Monday, May 28, 2012

Memorial Day Prayer

A delightful morning of worship on Sunday, May 27, 2012 in the newly-refurbished, historic barn owned by Kent Wilson Jones at Fferm Fach Yn Y Coed (the "Little Farm in the Woods") with a wonderful combined church choir, some great congregational singing, prayers appropriate for Pentecost and Memorial Day weekend, and the proclamation of the Word. Musical emphasis on early-American and Welsh hymnody but including many contemporary texts for some of the favorite tunes. Over 160 in attendance, most of whom stayed for the old-fashioned potluck!  

Here's the prayer for the Memorial Day weekend included in the worship service:
Reading from the presidential proclamation for Memorial Day 2012:
Our Nation endures and thrives because of the devotion of our men and women in uniform, who, from generation to generation, carry a burden heavier than any we may ever know. On Memorial Day, we honor those who have borne conflict's greatest cost, mourn where the wounds of war are fresh, and pray for a just, lasting peace....
In honor of all of our fallen service members, the Congress, by a joint resolution approved May 11, 1950... has requested the President issue a proclamation calling on the people of the United States to observe each Memorial Day as a day of prayer for permanent peace....
Let us pray:

Our Father in heaven, save us from two extremes: From indifference, on the one hand, and from “unseemly revelry” (Peter Marshall, Chaplain U.S. Senate, c. 1948) on the other hand. Save us, on the one hand, from being too casual and even forgetful of what Memorial Day is all about; and, on the other hand, from the celebration of military might and the glorification of war.

God of compassion and caring, we pray for the families of those who have given their lives in the service of their country, especially those who have died in the continuing conflicts in the Middle East. As we give you thanks for the unwavering service and dedication of the fallen, we come with prayers, too, for those currently serving. Encourage them, strengthen them, and even though they must fight--save their hearts from malice, from keeping score, and from dehumanization of their enemies.

Encourage and comfort, too, those veterans returning from battle; for those who have lost a hand or the use of their legs or otherwise injured, and for those, too, with wounds buried deep inside. For each of them, whatever their particular situation, and for their spouses and children and others in their lives: Grant, O Lord, healing and wholeness.

Sovereign God, we pray for the leaders of these United States and for those in positions of authority in other nations too. Give them wisdom, moral courage, and hearts which long for peace and justice.

God bless our native land 
 May your protective hand still guard our shore: 
May peace here power extend, 
Foe be transformed to friend, 
Our nation’s rights depend on war no more. 

And not this land alone 
But be your mercy shown from shore to shore 
Lord, make the nations see 
That all should brethren be, 
And form one family the wide world o’er. 

(Translation of a Welsh text)

And give a new heart, O God, not just to presidents and kings, not just to the powerful, but to each one of us. Give us a broader vision of the needs of all peoples and a deep, Christ-like compassion to fill those needs. Make our hearts be good soil, open to the seeds of concern you plant within us. Help us to be gentle, to be understanding, and to stand for what is right. Enable us to forgive as Christ has forgiven us. Make us as anxious that the rights of all others be firmly established as we are that our own rights be recognized. Help us to move beyond barriers of race or creed or class or political party that our love may be like yours -- a love that sees all men and women and children as your children and as our sisters and brothers. Give us the desire and resolve to become ministers of mercy and ambassadors of kindness for Jesus’ sake. Amen.

(Portions adapted from a prayer "For World-Neighborliness" and inspired by other prayers by Peter Marshall in The Prayers of Peter Marshall, Mc-Graw Hill)

Sunday, May 20, 2012

Ascension Sunday

Christ has gone up! Now Christ in us leads all the world to glory. The Word finds voice in Fiery Breath; our lives relate the story of how God went through death and hell that we might have Emmanuel and Love’s eternal blessing. From “God Has Gone Up With Shouts of Joy” by James Hart Brumm
One of the great benefits of the Ascension is Christ’s promise “I will not leave you orphaned” but you will be baptized in the power of the Spirit. The Heidelberg Catechism says: “By the Spirit’s power we make the goal of our lives, not earthly things, but the things above where Christ is, sitting at God’s right hand” (HC 49). What are those otherworldly things? Are we talking about stuff so heavenly that it’s of no earthly good? No, just the opposite! We’re talking about God’s purposes for us and for our world, the mission of God in the world, the things to which Christ has called us. Our marching orders: You shall be my witnesses. And our “marching formation”: the new community of love empowered by the Spirit of Christ, the Spirit of Love and the Source of Love’s Eternal Blessing. This is our newness. This is the new commandment: “Just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another.” Friends in Christ, Jesus isn’t calling us to make up or enforce “club rules” about “who’s in” and “who’s out.” The body of Christ ain’t no country club—it’s a diverse and sometimes dysfunctional family. “Just as I have loved you, that you, sisters and brothers, love one another”: Love one another: Wash each other’s feet, serve each other. Love one another: Lay down your lives, give up your privileges, for one another. Love one another: Love your brothers and sisters across all racial and ethnic lines. Love the family whose kids are always in trouble and you think they could have been better parents but you don’t know the half of what they’ve gone through. Love those who get told by so-called GOOD PEOPLE that they’re MISFITS. Love one another: Love the weakest and oldest and youngest. Love the lonely troublemaker. Love the unlovable. Love one who votes differently than you. Love all God’s children in the same unconditional and unfathomable way that Christ loves you. The church that loves as Christ loves is blessed indeed.