This is a difficult post/prayer to write.
However…
George Floyd’s death in Minneapolis under the knee of (white) racial privilege, power and systemic injustice has really hit home. A human being pleading for breath. Black. Lives. Matter.
And as of last Sunday…Pentecost Sunday. The day when the worldwide Church celebrated the gift of the Holy Spirit, the “Ruach” or “breath” of God.
When life is so easily extinguished so too is the work of the Creator in that human being.
The “ruach” of God you might say pleading for, well, breath.
So a short prayer this Pentecost season for each and every one of us…
Merciful God,
Father and Creator and Lover of our wholeselves…
Through the breath of your Holy Spirit and the gift of life in your Son, Jesus Christ, have mercy on us.
We confess that…
We don’t always see the good in the “other”. Sometimes we find it hard to see the good in ourselves.
And sometimes our apathy, our fear, our own insecurities, even our busyness stop us from acting justly and speaking justly.
Asking Lord Jesus, that your Spirit of courage, challenge and kindness allows us to be your “ruach” in a broken world.
We pray for…
The Floyd family (and untold families who have lost a loved one due to violence.)
That their loss and grief will be somehow wrapped up in your grace and love and resurrection.
We pray for…
Families and communities across the globe who face grinding poverty, that your Spirit, through your Church, will continue to bring new life through the pursuit of justice and acts of mercy.
We pray for…
Governments and societies. That seeking scapegoats and creating fear of “the other” no longer becomes a basis of “authority”.
We pray for our world…
That even amidst such troubled times, creation is allowed to breathe and that each of us enjoy’s wisely the richness of God’s bounty.
We pray for ourselves…
That your Spirit, Holy God, breathes in us, re-fashions us as workers in your eternal Kingdom.
In the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
Amen.
Wee Pilgrim 