Sunday, November 23, 2008

on abundance...a pastoral prayer, with prayers of the people

O Holy One,
We come before you this morning,
Mindful of the abundance of our lives,
And mindful of the scarcity and fear in our world.

We bring to you this morning the concerns of our hearts…
For those people and places we can’t get out of minds because we are aware of their pain, their transitions, their struggles, and the hopelessness they face.


We also come to you this morning grateful…
Grateful for this moment
Grateful for the abundance of this congregation that is called to be your light and your hope to one another and to the world.
Remind us, o God, of all that we have to share, to give…to those who need your grace and love in the lives.
Remind us, not to hoard, but to give recklessly and with joy
Out of the thousand upon thousands of blessings you bestow upon us.

Holy one, we live in the abundant love of Your heart--
In the friendships you give us, the means by which we live,
The health we have--.
And even in the struggles we face,
The knowledge in our hearts and minds that we face nothing alone, but always with You, above us, below us, around us and in us.
Thanks be to You, o God.
Thanks be to you, o Christ,
Amen.