Jesus went up the
mountain, sat before the crowd, and began to speak. We are the crowd.
All: May we listen, learn, and do.
Richness and fullness
in wealth, in knowledge, in spirit do not draw us to heaven. May we be filled
with an emptiness and poverty that draws us ever closer to you. May we bring an
end to emptiness and poverty that leaves any one isolated and without hope.
Bless all with the kingdom of heaven. We are the crowd.
All: May we listen,
learn, and do.
Clinging to existence
we forget to live. Striving for long years we forsake years that are long. May
we release those to whoms’ memories, we cling. May we acknowledge our sadness and loss.
You are with those who have died, be with all those who mourn, make us the
instruments of your comfort. We are the crowd.
All: May we listen,
learn, and do
Longing for power,
surety, and the status quo we create systems of privilege, false normals, and
stagnation. May we cease to seek privilege and instead long for the dignity of
all. May we cease to seek surety and instead long for growth. May we give up
stagnation and embrace humility. Make us see the common humanity of all who
live on this earth. We are the crowd.
All: May we listen,
learn, and do.
Striving for satiation
we surround ourselves with false comforts; in trying to be right we ignore the
pain of others. Make us aware of the troubles and concerns around us, take away
our security so that we might share that discomfort, bring us to hunger and
thirst for righteousness so that everyone may be filled in truth. We are the
crowd.
All: May we listen,
learn, and do.
Anger fills us with a
need for vengeance and harsh justice; we seek to lessen our pain by inflicting
pain upon others. May we acknowledge our anger but not be held by it. May we
seek justice for the wrongs done against us but not be defined by them. Give us
the gift to be merciful with ourselves and merciful with others so that all may receive
mercy. We are the crowd.
All: May we listen,
learn, and do.
Refusing to look inward
we carry emotional baggage, we leave parts of ourselves in shadow and darkness,
we maintain ingrained habits and reactions. May we acknowledge our immaturity
and a need to grow to more full and complete individuals. May we bring light
into our inner darkness. Give us pure hearts oh God, so that we might see your
face. We are the crowd.
All: May we listen,
learn, and do.
Destruction, not
creation, becomes the all too easy answer for conflict. May we elect and maintain
governments that seek not a cessation of violence but the creation that is the
true opposite of war. May we recognize that creating cultures of peace is as
much the cumulative action of our day to day lives as it is the acts of those
in power. God grant that we might always strive for peace, that we might be
called the children of God. We are the crowd.
All: May we listen,
learn, and do.
Limited as we are it is
impossible to know and understand you fully. May we strive to discern when we
are being persecuted for witnessing your truth and when we are being critiqued
to know you more fully. May we never claim persecution in order to avoid necessary
change. Grant that any adversity we face may bring us only closer to the truth
of your kingdom. We are the crowd.
All: May we listen,
learn, and do.
Christians throughout
the world seek to walk the path that Jesus set for us. May we never walk the
easy path of complacency. May we ever seek to speak your truth. May we never
stop on the account of social stigma. May we ever seek to die to the world and
live in Christ Crucified. Grant that we will continue to walk the way of the
prophets and saints of old. We are the crowd.
All: May we listen,
learn, and do.
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