God of All,
There will come a day, we are told…
When we will worship neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem
When lines will not be drawn between so-called holy places and unholy places or
So-called good people and bad people, or so-called insiders or outsiders
When desire for God is enough.
There will come a day, in fact Jesus said it was already here…
When we will worship the God of All in spirit and in truth
Where action and intent sing in beautiful harmony
Where the wounds of our division are healed
Where justice rolls down like waters, living waters of lasting peace.
Yet we wait in suspense—between the already and the not yet.
For there are so many reminders that that day is not yet here:
The ways division cuts off our relationships with friends, families, and neighbors
The ways our need to be right leads to us acting wrong
The ways we envy others that have something more—or anything different
The ways resentment settles in and sours our hearts
The ways we fail to take care of one another
The ways we wage wars
The day of oneness seems so distant—and yet—Jesus says it is already here, here for those
that experience it and share it. Help us to taste and see that day on this day—a flavor and vision
of your ‘kindom’ on earth as in heaven.
God of All,
We pray for peace—in Iran, in the Middle East, in Ukraine, in this world. Because we are
running out of mountains and cities to run to in this strangely interconnected and divided world.
We are running out any option but peace. May our souls thirst for living water. We pray this in
the name of Jesus who taught us to pray, saying:
Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name
Thy kingdom come, thy will be done
On earth as it is in heaven
Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses
As we forgive those who trespass against us
And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil
For thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.