Sketch Prayers

“…the world is all messed up. The nation is sick. Trouble is in the land; confusion all around…. But I know, somehow, that only when it is dark enough, can you see the stars.”

Martin Luther King Jr., "I've Been to the Mountaintop" (speech, Memphis, Tennessee, April 3, 1968)

And a prayer for this MLK Day:

Teach us again, O God
To dream.
That even In the depths of darkness
Our eyes may see your light
Our hearts may be your light
Communities of stars ablaze

May we dare to dream
For love that feels so far away
For radiating light close enough to touch
Brave enough to shine
Strong enough to transform our shared darkness
Into brilliant compassionate love

May blazing stars shine brightly in our darkness
Lighting a way to love.
Amen

Oh God of our past and our future,
Bless us with humility and wisdom
That we may grow as we grieve.
Together.
Amen

“…Let the globe, if nothing else, say this is true:
That even as we grieved, we grew.
That even as we hurt, we hoped.
That even as we tired, we tried.
That we’ll forever be tied together, victorious.
Not because we will never again know defeat, but because we will never again sow division….”

Amanda Gorman
The Hill We Climb
2021

O God,
Come near to your people
In these most difficult of days.
Gift us with what we need for the journey ahead.

Give us humility when certainty tempts us,
Discomfort when we hear justice calling, and
Daring words when silence offers safety.
Give us strength to stand with the crushed,
Hands that restore rather than hurt, and
Hearts unbounded by walls we build around our love.

Hear our lifted voices crying Hosanna this day,
Not as praise - but as desperate plea.
Hosanna, O God.
Save us.
Save us from ourselves.
Save us for each other.
Save us for you.
Save us
For courage,
For truth,
For love that costs.

Save us this holy week
For the life of the world that you love.
Hosanna, O God.
Hosanna!

Amen