A Prayer For Hallowe'en All Hallows Eve The Eve Before All Saints' Day Ne'er Be There A Time and Place Where Being Male Is Congruent with Oppression Or Injustice "We Still Burn Witches" Life-Giving God, Womb in whom we are the people you created . . . that you are redeeming . . . and that you are perfecting unto your will and purpose: It is Hallowe'en, the Eve before we praise you and offer you thanksgiving for all followers in your Way. We especially remember those who have gone on before us, and now are within that great cloud of witnesses that sing your songs of love and peace, and justice. And, we are beyond grateful that we are part of that communion, your community from the beginning, world without end. Yet, today we come confession are failures, those things we have done or have failed to do, which are not of your Kin-Dom. In the world in which we live, we acknowledge the injustices, the oppression, the violence, and the disunity woven into this tapestry of our days. Our culture is based on consuming and accumulating things that have little or no use for our well-being. Corrupted in greed and the ursuping of power, we attempt to control things that are not ours to change or manipulate. We have taken your Shalom and made of it a Salem in which our history of evil is not only well identified, but continues to this very day. We still "burn witches." In the thick shadows of our lives we know that there is inequality and non-equity. Our witches, those we still kill, are the women who know first hand what life is like in a society made by white, wealthy, men . . . and how that system robs them of their identity, rapes them of their dignity, and violates their humanity. As long as there is no resolution, no reconciliation, no reparation we will identify those who seek justice as witches to be silenced . . . to be used for self-gratification . . . to be treat in all ways as second class people at best. O God, forgive our wrongful ways. We yearn for gender equality . . . for the equity of access to all that makes life better and beautiful, as you will it to be. We pine within for a day when exclusion and bondage shall be no more. We long to live with our Sisters in a world that not only seeks the concord of unity, but cherishes the natural essence of diversity. May we celebrate the women and children for whom you are Advocate and Comforter. May we walk truly in your Way, following Jesus and your command to love. May we stop the harm . . . prevent the violence . . . prepare for a time and place where those who are burdened is our evil-bent empire are free and empowered to live life fully. For you, O Wisdom, know what it is like for those who are the targets of perpetrators . . . who are full of themselves, but empty in soul and morality and what really matters. Never should there be a means of propagating privilege that is based on race, gender, age, or ability. For in your Kin-Dom, O Sovereign-One, love includes all . . . love overcomes boundaries . . . love provides for everyone . . . now and forever more. Blessed are you and blessed is your Realm wherein there is well-ness and wholeness. Amen.

A Prayer Based On the Reading From Job 10-2-2021

—Thanks to the RevGalBlogPals

Psalm of Job
Rachel G. Hackenberg

From dawn to dusk, from dusk to dawn,
O God guide our breaths, our lives, our loves.

We are fragile and frail, O Eternal Glory.
We are so full of pride that we downplay our faults,
and so full of faults that we downplay our possibilities.
What is the sky to a speck of dust?
What is hope to a drop of rain?

Yet you have shown us the sky with all its mystery,
and you have planted seeds of hope within our limitations.
Now our dusty selves yearn for the stars,
our raindrops long to find the river,
and our hopes ache to bloom.

Would that we never forget you or fear your wonders!
Would that our delight in being never be overwhelmed by jealousy of one another!
Would that our distance and desperation never be stumbling blocks to your healing!

From dusk to dawn, from dawn to dusk,
O God guide our breaths, our lives, our lives.

The Rev. Rachel G. Hackenberg‘sbook with co-author Martha Spong, Denial Is My Spiritual Practice (and Other Failures of Faith),
searches for faith through life’s trials. Rachel has also written Writing to God, a popular Lenten devotional, and other books.


Rachel G. Hackenberg

A BEAD AND A PRAYER FOR EVERY DAY

"Gods Blessed Name Be Praised" CROSS Make haste, O God, to deliver me. Make haste to help me, O God. (silence) Holy God, Holy and Mighty, Holy Immortal One: Have mercy on me. Holy God, Holy and Mighty, Holy Immortal One: Have mercy on me. Holy God, Holy and Mighty, Holy Immortal One: Have mercy on me. INVITATORY O God, open my lips, and my mouth will declare your praise. (silence) Make a joyful noise to God, all the earth; sing the glory of God's Name; give to God glorious praise. Enter into God’s presence with a joyful song! Know that God is God! It is God that has made us, and we belong to God; we are God’s people and the sheep of God’s pasture.  Enter God’s gates with thanksgiving and God's courts with praise! Give thanks to God! Bless God’s holy Name! CRUCIFORM Bless God, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless God's holy Name.  Bless God, O my soul, and remember all God’s kindnesses! God is the One who forgives all your sins God is the One who heals all your diseases God is the One who ransoms your life from the Pit God is the One who crowns you with love and tenderness God is the One who fills your years with prosperity also gives you an eagle’s youthful energy. (Psalm 103 1-5) WEEK I ╬ God said to Moses, “I am the God of your ancestors,” the voice continued, “the God of Sarah and Abraham, the God of Rebecca and Isaac, the God of Leah and Rachel and Jacob!” . . . “I AM as I AM. This is what you will tell the Israelites: ‘I AM has sent me to you.’” God spoke further to Moses: “Tell the children of Israel: ‘YHWH, the ‘I AM,’ the God of your ancestors, the God of Sarah and Abraham, of Rebecca and Isaac, of Leah and Rachel and Jacob, has sent me to you.’ This is my Name forever; this is the name you are to remember for all generations. ╬ The Samaritan woman said to Jesus, “I know that the Messiah—the Anointed One—is coming and will tell us everything.” Jesus replied, “I who speak to you, I AM the Messiah.” ╬ Jesus said, “I AM the bread of life. No one who comes to me will ever be hungry; no one who believes in me will be thirsty. ╬ Jesus said, "I AM the bread of life. Your ancestors ate manna in the desert, but they died. This is the bread that comes down from heaven, and if you eat it you’ll never die." ╬ Jesus said, "I myself am the living bread come down from heaven. If any eat this bread, they will live forever; the bread I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.” ╬ Jesus said, “I AM the light of the world. Whoever follows me won’t walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” ╬ Jesus said, “You belong to what is below; I AM from above. You’re of this world; I AM not of this world. I have told you already, you’ll die in your sins. Yes, you will surely die in your sins unless you believe that I AM.”   CRUCIFORM  How you love justice, O God. You are always on the side of the oppressed. You revealed your intentions to Moses, your deeds to Israel. You are tender and compassionate, O God— slow to anger, and always loving; your indignation doesn’t endure forever, and your anger lasts only for a short time. You never treat us as our sins deserve; you don’t repay us in kind for the injustices we do. (Psalm 103. 6-10) WEEK II ╬ Jesus said, “When you have lifted up the Chosen One, then you’ll know that I AM and that I do nothing of myself; I say only what Abba God has taught me. The One who sent me is with me and has not deserted me, because I always do God’s will.” ╬ Jesus said, “The truth of the matter is, before Sarah and Abraham ever were, I AM.” ╬ Jesus said, "We must do the deeds of the One who sent me while it is still day—for night is coming, when no one can work. While I AM in the world, I AM the light of the world.” ╬ Jesus said, “The truth of the matter is, I AM the sheep gate. All who came before me were thieves and marauders whom the sheep didn’t heed. I AM the gate. Whoever enters through me will be safe—you’ll go in and out and find pasture." ╬ Jesus said, "I AM the good shepherd. A good shepherd would die for the sheep." ╬ Jesus said, "I AM the good shepherd. I know my sheep and my sheep know me, in the same way Abba God knows me and I know God—and for these sheep I will lay down my life." ╬ Jesus said, "Yet you say—to someone whom Abba God has consecrated and sent into the world—‘You’re blaspheming,’ because I say, ‘I AM God’s Only Begotten.’" If I AM not doing Abba God’s work, there is no need to believe me; but if I AM doing God’s work—even if you don’t believe me—at least believe in the work I do." CRUCIFORM You never treat us as our sins deserve; you don’t repay us in kind for the injustices we do. For as high as heaven is above the earth, so great is the love for those who revere you. As far away as the east is from the west, that’s how far you remove our sins from us!  As tenderly as parents treat their children, that’s how tenderly you treat your worshipers, O God! For you know what we are made of— you remember that we’re nothing but dust.  We last no longer than grass, live no longer than a wildflower; one gust of wind and we’re gone, never to be seen again. (Psalm 103. 11-16) WEEK III ╬ Jesus said, "Then you’ll know for certain that Abba God is in me and I AM in Abba God.” ╬ Jesus said, “I AM the Resurrection, and I AM Life: those who believe in me will live, even if they die; and those who are alive and believe in me will never die. ╬ Jesus said, "when I AM lifted up from this earth, I will draw all people to myself.” ╬ Jesus said, "You call me “Teacher,” and “Sovereign”—and rightly, for so I AM." ╬ Jesus said, "I tell you this now, before it takes place, so that when it takes place you may believe that I AM." ╬ Jesus said, “I myself am the Way—I AM Truth, and I AM Life. No one comes to Abba God but through me. ╬ Jesus said, "Whoever has seen me has seen God. How can you say, ‘Show us your God’? Don’t you believe that I AM in  God and God is in me?"  CRUCIFORM Yet your love lasts from age to age for those who revere you, O God, as does your goodness to our children’s children, and to those who keep your covenant and remember to obey your precepts. You have established your throne in the heavens, and your reign extends over everything. (Psalm 103. 17-19) WEEK IV ╬ Jesus said, "The words I speak are not spoken of myself; it is Abba God, living in me, who is accomplishing the works of God. Believe me that I AM in God and God is in me, or else believe because of the works I do." ╬ Jesus said, "I AM the true vine, and my Abba is the vine grower who cuts off every branch in me that doesn’t bear fruit, but prunes the fruitful ones to increase their yield." ╬ Jesus said, "I AM the vine; you are the branches. Those who live in me and I in them will bear abundant fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing." ╬ “Are you Jesus of Nazareth?” they asked. Jesus said, “I AM.”  ╬ When Jesus said, “I AM,” they all drew back and fell to the ground. ╬ Jesus said, “I have already told you that I AM the one you want. If I AM the one you’re looking for, let the others go.” ╬ Pilate said, “So you’re a King?” Jesus replied, “You say I AM a King. I was born and came into the world for one purpose—to bear witness to the truth. Everyone who seeks the truth hears my voice.” CRUCIFORM Bless God, you angels, you powers who do God’s bidding, attentive to every word of command! Bless God, you heavenly host, you faithful ones who enforce God’s will!  bless God, creation, to the far reaches of God’s reign! Bless God, O my soul! (Psalm 103. 20-22) INVITATORY From the Book of Psalms, Selected Verses ♦ A good name is better than great wealth, the esteem of others, than gold and silver. (silence) ♦ O God, our Sovereign, how majestic is your Name in all the earth! (silence) ♦ I will be glad and rejoice in you, I will sing praise to your Name, O God Most High! (silence) ♦ We glorify you all day long, O God, and will praise your Name forever. (silence) ♦ The whole earth worships you and sings praises to you—all creation praises your Name! (silence) ♦ Teach me your way, O God, so that I may walk with you alone; make me single-hearted in reverence for your Name. I will praise you with all my heart, O God; I will glorify your Name forever. (silence) ♦ Happy are those who have learned to praise you, O God, who walk in the light of your presence! They will rejoice in your Name all day long, uplifted by your justice. I will extol you, my God, my Sovereign, and I will bless your Name forever and ever! (silence) ♦ Every day will I bless you, and I will praise your Name forever and ever! Great you are, God, and greatly to be praised; your greatness is unfathomable. CROSS In the Name of God, go in peace. Love and serve God in your loving of others. And make God's Name one that is known as love.

A Prayer For Indigenous People Undoing What Columbus Day Wrongfully Includes Holy God, Holy and Mighty, Holy Immortal One: Have mercy on us. Cause your compassion to lead us into healing and wholeness. Today is a time of conflict and confusion, a day when many issues rise to the surface and remind us of the mess we are in. This day calls for . . . repentance doing the work of justice and peace making healing reconciliation and moving into the future where the past does not repeat itself. We confess, O God, that we have taken a land from its native people, we have oppressed the same native people forcing them into a life that is so limited and controlled by our greed and need for power. In the name of empire, we have become and sustained racism, working diligently to keep people in poverty. How can we ever make reparation for all the harm that has been done? Slowly and with great pangs of change, we as a nation have made progress. The progress, however, continues to be met with resistance and conflict at every point. Some days it feels like we are taking steps backward rather than forward. And, to be quite honest, we come together in prayer, praying for those who lives are oppressed by our culture and governmental policies, simply to relieve our sense of guilt. Our actual work and effort to change life in liberation and freedom pales in comparison to the way of Jesus. So, on this day, demand for us, with your powerful presence, that we lift people out of the ways and means by which they are oppressed and harmed. Grant us a new and true ability to see and acknowledge the divine honor and dignity that you have placed within each person. And, let us not rest until all people are equal and share the equity of access to the resources of your creation. May we have the courage and volition to make things right: the need to celebrate Columbus and his discoveries are far less that our need to celebrate the native people of this land. O God, hear our prayer and bring peace with justice. May we have the wisdom and foresight to restructure and change: making reservations not a prison on confinement, and a stewardship of reverence for the sacred places of indigenous history. O God, hear our prayer and bring peace with justice. May we have the strength of mind and spirit to practice what we preach: making human rights the rights of all people, without exception, providing for the health and well-being of every person within this nation. O God, hear our prayer and bring peace with justice. May we have the vision to see what is possible and how possibilities are accomplished: living as a people in a mutuality of caring and sharing, where there is no place for either wealth or poverty. O God, hear our prayer and bring peace with justice. May we have the ability to find the ways of careful solution: giving mind, always, to doing no harm, and including everyone in the healing process that will make us a better people. O God, hear our prayer and bring peace with justice. Finally, O God, we pray your love to embrace each of us in a life that has meaning only in our loving of one another. Free us from the idols we worship. Enable us to honor you in praise and thanksgiving. Remind us that the work of undoing racism . . . patriarchy . . . gender bias . . . ageism . . .  ableness . . . and all forms to dehumanizing others . . . is the job we must do. It must be done by us, and it must be ignited by the spirit of truth. So, as we — on this day — take a good long look at ourselves, may we claim history with all it facts to be our story . . . a story of how easy it is for shadows to overcome the daylight, for the dark night of the soul to overcome what is right, and good, and beautiful, for people to be less than who we were created to be, and to loose the understanding of whose we were created to be. Spirit of God, move upon the chaos and confusion, recreating a world and a people as it is meant to be.

Though the mountains be shaken and the hills be removed, yet my unfailing love for you will not be shaken nor my covenant of peace be removed," says our God, who has compassion on you. Isaiah 54:10 Worship the Global Day For Mental Health October 10, 2021 Opening Words O God, some days are like living in sunshine; other days can be like an endless night. O God, sometimes we feel you being near; other times we know too well and emptiness inside. O God, we have experiences of your comfort and direction; other experiences are like the abyss of a bottom less pit. ╬  ╬  ╬ From the depths I call to You, O God; hear my voice. (Psalm 130. 1, NRSV) Be pleased, O God, to deliver me. Make haste to help me, O God. (Psalm 70. 1, NRSV) ╬  ╬  ╬ O God of life, you go down to the lowest depths of our human condition, and you burden yourself with what burdens us. Still more, you even go to visit those who have died without being able to know you. And even when within us we can hear no refrain of your presence, you are there. through your Spirit you remain within us. —Brother Roger, Taizé A Reading From the Book of Psalms I lift up my eyes to the hills— from where will my help come? My help comes from God, who made heaven and earth. God will not let your foot be moved; God who keeps you will not slumber. God who keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep. God is your keeper; God is your shade at your right hand. The sun shall not strike you by day, nor the moon by night. God will keep you from all evil; God will keep your life. God will keep your going out and your coming in from this time on and forevermore. —Psalm 121, NRSV Prayer of Response In the darkest night . . . when we feel most afraid God comes alongside us . . . one walking in the darkness as if darkness were day. In the storms of life when we feel buffeted . . . our dreams blown and torn . . . our trust stretched to its fullest God calls our name and calms the storms that assail us. In the trials of life when we feel overwhelmed by worry and apprehension God reaches out a hand . . . invites us to trust and we find that the sea be calmed, the storms stilled. —adapted from a Wellspring Liturgy A Reading From the Book of Psalms God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth should change, though the mountains shake in the heart of the sea; though its waters roar and foam, though the mountains tremble with its tumult. There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God, the holy habitation of God Most High. God is in the midst of the city; it shall not be moved. God will help it when the morning dawns. The nations are in an uproar, the kingdoms totter; God speaks forth the Word, the earth melts. The God of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge. —(adapted from Psalm 46. 1-7 NRSV) Prayer Of Response Calm my troubled heart, O God; give me peace. O God, calm the waves of this heart, calm its tempests. Be calm, O my soul, so that God can act therein. Calm thyself, O my soul, so that God is able to bring tranquility to you, so that God's peace may cover you. Yes, O God in heaven, often have we found that the world cannot give us peace, but make us trust that you are able to give peace; let us know the truth of your promise: that the whole world and all within it may not be able to take away your peace. May it be so. May it be so, even now. —adapted prayer by Soren Kierkegaard A Reading From the Book of Psalms God is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? God is the stronghold of my life; of whom shall I be afraid? When evildoers assail me to devour my flesh— my adversaries and foes— they shall stumble and fall. Though an army encamp against me, my heart shall not fear; though war rise up against me, yet I will be confident. One thing I asked of God, that will I seek after: to live in the house of God all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of God and to inquire in God's temple. For God will hide me and shelter me in the day of trouble; God will conceal me under the cover of God's tent; God will set me high on a rock. Now my head is lifted up above my enemies all around me, and I will offer in his tent sacrifices with shouts of joy; I will sing and make melody to God. Hear, O God, when I cry aloud, be gracious to me and answer me! “Come,” my heart says, “seek God's face!” Your face, O God, do I seek. O God of my salvation! Teach me your way, O God. I believe that I shall see the goodness of God in the land of the living. Wait for the God; be strong, and let your heart take courage; wait for God. —adapted from Psalm 27, selected verses, NRSV Prayer of Response In the darkest night . . . when we feel most afraid God comes alongside us . . . one walking in the darkness as if darkness were day. In the storms of life when we feel buffeted . . . our dreams blown and torn . . . our trust stretched to its fullest God calls our name and calms the storms that assail us. In the trials of life when we feel overwhelmed by worry and apprehension God reaches out a hand . . . invites us to trust and we find that the sea be calmed, the storms stilled. —adapted from a Wellspring Liturgy Call to Confession The pain and suffering we know also resides in the heart and minds of others. We are not only people who suffer, there are times and ways we add to other's pain. In a world that dismiss the dignity and honor of those who suffer. In a culture which places a stigma upon those especially who live with mental illness, or with other disabilities. There are times we need to remember that kindness and gentleness is the way of God to those who are hurting. It is the way we would follow Jesus. Let us pray: ╬  ╬  ╬ For the times that we have erected barriers, to exclude those who we experience as different from ourselves, God, have mercy. God, have mercy. On the occasions that we have avoided contact with those who behave differently from ourselves, God, have mercy. God, have mercy. In the situations when we have failed to see the light of God in those who appear different from ourselves, God, have mercy. May the Source of all life forgive our excluding instincts, remove the fear of difference from our souls, and enable us to embrace all who are created in God's image. Amen. —Richard Allen Prayer of Intercessions O God our Comforter, for those whose lives are strained and stressed…… R Hear our prayer and pour out your peace. For those whose hold on life is fragile…… R Hear our prayer and pour out your peace. For those whose illness makes them vulnerable…… R Hear our prayer and pour out your peace. For those whose families struggle to understand them…… R Hear our prayer and pour out your peace. For families and friends, nurses, doctors and therapists and all who seek to walk alongside the stressed and strained, the vulnerable and the fragile…… R Hear our prayer and pour out your peace. O God our Comforter, for all whose lives are in turmoil through the effects of mental illness…… R Hear our prayer and pour out your peace. Amen. —Mary Hawes, St. Mary with St. Alban & St. Peter and St. Paul Church, COE, Teddington, Middlesex AND/OR We remember creation, breathed into life by God’s Holy Spirit: places of beauty and brilliance, places of grandeur and spectacle, places of extravagant diversity. We pray, creating God, for places damaged and degraded for people scraping a living from land made fruitless by human greed [Silence] Help us to live sparingly and to care for creation. R Gracious God: Hear our prayer. We remember humanity, breathed into life by God’s Holy Spirit: people of beauty and brilliance, people of gifts and grace, people of extravagant diversity. We pray, healing God, for people whose lives are diminished because they live with their own or another’s mental illness; for people facing the stigma caused by misunderstanding about mental illness; for people struggling to find help when they need it . . . [Silence] Help us to be welcoming, helpful and more aware of those things that make for mental well being for others and ourselves . . . R Gracious God: Hear our prayer. We remember the Church, breathed into life by God’s Holy Spirit: a community of beauty and brilliance a community of love and compassion a community of extravagant diversity. We pray, inspiring God, for denominations working out how to be one family, offering an effective witness to your love in the world; for churches with projects that offer help to people struggling with mental illness; for ourselves and people in our own families and community who need to be understood, accepted and loved . . . [Silence] Help us to be willing to change ourselves and inspired to change the world. R Gracious God: Hear our prayer. Amen. —from Not Alone Worship Resources, https://www.methodist.org.uk Prayer For Faith Breath of God's loving, Holy Spirit, within each person you sow faith, faith which can only be a very simple trust, so simple that everyone can receive it. Known or unknown, in our darkness you kindle a fire which never dies away. —Brother Roger AND/OR O God, help us to trust you even when we are going through the most trying times of our lives; to know that you are there with us and that your faithfulness is just. Amen. —from World Vision Offering Our Needs to God God of the weary receive my tiredness. God of the hungry know my emptiness. God of those in danger hold my fear. God of the silenced hear my despair. God of the heavy laden give me rest. God of the hopeless God's fill me again with longing. —Janet Morley, Prayers For An Inclusive Church Sending Forth With Blessing As we go forth, may God be with us to guide us, within us to strengthen us, without us to protect us, above us to raise us, beneath us to uphold us, before us to lead us, behind us to guard us, ever about us this day and evermore. Amen. —Celtic Blessing