(without fear),
knowing we are loved
even when we fail.

Life is ahead of us
in more ways than one:
We open up our arms
to let go, to be free
so that we can embrace
that which is
life-giving.

You!
You make it possible:
Your own arms outstretched,
letting go of life
to gain life
for
us.

There you are
on a cross.
Freeing us.

Engage Us

Engage us

Each of us with our own part to play,
Each note integral to life's symphony,
Sometimes subtle
Sometimes loud
But, all intensely involved and focused
On your composition.


[Other "e" words: Energize us, Empower us, Enlighten us, Embolden us, Embrace us - What "e" words are you using in your lap across the pool?]

Dwell in Us

Dwell in us ~

       Africans         Young         Hindus      
capitalists      Asians         liberals        
   Europeans      old        Republicans     Jews     
poor      women       Siks        socialists    
    Christians    straight    Democrats      Jains
   men       South Americans      Independents   
rich   believers   North Americans       
     communists        Asians     doubters    
Australians           Muslims          gay

You are the Light that dwells in us all
Help us to open our eyes to the ways you live in others
And by dwelling in me, may others see you 
Living in me through my words and actions
Dwell in us! 

[Other "D" prayers: Dance in us, Deliver us, Dream in us, Deliver us....what "D" prayers might you use?]

Connecting Us

I want to try to understand why you gossiped behind his back without bothering to talk with him first to see if the story you were telling was true or not.

I want to ask you why you posted and "liked" the story of the young girl who shot and killed "illegal alien home invaders" which the author called, "good news."

I want to know why you use my name to preach hate and start wars.

I want to figure out why you focus on your own self-interests instead of being concerned for the needs of those around you.

I want to know why you - church - behave as an exclusive club, that doesn't want to connect in new ways with others in order to do ministry that really matters to the broken people in your community.

I want to grasp why you think your nation is superior to all others, your school is superior to other schools, your religion is the only way to believe, your work is more important than the labor of someone else.


Our brokenness is this:

We want to demonize others.
We want to judge others.
We want to be superior to others.
We want what's best only for ourselves.

We are disconnected from you and each other.

Connect us like branches to a Tree.
Make us whole.

[Other words for laps, starting with the letter "c" include Come to us, Create in us, Care for us, Calling us, Comfort us.  What are you "C" word prayers?]

Breathe in Us

A perfect photograph for a post titled "Breathe" might have been that wisp of air flowing out of someone's mouth - someone's breath - on a cold day such as the one we have today.

But, I returned moments ago from "Conversations with the Bishop," a gathering specifically for young people for the purpose of engaging in dialogue with the bishop about faith. I think it is safe to say that everyone of us felt a Holy Breath moving, breathing through all of us. I had goosebumps more than once. The photograph I'm using for "Breathe" is of the group that met today - a perfect picture for "Breathe."

I breathe -
I feel the breath move into the depth of my being as I inhale
Down, down through my whole body,
And feel its power expelled as I exhale,
Sending it out on words, songs, laughter, sighs, prayer
A continuous cycle, bringing life in and sending life out.

Together we breathe -
Holy breath swirling, growing, dancing in and through us
In stories that would make you weep for joy
In actions that speak louder than words

Breathe in us this day,
Make our breath holy.


 ~ With thanks to Ashley, Emily, Sam, Garrett, Bruce, Autumn, Matt, Colleen, Laraine, Meeghan and Kristin

[Other "B" words for prayer: blesses us, birthed in us...what are your "b" words?]

Abide in Us

Abide.
A son remains by his dying father's side,
holds his hand, reads scripture aloud,
and sings lullabies to send him on his way.

Abide
Children - once lit up with light and life, skipping or running
to school earlier in the day - are slaughtered and the hearts
of a nation reach out, suffering alongside a wounded community.

Abide
A woman, at the precipice of major life changes, studies sacred texts and pauses over each word, expecting to find meaning, or solace or inspiration - just one facet of the diamond will do -  dwelling in the Word.

Abide with us
    Remain with
       Suffer with
          Dwell with
Us
In our hearts, in our lives.

On this life's journey, sojourn with us
Or better yet, 
Be with
    Move in
       Weave through
Our hearts like the shuttle of a loom
Criss-crossing, connecting every fiber of our being with you,
Abiding in us.


[Other wonderful  "A" words for praying laps: accepting us, awaken us, arise in us - what "A" words can you think of?]

Prayers for a Hungry World: On the Starting Block

My original plan today was to dive into the first prayer, starting with the letter "A," but as I drove to work this morning, two thoughts occurred to me. What follows are my reflections on them. This particular blog entry could be compared to standing on the starting block - mentally preparing - before taking a plunge into the pool.

My son Joshua - and seekers in general - inspired my first reflection. It is this:  Not everyone prays to Jesus. Also, many of us have ways of calling on God that change day by day, moment by moment. Holy One, Merciful and Forgiving God, God of Justice, Allah, Abba, Divine One, Imma, Loving Parent, Gracious God, and Holy Spirit are just a few in a long list of ways people address God.

This led to my recollection of a story I recently heard concerning a Missouri Synod Lutheran pastor (not a pastor in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America - the church body of which I am a part - for those unfamiliar with the variety of  Lutherans "out there") who was reprimanded by the leader of his denomination for participating in a prayer service for victims of the Sandy Hook school massacre. Missouri Synod Lutherans simply "do not pray well with others." In my opinion, they have reduced God to fit into their little box of what they think God should be like. But, the love of God cannot be restrained or manipulated by any of us.

These two thoughts led to some questions: Why put up roadblocks to prayer by telling people how they should address God or by telling them with whom they can or cannot pray?  Is there a way for us to pray  with those of other faiths in a way that honors all traditions? I once prayed the Lord's Prayer in a setting where everyone prayed in their own native tongue and for those who prayed in English some used the "traditional version" while others used the more "contemporary" version. Somehow we all managed to start and end at the same time. It was a powerfully moving experience for me. I think the same could be done by starting our prayers with whatever word we choose to use for God followed by supplications common to all of us. And, finally,  here is a wondering question I have: How would our world be different if we took time to pray every day for everyone?

My original plan was to begin each chapter of  "Prayers for a Hungry World"  with "Jesus Christ" followed by the verb and then "us." But, God is bigger than any name we would choose to call God. Now, I see how limiting that is. I leave the decision on how to address to God to the reader and so, my chapters will begin only with a verb.

A final suggestion before we dive off the starting block and into the pool together: Keep it simple. When repeating a mantra, I like to keep the whole prayer to six or seven syllables and that seems to flow nicely with my breathing in - and breathing out.

And now, let US pray...

Prayers for a Hungry World: An Introduction

An unexpected thing happened to me the other day when I was swimming. As a result, I decided to write a blog in Lent on prayer and I'm calling it, "Prayers for a Hungry World." This particular blog entry is an introduction and serves to explain how this idea came to me and how I hope to focus these prayers. The prayers for each day that follows will not be nearly as long as this introduction! Here is my story:

Whenever I have an opportunity to swim in a pool, I undertake my spiritual practice of  "praying my laps" which involves using the phrase, "Jesus Christ ___________  me." (Occasionally, I throw in a prepositional phrase such as "in me" or "through me"). I go through the alphabet, thinking of action words that start with each letter and then fill in the blank, repeating the mantra with the word as I do a lap. I end up swimming 26 laps praying in this fashion.

My prayers took me to a deep place one day last week while I was swimming. I came to the sudden realization that by praying in this way, "Jesus Christ ____________ ME," I was thinking and praying only for myself. I began praying, "Jesus Christ ____________ US." By using this phrase instead, the images that came to me when I repeated each mantra expanded by leaps and bounds and subsequently became richer and more meaningful.

During one of my laps, I started to think about my son and other young people who are searching for a way to make it in our world - particularly in a culture where it seems we are all caught in an inescapable and unhealthy system.  Some young adults I know wonder how they can live differently and how they can break away from this way of living and often feel hopeless and despair when they realize they can't escape it entirely. For some, all they see is a dystopian world before them. They see injustices in the world - injustices perpetuated by our own nation (and others, too) - and what they see is not pretty.

I kept swimming, sticking with my mantras.  Maybe it was when I started to pray, "Jesus Christ, move in us." Maybe that was the lap that got me thinking in particular about my son. As I propelled myself through the water with my arms feeling the resistance as I pushed them forward and then pulled them back by my side, I thought of questions that tug at each of us -  difficult questions about justice and our complicity with the injustices that are played out in our world. I began thinking about all the different kinds of poverty in our world - financial, physical, spiritual - and I was reminded again that all of us, in some way are impoverished.

I am not sure, on the whole, that our world today is any different than it was a half century ago, a century ago, a millenium ago. Suffering has always been with us. Poverty of all kinds has always been with us. Injustice has always been with us. A future that looks uncertain and bleak is something most people have experienced at some level and at some time in their lives.

So, what propels us forward, keeps us afloat as we face a future that sometimes seems hopeless?

For me, it is the waters of baptism that help keep me afloat. That is my lifeboat. It is knowing that even as I fail at times, as we all fail at times - God loves our miserable selves, washes us clean, sets us upright to face the world again, gently pushes us back into the world, and when we're bruised, welcomes us back - oftentimes covered with dust and mud - and cleans us up all over again.

This is the hope I cling to and the hope I wish for those who see only a dystopian world. I think that - whoever we are in this crazy world - each of us is doing the best we can. Sometimes we fail, yet in the middle of a "crazy mixed up world," little kindnesses are being done every day. Do the best you can do and know that no matter what, God's amazing and abundant love surrounds you completely. "Jesus Christ, move in us!"

I will be "praying my laps" in my journey of prayer this Lent.

I dedicate "Prayers for a Hungry World," to my son, Joshua who inspires me every day.