Proper 25 (Year B, 2021): Litany for Consolation

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Psalm 126 gets me in my feelings. “May those who sow in tears reap with shouts of joy,” it says. 

These ancient words can give us solace if we let them - thousands of years of humans looking at the world saying: “yep this looks bad right now, but even so, we can perceive a Divine force in the world that is good and full of love and creativity; and even though we and our fellow humans have made a bunch of bad choices, we trust that force for good.”

My foremothers and forefathers in faith trusted the Divine to console them, even in suffering and hardship - Job, Bartimaeus, and many others. And the Christ gives us a story of overcoming the worst of humanity’s bloodthirstiness, of grace and mercy amidst cruelty, and of life and compassion enduring and renewing against all odds. 

This is some of the best stuff that Christianity has to offer, in concert with its ancestor Judaism. This tenacious clinging to hope even when the world is burning or collapsing around it. This steadfast trust in a loving, Divine Source who is both within us and at work in the world. This stubborn hold on goodness. It’s good medicine for us today. May we have soft hearts to receive it. 


God, each of us in our lives have endured suffering, 
None of us immune to loss or hardship; 
Most of us are acquainted with grief. 
Pain is part of our experience here...

Lament for the 200,000

On Tuesday September 22, 2020 the United States passed the milestone of 200,000 deaths due to Covid-19. This is a lament for those we’ve lost.

God, we hold up to you these lives:
These 200,000 lost to us.
We know they are not lost - 
You hold them in your mercy and love. 

We commend to you their care. 
Heal them there,
Close to your inimitable light
And your unfailing Love. 

We grieve alongside their families and loved ones. 
They have departed, but will not be forgotten. 
For we know that death is not an end to their story, 
Only of this human chapter. 

We lament the failed leadership that did not keep them safe. 
We lament the state of a government willing to let people die needlessly. 
We lament the political system that makes it expedient to sacrifice human lives. 
We lament the lack of regard for vulnerable people. 
We lament the lack of regard for human life. 
We lament the inaction and apathy of people in political power. 

We know, despite everything, that death is always a risk,
That safety from death is an illusion;
And also, we know that we are safe in your care every moment. 
You catch us as we fall. 

Bring us now into the necessary awareness
To make change,
To create a more just world,
To care for the least powerful,
To prevent further suffering and loss of life,
To endure this season of grief,
To heal the trauma we have collectively sustained,
To comfort those overwhelmed by suffering.  

Hear the voice of our pain, oh God.
Amen

Patreon Only: Litany for Grieving

I recently sat with my grandmother in the last days of her life. My mom and I were there holding her hand as she took her last breaths. It was a profound experience that has brought me to think about all the forms grief takes, and my own experience of grieving - how unpredictable it is, how sometimes consuming, how suddenly past only to reappear again. We grieve events, losses, trauma, time passing, people passing… and I’m coming to believe that grieving is not just some mental or emotional space that we are plunged into by life events; it is also a skill we can practice and hold space for. And the only way to get through this life whole is to learn the skill. If we can’t accept pain and process it through appropriate grief, we will be constantly resisting the experience of life. Through grief, we learn to integrate experiences we (dualistically) judge to be “good” and “bad”, bringing them into wholeness. The more life I experience, the more I’m convinced that learning to hold the tension of grief is as powerful a life skill as, say, positive thinking or good communication or self-care. Here's a prayer for skill-building, available on my Patreon page.

If my work has value to you and your community, please consider becoming a supporter on Patreon, where you get access to exclusive litanies and content. This month’s Patreon-only litany is Litany for Grieving.

Litany for Forgiving Others

God, it is our nature to keep record of wrongs (1).
It is your nature to forgive (2,5).
We tend to let wounds fester.
You offer light, air, and healing.
We tend to get stuck in bitterness and pain.
You embody freedom.

Come now, into the places where our hearts have been wounded
Where we have been betrayed or abandoned
    Or disrespected
    Or overlooked
    Or kicked while we’re down
    Or stolen from
    Or slandered
    Or misunderstood.
Come now, into the dark parts of us that want revenge
    That want to grind axes,
    That want our enemies to suffer
    That want to keep a list of grievances
    That want to prove how strong we are
    That want to defend ourselves.
Replace our pride and bitterness
With superhuman love.

This is hard work for us:
Becoming like you
Turning the other cheek
Making ourselves vulnerable (3).
It’s why we need you so much -
Because we are weak.
We need you to move mountains for us:
Mountains of pain and resentment.

Strength, wholeness, and redemption
Life, peace, and resurrection
Are in forgiveness;
And in forgiving, we are forgiven (4).

Amen

(1) 1 Cor 13:5
(2) Ps 103:10-14
(3) Matt 5:39
(4) Matt 6:14-15
(5) Ps 130:3,4