Divine Love, you are a bright cloud,
A glorious Presence,
You settle your beauty among us,
And we are transfigured …
Epiphany 6: Litany for Inner Transformation
We are presented in Deuteronomy and Sirach with this idea that we get to choose how we live. We get to choose life and prosperity or death and adversity (Deut 30:15). We’re never forced into any path.
And then in the Gospel reading, Jesus is giving a treatise on what I’m calling inner transformation; telling us that what happens in our inner lives is as or more important, as or more informative of what actions are expressed in our outer lives. That our motivations come from within. That we need inner transformation before we can become true followers of the path of peace. He’s calling us to a radical self-honesty, to pay attention to our inner selves and do the work involved in deep transformation. He’s asking us to choose life.
God, we know that before each of us are life and death;
Whichever we choose we will be found (1).
We hear Christ’s call to radical self-honesty,
Humility, observation, and truthfulness (2).
Epiphany 4 (Year A): Litany for What's Good
This week’s Lectionary contains both the famous Micah 6:8 “Do justly, love mercy, walk humbly” admonition, and also Christ’s best and brightest sermon, in which he articulates the values and practices that constitute his religion. Revolutionary teachings, to which I’m clinging desperately and steadfastly these days.
God, you’ve told us what is good,
Christ has demonstrated it,
And our experience confirms it:
To do justice, love kindness, and walk with humility …
Epiphany 3 (Year A): Litany for Fishing for People
This week’s Lectionary gospel is Matthew’s account of the calling of Andrew, Peter, James and John to leave behind their fishing vocation, and take up a new one allied with the Community of Heaven. Jesus famously says: “Follow me, and I will make you fish for people.” Which is a wry and funny thing (in my opinion) for him to say. I’m envisioning us here, gently swept up, netted into a new paradigm of love.
Oh God, we hear the Good News from Christ:
Change your mind! For God’s Community is right here,
And we take this news to heart,
Putting all our energy into making the transition…
Epiphany 2 (Year A): Litany for What We’re Looking For
In preparing to write this litany I was reading through some commentaries, and one point in particular, made by Dr. Audrey West, struck me (especially in regards to my recent sermon at PeaceWilco): that the first quote Jesus utters in John’s gospel account is a question. “What are you looking for” (NRSV), also translated “What are you seeking?” The two disciples, one of whom is Andrew, reply with their own urgent question “Where are you staying?”
What are we looking for? This is a deep, compelling, beautiful question. I believe it resonates to us today. What are we looking for? In our addictions, our people pleasing, our unrest, our endless consumption, our entertainment?
Are we looking for peace? Connection? To be seen? To be free? To be accepted? It’s not always an easy question to answer. Not even Andrew and his friend answered it - basically, whatever it is we think you’ve got it, Jesus. But it bears consideration for mindful, spiritual people of all traditions.
God, so many of us are searching and longing
For a good life,
For community and reciprocal relationships,
For acceptance,
For peace and freedom from worry,
For safety,
For engaging work,
For abundance….
Epiphany 1 (Year A): Litany for the Gentleness of Christ
*A litany for the season of Epiphany, Year A, based primarily in the Lectionary text of Isaiah 42 . In a time when continents burn, earthquakes shudder, oceans brim with plastic instead of fish, and endless wars simmer on. Still we look toward a new reality, doing all we can to bring it to pass in our lifetimes.
God, as so many stories have given account
Of the revelation of Christ
To various people, in various times;
So we look for our own epiphany:
Of the nature of the Divine,
The character of God...
Litany for No More War
On this Epiphany day, please join Red Letter Christians today in a prayer vigil at 6pm (in your timezone). If you can’t attend a larger gathering, grab whomever you live with or nearby, light a candle, share a moment of silence and #prayforpeace. This litany may be used (with attribution, please) in any prayer gathering focused on peace. Please share and pray. #nowarwithiran
We must cultivate peace in our own hearts first, allowing the Peace of Christ to root there. This is our work as we pray for peace in the whole earth.
God, we come now to cultivate peace in our hearts
That it may reverberate outward.
We ask that the Peace of Christ,
The peace beyond understanding,
The peace that blesses enemies,
The peace that turns the other cheek,
The peace that leaves vengeance in your hands,
The peace that seeks empathy,
The peace that practices justice and compassion,
The peace that dissolves ego -
This baffling and impossible possibility,
This radical peace,
Would rest upon the whole world now,
At home in our hearts, and abroad.
We do not want to witness more loss of life,
More destruction of homes and livelihoods,
More degradation of land and waterways,
More human suffering.
We do not come to peace lightly.
We know that true peace disrupts violent patterns.
We are not expecting convenience or ease.
And still, we want true peace;
That our nation may know no more war,
And our children inherit no more suffering.
Oh God, put a stop to war [with Iran] before it begins.
Raise up peace in the hearts of war-mongers,
Let the egos of the violent be silenced,
And let us move into a more beautiful future;
Our feet firm and confident on the Path of Peace (1),
Our words and actions rooted in the Peace of Christ.
Amen
Luke 1:79
Litany for Wisdom’s Indwelling
The lectionary passages for this week present us with two Divine emanations: the Wisdom, or Sophia, of God, “covering the earth like a mist,” portrayed as female; and the Christ, God’s human incarnation, through whom “all things came into being,” who is known in male form among humans. We are on the cusp of Epiphany, the revelation of Jesus as Christ, and here we find ourselves being reminded of Wisdom. I like to think of her as the gift of Consciousness. The creator gives us animus, life, and then consciousness finds a resting place within us as host.
The scriptures say that Wisdom “took root in an honored people” and “entered the soul of a servant of the Lord.” It’s mysterious and I love it. And it’s a perfect theme for a prayer to start the new year.
Wisdom, you came from the mouth of God,
And covered the earth like a mist,
You opened the mouths of the mute,
And made unconscious beings conscious.
You find souls who are willing to hold you
And guide, shelter, and reward them.
Christmas (Year A): Litany for Holy Refugees
For the first Sunday after Christmas. This litany is inspired by the account in Matthew 2 in which the Holy Family flees the murderous despotism of Herod, leaving secretly on a night journey toward Egypt.
God, as the Holy Family fled their home country
To find refuge in a new place (1),
In the secrecy of night,
For their safety, for their lives,To escape the rule of despots (2)
And the hands of murderers…
Christmas Eve (Year A): Litany for Silent Night
This year's Christmas litany is perhaps more poetic and abstract than others I've supplied. I like to lean into the poetry and metaphor of the major holy days. If your community is not down to poeticize, you can peruse my selection of Christmas litanies from prior years. But I hope you'll use your imagination and go with me here to a silent night filled with feminine energy and imagery, love and light finding embodiment and beginning in a human woman's belly.
Christmas blessings to you and your community.
Silent night.
A feminine hollow
Filled with Divinity,
Demonstrating humanity’s worth.
Advent Week 4 (Year A): Litany for Mother and Child
I had trouble keeping this litany as brief as it is. There's so much wisdom and depth in the story of the Mother. In the way human salvation from humanity's misperceptions and misdeeds, this great Correction of Our Understanding, came from within a human body. The wisdom came from within. The Divinity came from within. From a place that might have been overlooked or forgotten: the belly of a girl with no power, no influence, no streams of income, no security.
And yet, her "soul rejoices in God her savior." And her song in Luke 1 gives us a grand poetic account of her transformed (saved) understanding. Within her gut Wisdom grows; Word is made flesh; Love gains body. And she BIRTHS it out into the world! Human salvation (by this I mean: setting a-right, justice, redemption from oppression and power hierarchy - not some measly personal salvation from after-life "hell" we usually hear about) begins in the belly of divinely touched humanity!!
Gosh, I could go on and on. I hope it's enough.
God, we are not satisfied*
Not with the way things are,
Not with the direction things are headed,
Not with the status quo…
Advent Week 3 (Year A): Litany for Desert and Crocus
“The wilderness and the dry land shall be glad, the desert shall rejoice and blossom; like the crocus it shall blossom abundantly, and rejoice with joy and singing” (Isaiah 35:1)
This week’s Advent Litany is inspired by the Lectionary passages from Isaiah 35 and Mary’s Magnificat in the first chapter of Luke.
God, from barren things
We never expected fruit.
From dry ground
We didn’t expect shade….
Advent Week 2 (Year A): Litany for Stump and Branch
I'm in love with this year's Advent litany titles. I dunno, sometimes these details just get me.
I've read Isaiah 11 a hundred times in my life and it still makes me weep with the hope of it. Apex predators napping with baby lambs. Lions munching straw as counter-culturally as you please. A community led by Wisdom, where Justice is a given and not something we have to endlessly fight for ... Will it ever arrive? Will this day ever come? The day no one is hurt or destroyed. The day no babies suffer. The day everyone can let their guard down because the danger has passed.
To me, this is the gospel: this Peaceful Kin-dom waiting in the wings for us to become conscious of it. This Kin-dom that touches every part of creation (male, female, human, plant, animal, ocean, mountain, cosmos) and rights every wrong both here and in the hereafter. And this is the work of Advent: to become conscious of the Peaceable Community. Hallelujah Amen.
God, things are looking hopeless,
As they are, we’re not sure how to go on.
We look around and see death and destruction,
Greed, dishonesty, strife, ego-seduction.
Advent Week 1 (Year A): Litany for Sword and Plowshare
A new Liturgical Year! I love getting started with the hope and longing of Advent. I love the depth that the year's reflective opener supports. Down into the darkness. We plumb the depths for hidden light.
God, we are exhausted by ourselves.
We’ve been misled and exploited.
We’ve been complicit in exploitation.
We’ve been lulled into becoming part of the problem.
Litany for Giving Back
Hi! Most of my litanies appear on my Patreon as part of my 2019 #yearofwritingsustainably, but every now and again I’m posting one for everyone. This is my gift that I hope you, dear reader, will use and enjoy and share widely.
If you are unaware of the history of the Thanksgiving holiday, now is a great time to educate yourself. This prayer is borne out of the hope that we can resist colonization's forces in our minds, dinner tables, and conversations; making way for a new level of gratitude that resists entitlement, white supremacy, and earth-exploitation.
God, we acknowledge that everything we think we possess,
Was always yours to begin with;
That the land we dwell in was inhabited by Native Peoples before us,
Who minded its welfare and appreciated it;
That the water we use daily has passed through plant, animal, and human,
Before it ever reached our bodies;
That the food on our tables is a gift of the earth,
Dependent, as we are, upon the earth’s bounty and health.
We didn’t do anything to deserve what we have been given,
And yet we strive to own and consume ever more and more.
Our consumption
Is consuming us.
Our destruction
Is destroying us.
We waste our blessings,
And toss away our gifts,
Then complain that we don’t have enough,
And pretend we can’t share.
Awaken gratitude in our hearts, Oh God,
That we may become mindful people;
Mindful of the least privileged among us,
Mindful of future generations,
Mindful of history’s lessons,
Mindful of the earth.
All the resources of earth are yours, God.
And all the people, plants, and creatures.
Every good and perfect thing
Sprang from your imagination.
So we open our hands
And give them all back to you,
In hopes that we might come to know wisdom
Once we are empty.
Amen
Reign of Christ (Year C): Litany for Christ's Mercy
Here’s a litany for Reign of Christ Sunday, the last week of the liturgical year. The culmination of all that has come before. Next week, we start over with Year A and the new 3-year cycle. I’m proud of the work I’ve done and the liturgy I’ve produced over these 3 years. I’ve officially now covered an entire Lectionary cycle of modern litanies. My hope is that this work serves the Church Universal, both those who consider themselves part of it, and those that don’t. This is an accomplishment and I’m taking a deep breath of gratitude this week as I pause and think toward Advent and a new 3-year pattern.
God, for so long, we had you all wrong.
We thought you were nit-picky and contentious.
Quick to punish, full of wrath,
Full of impossible standards.
Proper 28 (Year C): Litany for Kin-dom Come
This week’s litany is a theme near and dear to my heart, and in fact is the reason I’m still following Christ after all these years of faith renovation. The Good Community. The Kindom. The Kingdom of Heaven. The Now and Not Yet. That Isaiah 65 vision of New Jerusalem. I want to live inside it now, and Jesus says we can. “The Kingdom of Heaven is near!” he says. I believe him.
Oh God, you have done great things
You have shown us the way of Gentle Power*
Attracting us into your realm of peace,
Of unity and Oneness,
Of cooperation and wholeness,
Of attention, presence, and love.
Proper 27 (Year C): Litany for Love's Story
This story comes from a reading of this week's Lectionary passages.
God, we know that the story you’re telling
The story the hills and the seas tell (1),
The story all creatures and all flesh are telling (2),
Is a story that never ends (3),
Never stops being told (4),
And can never be told enough.
Proper 26 (Year C): Litany for Societal Awakening
I write this after returning from a moving and enlightening trip to the border town of El Paso TX / Ciudad Juarez, Mexico. Our group was graciously educated on border realities by the staff of Abara Frontiers, an El Paso-based non-profit, and it’s sister organization Ciudad Nueva. I highly recommend this trip. Getting first-hand experience on the realities of the border situation is the best way I’ve found to begin understanding and foster more compassion for these complex systems and those caught in them. I am on a constant journey of awakening, and so are many of the folks I walk alongside. Many of us are awakening from the deep sleep of Whiteness and White Privilege. Many of us are awakening to ways we have been complicit in and propped up systems of evil, injustice, and greed. Collectively, at least among the circles I’m part of, we are doing deep, necessary shadow work. Some of us are uncovering deep emotions we’d buried long ago, and patterns of behavior that are now unhelpful.
This is hard work. We wake groggy and disoriented. But each step takes us closer to a rich, full vision of the Community of God, the Kin-dom That Can Be. Each layer we uncover gets us closer to the soul of it. Here’s a prayer for us, based in passages from this week's Lectionary.
God, so many of us are crying out for justice,
We are witnessing societal wrong-doing,
Awakening to the greed, evil, and injustice among us,
And crying out for change…
Proper 25 (Year C): Litany for Perspective
Theologian Paul Tillich resisted the idea of God as A Being, and instead pushed for an understanding of God as “Being-Itself". God precipitates being and is inherent in the structure of Being.
This week’s litany is based in themes from the Lectionary text for Proper 25 (Year C), particularly from the Luke 18 passage where Christ says, “those who exalt themselves will be humbled and those who humble themselves will be exalted.”.
God, everything we have
Belongs to you.
Everything we know
Was known by you first.