Epiphany (Year C 2022): Litany for the Light of Love

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In the texts for Epiphany Year C, the epistle mentions “the wisdom of God in its rich variety” (Ephesians 3:10). Paul seems to grasp the winsome invitation of God’s welcome to humans of all kinds. The most unexpected people show up at the door - astrologers from far away who glimpsed the story in the stars; gentiles whom Jews like Paul would have avoided any religious sharing with; peasants with nothing to recommend them. “Nations shall come,” says the prophet Isaiah, drawn by the light of Love (60:3). You just never know when a king, or a beggar, might come knocking.

Where we thought we needed to be gate-keepers, we find we get to be greeters. Where once we saw foreigners, now we perceive fellow travelers. Let this expansive light (Arise, shine, for your light has come! - Isaiah 60:1) be our guidance here in this new year.


God, wise people the world over have sought and found you,
And experienced the Love that undergirds the universe,
That is the hallmark of your presence
And the stuff of your being.

Proper 12 (Year B): Litany for Everything We Need

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I love Paul’s poetic language in this week’s epistle from Ephesians 3. These phrases live in my head:
...Rooted and grounded in love...
...Strengthened in your inner being...
...Love of Christ that surpasses knowledge...
...Riches of God’s glory...
...Abundantly far more than all we can ask or imagine…

What a blessing, drawing on the abundance of Spirit! The Psalm repeats the theme: The eyes of all look to you, and you give them their food in due season… satisfying the desire of every living thing. The message: all is provided. Nothing is scarce. Abundance is our birthright.

The theme is again reinforced in the stories of Jesus feeding the five thousand, and of Elisha feeding a hundred people with a few loaves of bread. They provide something from near-to-nothing. What’s necessary is brought forth by their connection to Spirit.

I think a lot about how we might re-connect ourselves to the abundance of Spirit at this level. How we might steward our attention, so that abundance is the ground from which we live. Even inside of experiences that seem to prove scarcity, and in light of lived experiences that may have caused us trauma.

This is a prayer to that end.

God, we are learning not to be distracted by scarcity,
And led by it into fear and worry
Into anxiety and defensiveness;
Ultimately into conflict with ourselves and others…