Center us now, O God, on your presence in this place among your people, as we lift up our hearts desires, our soul’s deep needs, and our hunger for justice.
We pray for the earth. For scientists, photographers, and explorers. For scholars, poets, musicians, artists, and all who lead us to greater knowledge and appreciation of beauty. For the rain that gives life to our planet. We pray for ways to reverse global climate change before it destroys this place we call home.
For homeless youth, rejected children, and refugees who do not share the privileges we do. For isolated grandparents, lonely nursing home residents, and those feeling particularly isolated right now. We pray for the continued health of our families, for the shamed, the slighted, and the disregarded members of our communities. For all the sick and in need of prayer, especially Peter, Laura, Kathy, Susan, Tom S. Bob, Joe I., Jennifer, Kara, Rosetta, Franco, the family and friends of Marie, Charlie, the family and friends of Dorothy Correll, Zenaida, Daniel, and anyone we name silently in our hearts, aloud in our homes, or in the comments below.
For those in pursuit of recovery and perseverance in the midst of the Coronavirus. We pray for all essential workers in New York City and around the world who continue to work and put their own wellbeing on the line to help us face this crisis. We pray for doctors, nurses, first responders, researchers, law enforcement, caregivers, sanitation and maintenance workers, and all working to combat COVID-19. Be with those who work in service and restaurant professions, those keeping stores stocked and making at home deliveries, for teachers both at home and online working tirelessly to give our children an education in the midst of crisis. We pray for those who transport goods to the places that need them, provide them with what they need along the journey. Keep them safe, keep them healthy, and help us to find ways to provide them with the supplies that they need to do their jobs well. We ask that you continue to be with employers and employees who are struggling to figure out how to keep things going during this time.
We pray for those around us who need your care, and ask that you would make of us your instruments of healing, peace and reconciliation,trusting you to hear our prayers in whatever form they come. In the name of the Risen Christ we pray, Amen.
BLESSING OF THE GATE
Press your hand
to this blessing,
here along
the side
where you can feel
its seam.
Follow the seam
and you will find
the hinges
on which
this blessing turns.
Feel how
your fingers
catch on them—
top,
bottom,
the slightest pressure
sending the gate
gliding open
in a glad welcome.
Wait, did I say
press your hand
to this blessing?
What I meant was
press your hand
to your heart.
Rest it over that
place in your chest
that has grown
closed and tight,
where the rust,
with its talent
for making decay
look artful,
has bitten into
what you once
held dear.
Breathe deep.
Press on the knot
and feel how it
begins to give way,
turning upon
the hinge
of your heart.
Notice how it
opens wide
and wider still
as you exhale,
spilling you out
into a realm
where you never dreamed
to go
but cannot now imagine
living this life
without.
— Jan Richardson
from The Cure for Sorrow: A Book of Blessings for Times of Grief
Used with permission from the author
Holy Trinity Lutheran Church, Bellerose 