Epiphany 2, Year B 2021: Litany for Truth-Tellers

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Y’all. I can’t make this up. This is the lectionary for this week.

Synopsis of 1 Samuel 3 and the preceding events:

Eli the priest has scoundrels for sons. His sons are, by their lineage, also priests; they are thieving and lying and raping - doing immeasurable damage to the priesthood and the nation - and Eli, though he pleads with them, cannot (will not?) control nor contain them. They are allowed to wreak havoc. A “man of God” gives Eli a message that his sons have doomed their whole family to destruction and penury.

Young Samuel is Eli’s acolyte. God isn’t often heard from, but one night Samuel hears a voice, which he and Eli figure out to be the voice of God. God gives Samuel a message: Eli’s family will be punished for the iniquity of the scoundrel sons - they’ll lose everything, confirming the other, earlier message.

Samuel is hesitant to tell his mentor the bad news - that injustice will and must be held accountable, if not by the priesthood, if not by the society, then by God; that the ones who have lied and thieved and assaulted WILL be held responsible. But he tells Eli the truth of the prophecy God has given him. Eli meets it with acceptance, and Samuel gains a reputation as a Truth-Teller.

Flip to the Gospel reading from John 1….

Jesus is in the process of gathering disciples. He’s got Philip, Andrew, and Peter. And from a distance he sees Nathanael. Jesus immediately identifies Nathanael as “an Israelite in whom there is no deceit,” as a Truth-Teller. Nathanael is a Truth-Teller and Jesus wants him.

Aaaand relate it to today...

Last week we had a mob, incited by the lies of political leaders and conspiracy theories, ransack the US Capitol, killing 5 humans, endangering countless others, and proving that years of lies and deceit are bearing evil fruit and that, like the sons of Eli, those responsible must be contained and held accountable lest they bring the whole country down into their eventual destruction. OK!

I wait to see what will be done. I pray that faith communities will awaken to their duty as Truth-Tellers. And that we, as individuals, will be those “in whom there is no deceit.” Our theology matters, and conflating the message and work of Christ with deceitful narratives of Christian Nationalism, Christo-fascism, White Supremacy, and violence is bad theology that leads to harm.

This litany is inspired by these texts, but I have thrown a lot of other references in.

God, we pray for our faith community,
As a whole and as individuals,
That we will have the courage to hold fast to truth,
Even when truth is inconvenient,
Even when truth convicts us,
Even when truth is difficult,
Even when truth is not what we’d hoped,
Even when truth is hard to tell …

Epiphany, Baptism of the Lord, Year B: Litany for the Unorthodox


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It occurs to me, upon reading the account of John the Baptist baptizing the Christ in Mark 1, and the discussion between Paul and some disciples that happens in Acts 19, that what John was doing was pretty radical. I’m always tempted to overlook him as a character in the story, but the story seems to find its way back to quirky, weird old John the Baptist again and again. In the Advent scriptures he’s referred to as the “voice of one calling in the wilderness.” And in today’s scriptures he’s subverting the whole religious system of the day by proclaiming forgiveness of sins by way of repentance, changing course, and baptism, i.e. ceremonial/ritual washing.

The faith tradition he’s part of has taught that forgiveness comes through animal sacrifice via official priestly and religious channels. But John is going around all official channels. John is sidestepping ALL accepted protocols regarding how to live: he lives outside the community, dresses and eats oddly, and preaches an alternative form of spiritual practice. And Jesus comes along and adds veracity to John’s unorthodox work! He allows himself to be baptized by John, aligning himself with unofficial, unverified spiritual practice and procedure. Then the Spirit validates the work too, coming in the form of a dove to add weight to Jesus and John’s claims!

John seems to stand in his own authority, trusting his instincts, making it up as he goes along, doing what resonates for him because he has no roadmap; he is in uncharted religious territory, making way for a Christ few people seemed to really expect to arrive, and helping usher in a new paradigm of faith and action.

I have a hunch that we are in uncharted spiritual and religious territory too.

God, we find ourselves in need of extra creativity in these times -
When the old ways don’t seem to be working anymore,
When the problems we face are vast and unsettling,
When our energy and ingenuity have been depleted.

Epiphany (Year B): Litany for Sages

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In the past I haven’t posted a litany for the day of Epiphany. But my love for this season has grown and deepened, and I find myself praying to become like the wise men from the east who were able to perceive a far off occurrence: a new and powerful embodiment of Divine Love in the world. I want to be that attuned, that attentive. And to be part of that embodiment. 

So I offer this prayer, along with my greetings in this new year. May you be well, happy, and full of life and joy. 

Arise, shine,
For your light has come.
The glory of God has risen upon us.
Let your heart thrill and rejoice. 

First Sunday After Christmas, Year B: Litany for the Fullness of Time

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See also “Litany for Simeons and Annas”

Friends, this is the final litany of 2020. You'll see one for New Year's here in the next couple days, and I'll post Second Sunday After Christmas (Jan 3) soon also. Then I'm going into hibernation for a couple weeks :)

Thank you all for being on this liturgy journey with me during this crazy year. Y'all keep me going.

Now, in the fullness of time, 
God has sent the Christ (1).
The Christ has been born into the world,
And into our hearts,
And his imagination goes out everywhere
Bringing salvation and redemption, 
Goodness and praise (2), 
Healing and blessing. ..

Christmas, Year B (2020): Litany for the Child

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This Christmas Eve/ Christmas Day litany is based in Isaiah 9 and Luke 2. 

And now…Now the angel has brought us good news of great joy,
Which shall be for all people (1). 
Now the incarnation of God has arrived (2),
Sharing in the Divine Image.
Now the grace of God has appeared,
Bringing salvation to all (3).

Advent Week 4, Year B: Disruption & consent

This litany is based entirely on the account in Luke 1 of the angel Gabriel’s visitation to young Mary. Mary gives consent to the action of the spirit of God upon her body, to bear the image of God out into the world, and to allow her plans and her life to be utterly disrupted by this work.

There is a moment
When the spinning of the earth
And the twinkling of stars
And the rushing of winds
And all movement
And all buzzing
And all frenzy
Stops….



Advent Year B, Week 3: Expectation & Witness

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(Note: see also my Year B Advent offerings from 2017.)

In the Advent readings for Week 3, Year B, we reflect on the proclamations of the prophet Isaiah, foretelling the work of the Christ; and the proclamation of Mary in the Magnificat. Mary consents to the work of the Spirit upon her body, and knows that it is work that will turn the world right side up, toppling unjust rulers, honoring the powerless, “filling the hungry with good things” (Luke 1:52,53). 

In Advent, we practice waiting in deep expectation of the goodness of God, knowing that goodness will not fail us, keeping watch for it in the dark hours of winter. 

There is a moment
When the trajectory of earth
And the trajectory of heaven collide - 
A human being overshadowed by Divine Presence…

Advent Year B, Week 2: Preparation & Promise

(Note: see also my Year B Advent offerings from 2017.)

This litany follows along with the Advent readings for Year B, Week 2. Themes of preparation: “prepare the way of the Lord; themes of a promise forthcoming : “we wait for new heavens and new earth, where righteousness is at home.” (2 Peter 3:13); and themes of comfort: “comfort my people (Isaiah 40:1). I have woven these themes into this week’s liturgy offering, in hopes of helping us live wholly in the difficult now and the longed-for not-yet.

In this year's Advent series, I'm using this phrase "There is a moment" as an opening line rather than the usual address of God. This is an intentional choice to help place us in the Now/Not Yet into which Advent invites us, and as a way to acknowledge the rumble of longing beneath our current reality.

I will post the remainder of this year's Advent series after December 1. 

There is a moment
Just before the promise of God -
The promise of goodness -
Comes to pass;
In which we prepare inside ourselves
Space for the Divine to be born.

Advent Week 1 (Year B, 2020): Destruction & Stirring

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With this litany and the Lectionary selections for November 29, 2020, we begin a new Liturgical year. I do try to provide Advent litanies earlier than normal, as I understand clergy need to prepare for these church seasons in advance.

This litany follows closely with the themes presented in the Lectionary selections for Week 1 of Advent, Year B: themes of destruction, and the stirring of the reign of God on the horizon; of shift that are long-awaited and long-watched for.

This year, Advent’s subtle and shadowy themes resonate for me even more profoundly than usual, given the struggles of the year. I can echo the prophet Isaiah more readily this year: “O that you would tear open the heavens and come down!” (Isaiah 64:1). We have felt the metaphors of the darkened sun and moon, the stars falling from the heavens, which Jesus describes in Mark 13, if we are paying attention. The shifts the scriptures describe - when the Son of Man comes in glory, when God’s might comes to save us (Psalm 80:2), when restoration comes (Psalm 80:7) - feel crucial, necessary, imminent.

In this year's Advent series, I'm using this phrase "There is a moment" as an opening line rather than the usual address of God. This is an intentional choice to help place us in the Now/Not Yet into which Advent invites us, and as a way to acknowledge the rumble of longing beneath our current reality. 

There is a moment,
As when fire kindles brushwood
Or heat brings water to a boil (1),
When the character of God is revealed…

Litany for the Widow’s Mite (Year B, Proper 27)

This litany is inspired by this week’s Lectionary reading from the Gospel of Mark.

God, many of us don’t think we have much to offer.
We discount our gifts, creativity, or abilities;
Or we have trauma that keeps us from offering,
Or we don’t trust ourselves.

But we know that you see us and are inviting us to give,
No matter how small the gift.
We know that you accept us,
    Even our two-bit gifts,
    Our meagerness,
    Our poverty of heart;
Because you are abundantly loving,
    Abundantly patient,
    Abundantly kind,
    Abundantly generous.

And we know that when we offer up ourselves,
Our time,
Our resources,
Our attention,
You make miracles with what we’ve offered -
Water becomes wine (1),
Loaves and fishes become food for thousands (2),
Streams flow in deserts (3).

No gift is too small in your eyes,
No start is too humble,
No moment too late,
No effort unseen.

The smallest seed becomes the largest tree.
The most ordinary generosity changes the world.

So, we offer to you our mites and bits
And ask for them to be enlarged,
That you would expand our efforts and our seeing
So that we may be part of the transformation.

Amen

1. John 2:1-11

2. John 6:1-14

3. Psalm 107:35

Litany for Neighbors (Proper 24, Year B)

This litany is inspired by a reading of this week’s Gospel passage from Mark 12.

Christ, you taught us the keys to life,
The greatest commandments:
Love God with heart, soul, mind, and strength;
Love our neighbors as ourselves (1).

We are asked to love Love
And to serve Love.
Teach us what this means, oh God,
And help us to do it well.

So fill us with love, oh God,
That we don’t have room for anything else.
Let us be enlarged and expanded
And awakened by Love.

Let our eyes never veer from Love,
Our hearts never stray from Love,
Our minds be fixed on Love,
Our bodies dedicated to love’s service.
And as we do the work of learning to accept and love ourselves,
Let us also accept and love our neighbors.  

Let care and concern for our neighbors well-being and highest good
Be the hallmark of our work.
For these are our neighbor and our family:
The poor, the lonely, the sick, the prisoner
The underdog, the misunderstood, the ones who long,
The far-away and the beggar at our gate,
The flawed and the downtrodden
The familiar and the alien.

Love is who and Whose we are.
And love is what we do.
Amen.

1. Mark 12:30,31

Litany for Good Things (Proper 25, Year B)

This litany is based on a reading of the Lectionary passages for this week from Job, Psalms, and Jeremiah: “With weeping they shall come, and with consolations I will lead them back, I will let them walk by brooks of water, in a straight path in which they shall not stumble…”

God, you invented all things from nothing.
Your imagination was the beginning of everything.
We get to experience life and beauty
Because you imagined them.
We get to explore and learn in the world
Because you brought us out of yourself.

We get stuck a lot on judging things and situations.
We say “this is good and that is bad.”
We approve some things and condemn others.
We accept some experiences and resist others.

But the truth is, resistance causes us suffering;
No purpose of yours can be thwarted (1).
The truth is, we can’t know the vastness of your goodness,
And our best option is to surrender to it.

Even in what we consider trouble,
You do good things.
Even when we experience pain,
You do good things.
Even when all we see is chaos,
You do good things.

We surrender now to the Highest Good,
The Deepest Joy,
The Biggest Love,
The Best Life.
And it’s in you, God; made by and through you, for you, for us:
The Divine Goodness.

May we who sow in tears
Reap with shouts of joy (2).
May we seek Goodness
And find it all the days of our lives.

Amen

1) Job 42:2
2) Psalm 126:5

Litany for the Greatness of God (Year B, Proper 24)

This week’s Lectionary includes the passage from Job in which God sits Job down and sets him straight about who’s Who in the universe. Then the Mark 10 passage, Jesus sits his disciples down and sets them straight about the nature of Greatness. Taken together, the passages are an invitation to return to wonder and humility and trust; to refrain from centering ourselves in the narrative, and start looking both outside ourselves, and deep within.*

God, so often we are hunkered down, focused on our responsibilities,
Our eyes on our small screens,
Our awareness on our troubles or our achievements;
That we forget about your greatness and beauty.

We forget to look at stars and clouds.
We forget to partake of silence and solitude.
We forget to listen to wind and whisper.
We let our attention wander away from you.

Remind us, oh God, in our daily bread and practice,
That you are the author of all things,
That you made love the building blocks of the universe,
That your kindness caused heaven and nature to exist.

Remind us, oh God, that we are both your handiwork and your Beloved,
That we are connected to all of creation,
That we are temples in which you dwell (1);
And yet you dwell in unapproachable light (2).

And when we get too busy trying to know you with our rational minds
Trying to think thoughts about you;
Bring us back to infinite enfolding love,
Which can only be experienced, felt, and surrendered to

Help us to return to wonder,
And turn our fear to love;
For you are clothed with honor and majesty,
Wrapped in light as with a garment (3).
You inspire wonder and trust.
All beauty has its origin in you.

Amen

1. 1 Corinthians 3:16

2. 1 Timothy 6:16

3. Psalm 104:1,2

*I was especially encouraged by last week’s meditations from the Center for Action and Contemplation. The God Particle particularly made my eyes leaky.

A Poem for Holy Cross (Year B)

The Feast of Holy Cross is September 14.

To kill the hero is the utterest of mistakes;
Bad storytelling at best;
Stark failure at worst.

To glorify the tool, the rood, the cross
Admission of defeat at best;
Unhealthy obsession at worst.

And yet the worst mistaken failure is the world’s best story;
And the worst instrument the most shining (1).

Because when the worst shames the best,
Makes it meaningless and futile,
Reinvents its deathful purpose toward life -
Reimagines its ending as beginning….

Then we can be ushered into something entirely new.
And we can, maybe, grasp a new symbology,
Understand a new language,
Grow synaptic pathways previously unheard of.

If we can do this, then perhaps the sting of our own shame and torture and personal hells
Can become something else too?

1. 1 Cor 1:18

Litany for Social Justice (Proper 18, Year B)

This week's Lectionary selection seems particularly fitting, coming on the heels of the release of the "Statement on Social Justice and the Gospel" put out by a group of Evangelicals. I believe these texts and the teachings of Christ, as well as modern psychological and social science, all refute and shame that statement. It’s appropriate that this week’s selections center around themes of justice, compassion, and learning to see the world through the eyes of its most marginalized inhabitants. Our faith and the narrative stories it contains, our logic, and our research tell us that they have a better, wider view from the bottom of society than the over-40 white men at the top; and we choose how we respond to their perspective.

God, we know you look with compassion upon the lowly
The ones society ignores.
We know you listen to the cries of the weary and destitute;
Your eyes are upon them (1).

Teach us to follow true religion:
To not show favoritism to the rich (2),
To favor justice over comfort and convenience,
To care for the poor, the lonely, the orphan,
To demonstrate mercy,
To withhold judgement (3).

We know that the work ahead,
The work of righting wrong systems,
The work of providing for our weakest siblings,
The work of resisting evil programming (4),
Is the work of the Community of Heaven,
And never guaranteed to be easy.

Help us, Oh God our Healer,
As we re-evaluate our perspectives (5),
As we widen and deepen our listening,
As we learn the meaning of sacrificial love,
As we put ourselves in the shoes of the marginalized,
As we exercise humility.

May our faith be alive with good works,
With generosity and love (6);
And when we come into your presence,
And the fullness of your kingdom,
May we be remembered for our compassion,
The compassion of Christ. Amen

1) James 2:5
2) James 2:1
3) James 2:13
4) Psalm 125:5
5) Isaiah 35:5
6) Proverbs 22:9
 

Litany for the Heart (Proper 17, Year B)

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This week’s Gospel reading comes from Mark 7, where Jesus is challenged by some Pharisees as to why his disciples don’t follow all the rules they ought to. And Christ seems to think they are focusing on the wrong things, that the inward state of the heart is more worth working on.

God, the current of your love is flowing to us;
We don’t want anything to get in the way of it -
Not anything outside of us,
Or anything inside our own hearts.

We are beginning to understand that evil
Is whatever impedes love.
So help us, God; and don’t let us get caught in the trap
Of following rules,
Of observing tradition,
Of controlling behavior,
Of managing appearances,
And ignoring the state of our hearts.

We know we must be transformed from the inside out
That we must do inner work to become aligned with love:*
Disconnecting from judgement,
Releasing resentment,
Clearing hostility,
Relinquishing pride,
Cultivating compassion,
Creating peace.

And we know that we must allow love to work on us, removing impediments,
Restoring us to our truest nature:
God-children,
Love-centered,
Heart-open,
Christ-conscious,
Creative beings,
Reflecting your heart in ours.

Let our hearts, like beacons, point the way to yours,
Shining Love’s illumination. Amen

*I actually believe we ARE aligned with love, we just have to wake up and realize it, and clear out all the stuff that keeps us from seeing it. But for the purposes of the flow of this prayer, I’m using this wording.

Litany for Wisdom (Proper 15, Year B)

This week’s Lectionary selections center around Wisdom, and the search for Wisdom. We see Wisdom personified as a Divine Feminine aspect in Proverbs; we hear God’s pleasure in Solomon’s request for Wisdom in 1 Kings; and we are exhorted to live “not as unwise people, but wise” in Ephesians 5. In the Proverbs, we are invited to eat the bread at Wisdom's table, and later in John 6, Christ identifies himself as that bread.


God, as Solomon asked for Wisdom of old,
So we ask for insight and understanding.

We hear Wisdom calling (1);
Let us answer her.
Come, let us commune with Wisdom:
Let us enter her house,
Eat of her table,
And enjoy her delights.

For you have offered yourself, oh God:
Wisdom, Word, and Bread -
Different facets of yourself, different metaphors;
Same loving Spirit.

Give us hearts that hunger and thirst for Wisdom,
For true wisdom and understanding:
That we may lay aside immaturity, and live,
That we may and walk in the way of insight (2).
That we may depart from evil, and do good;
That we may seek peace, and pursue it (3);
Making for ourselves and the generations to come,
A world rich in spirit, and rich in peace.

Amen

1) Proverbs 9:3
2) Proverbs 9:6
3) Psalm 34:14

Litany for Emotional Health (Proper 14, Year B)

This litany is inspired by a reading of the New Testament passage for the week (Proper 14, Year B)

God, help us to put away what doesn’t serve us,
What doesn’t serve Love,
What doesn’t offer forgiveness,
What doesn’t fit in your community.

We put away falsehood and dishonesty.
We put away destructive talk.
We put away bitterness and malice.
We put away power struggles.

Instead of repressing our anger,
We choose to examine it;
We choose to feel it,
We choose to release it.

We choose to deal honestly with our emotions,
And our difficult relationships,
And the pain we’ve experienced,
And so come clean to it all.

Help us to observe ourselves unflinchingly,
And to see down to the truth of what is.
For to honesty and truth
We add kindness and forgiveness (1).

Help us, Oh God, to be imitators of the Divine (2),
Living in full freedom, acceptance, and love. Amen

1) Ephesians 4:32
2) Ephesians 5:1

Litany for Bread of Life (Proper 13, Year B)

This litany is inspired by a reading of this week's Lectionary passages for Proper 13, Year B; specifically the Exodus 16, Psalm 78, and John 6, which are about desire and satisfaction.

God, we can spend our whole lives searching for things to fill us,
Our whole lives feeling empty,
Our whole lives looking for satisfaction,
Believing we are incomplete.

Many of us know this gnawing hunger,
This driving desire,
And we have tried many things to satisfy us -
     Possessions and pleasure,
     Rich food and drink,
     Misplaced intimacy,
     Achievement and status,
     Adventure and thrill.

None of these, of themselves, are bad -
it’s just that we tend to think they will fulfill us.
And then we find that the deep soul yearning -
     To be known,
     To be loved,
     To be at one,
     To be at ease,
     To be still,
     To be free -
        Remains.

Because these things can accent life, can be enjoyed, can accessorize life,
But they are not life.

And you sent us the Christ, to offer us a new headspace, a different mode of being,
A new fuel.
Christ offered himself as manna in this desert:
The Bread of Life. (1)

This is the new bread: that we realize our oneness with Christ
And with his community;
That we allow ourselves to be nourished from the inside out
And find ourselves transformed;
That we believe and follow his path of love and peace,
To arrive where we first began: complete and whole.

Amen

1) John 6:35