Prayer

Eternal Spirit

From whom all things come and to whom all things return

We gather this hour seeking meaning and understanding for our living.

This is our house of faith; this is our hour of worship;

We are a people of many beliefs together as one faith.

We are seekers of peace and light;

sifting through the moments of today

with an eye toward the eternal values that undergird life.

For the blessings of this day, the gathering of these good people,

and for the joys of simple things: we give thanks.

For songs that lift us up and for companions that carry us on:

we raise our voices in thanksgiving.

And for the revival of faith and trust in the face of the tides of life:

let us remember to give thanks indeed!

Help us to respond to life’s gifts with a generosity of spirit

Help us to meet differences and challenges

with an openness and a willingness

Let life’s melody rise and fall with us

Let the rhythm of love roll through our days

Let the music of the universe echo through our steps

And may our songs of our people

be songs of courage, respect, justice, and love

This we ask in the name of all that is holy

May it be so.

Eternal Spirit, from whom all things come and to whom all things return,

We gather this morning in community seeking to live in the harmony.

Each of us here gathered lives out our lives knowing our own story,

our own private melody.

Life – at its highest and its sweetest is a sharing.

Life is a sharing of our melodies, of our love and interest,

of our yearning and questions.

We gather this morning as individuals creating harmony in community together.

May our different ways of knowing and naming the holy blend together.

May our voices be added to the holy chorus of life.

May we practice our scales that we may better improvise and recognize

where we come in when it is our time.

The world is rife with discord and trouble.

Injustice and suffering weigh us down and trip us up and stop our voices.

May we learn to trust in love, in God, in our own voices,

in the trembling faith of our forbearers

to trust that we have a part in this symphony and

we can join this chorus and bring some beauty to the cacophony around us.

May there be times of gentle tones and soothing melodies

May there be rhythms upon which we can rely to rally our spirits at need

May there be teachers and band mates, fans and good companions

to help call our best music out of us

May there be moments when we are transported,

moments when we discover we are not playing the music

so much as the music is flowing through us,

the music is playing us

O Spirit of Life, may our song be among the songs of the spirit

May there be beauty in our song and in our living,

May there be meaning and power in our song

And may our individual voices blend into the chorus,

The chorus that is Thee, O Spirit.

This we ask, in the name of all that is holy

May it be so

Interfaith Prayer for Standing Rock

Eternal Spirit

From whom all things come and to whom all things return

We gather today as religious people from various traditions;

We gather as people reaching across our difference

Sharing our commitment to compassion and truth

In this silent moment let us give thanks for the blessings in our lives.

For the gift of earth we receive as food and water each day, we give thanks

For home and family, for faith and meaningful work, we give thanks.

For our ability to gather in this way as people of peace, we give thanks.

In this silent moment we lift up those places in our own lives

and in our own hearts where burdens reside.

May there be peace, may there be grace, may there be support

In this silent moment let us cry out for the suffering of our world.

In particular, we cry out

for the land and the water that is threatened in Cannonball ND

for the American Indians usually forgotten on the margins

for all those who suffer at the hands of police militarization

and corporate greed

We cry out for the distrust and disconnection that has taken root

between the people and our government

between the people and our police

between the people and our mother earth

This is not the way it should be.

Oh, Spirit of life and of love, hear our cry.

Hear our cry, of spirit, and help us to become instruments of thy love.

Let us speak up with those who go unheard.

Let us show up in solidarity with all those on the margins.

Let us be like the Water Protectors of Standing Rock

and commit ourselves to Protect what is Sacred.

Let us be emissaries of justice,

ambassadors of compassion,

agents of thee, O Spirit

In the name of all that is holy

may it be so

Prayer for the struggle

Eternal Spirit, from whom all things come and to whom all things return.

All of us walk through this life with a share of joy and a share of sorrow.

No one among us is free from trials and difficulty.

Bend our compassion that we may remember to be gentle with all whom we meet.

We gather this hour in solidarity and compassion

for our world and those among us bowed down

by poverty and struggle to survive.

Our thoughts and prayers are with parents struggling to make sacrifices for their children,

and with children who suffer for the financial plight of their families.

Our thoughts and prayers are with those among us this day

and those beyond our church walls who cannot make a living,

with those sinking in debt,

with farmers who cannot sell what they produce,

and with the unemployed who yearn to work.

Each one of us experiences these or other troubles in life.

Help us to remember to be gentle with all whom we meet.

We join our voices with those who labor for justice;

we who band together to support people in need;

we who are postcard-signers,

email-senders, and

white-band-wearers.

May our voices remain respectful and loving,

may our voices never waiver from the witness of truth,

may our voices be heard.

May our leaders and government decision-makers

remember the wisdom to care for the common good,

to care for the disempowered.

We offer our gratitude for the many blessings we have:

the blessings of health and friendship,

the blessings of family and community,

of work and leisure,

of spring warmth and of music and

so much else that remains good and right.

For all that is not well in our world,

may we have the courage to face it,

the compassion to care about it,

and the boldness to work to change it.

This we ask in the name of all that is holy

My it be so.