Prayer for holy places

How dear to me is your dwelling,
     O Lord of hosts!
My soul has a desire and longing
     for the courts of the Lord...  Psalm 84:1-2a

Great God, you have established among us sacred places: in the natural world, in tabernacle and temple, in the meeting places of your people. So too you came to dwell among us, and have hallowed the temple of our human bodies. Help us to care for your good creation, in stewardship of earth, sea, and sky, and in the care for human well-being: body, mind, and spirit. Rest your healing hand upon the wounded and suffering places of this world, and upon our bodies: individual and social. Renew in us a right spirit, and restore us to health, through thy great mercy. Amen.


Image:
Lost World – Temple of Nature. Matte painting by Romanian artist Tiberius Viris.
 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Martin Luther King and the Good Samaritan

Image
Martin Luther King, Jr. often referred to the parable of the Good Samaritan ( Luke 10:25-37 ). While King’s interpretation of the parable evolved over time, he maintained a consistent focus on the way the parable allows us to examine the obligations owed to one another, provided an enduring way to read this text. King had a sermon on the topic which he used frequently. "Who Is My Neighbor?" highlights the question asked of Jesus. Jesus’ questioner, a lawyer, is testing Jesus and testing the limits of what Jesus’ God requires. They are agreed that loving God and neighbor is essential. But how far does this go? In 1964, in a sermon preached at Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, he discerned a philosophy or motivating principle expressed in the actions of three sets of the parable’s characters. "Everyone within the sound of my voice today lives by one of these three philosophies." 1. The Robbers Often taken for granted, the waylaying of the traveler is what makes the ...
Read more

11 years after

Image
On this 11th anniversary, let us remember in prayer all those who died, those who were injured, those who mourn, those who stepped forward to extend a helping hand, those who suffer 9/11-related illness. May God bring healing to all touched by these attacks, and to each of us. On this day, let us care for one another, help us take care of ourselves, and seek to live in peace. Amen.&nbsp facebook.com/groups/911prayer Forget for a moment the issues with the Memorial, with the Port Authority and the Mayor and the Zadroga bill and Homeland Security. Remember the people of 9/11, the victims, the survivors, the responders. Behind every name there is a face, and many, many stories. Here are a few. (This page will be updated throughout the day of September 11, 2012.) I invite you to consider your own remembrance at Remember Me: The Virtual Facebook September 11, 2001 Memorial . Remembering JOSEPH LOVERO , of Jersey City, NJ. Joe was chasing firetrucks before he could add. Growing up, he l...
Read more

Lent 6 - I am a broken dish

Image
Sixth Sunday in Lent March 16, 2008 Isaiah 50:4-9a; Psalm 31:9-16 ; Philippians 2:5-11; Matthew 26:14—27:66 (Liturgy of the Passion) There is no story more important to Christians than the Passion. There are no more central Messianic prophecies than the “suffering servant” songs of Isaiah. And there is no better summary of Christ’s role than the Christ-hymn of Philippians. With so much going on in these great texts, we might easily miss what God is saying as we pray this Psalm, in the midst of these proclamations of Christ. For the Passion, the suffering servant, the Philippians hymn, all describe one who is an outcast. Insults, bullying, gossip, layoffs, illness, divorce, aging, scandal, rejection. There are so many ways to be out, not in. Everyone I know has been in this position, though it is one we would all rather flee. Yet this Sunday, this Holy Week, in fact every Sunday and every week, God directs us again and again to attend to the one who is suffering. In the Pass...
Read more