God of the cosmos and the caverns,
God of rainbows and roly-polies,
God of electricity and enzymes,
You created this world and proclaimed it good.
Such amazing life, this that you have made!
Chickadees, praying mantises, maple trees, spireas, grape vines,
Porpoises, polar bears, orchids, donkeys, humans, earthworms –
How can you cradle all of us so well?
How can you care for so many creatures?
Kindle in us a spirit of awe for your creation.
Urge us to deeply love and guard this precious planet of ours.
God of our scruffy, worldwide human community,
God of the right and the left and the undecided,
God of workers, leaders, followers, revolutionaries, pundits, and lowly ones,
You create us to be fleshy, quirky lovebearers.
You breathe into us so that we can live well together.
Will you put your hand on our collective shoulder and wake us up?
Could you startle us with a bold-type memo of peace?
Renovate us. Rip out the toxicity and install new pillars of openness.
Make it so that this week’s news will be crammed with hope.
God of Wellesley Mennonite Church,
God of those of us who attend in this building, and those of us who attend online,
God of we young, we old, we 2SLGBTQ+, we straight,
You are our faithful God and we know you walk with us through the years.
You bless our ministries and you give flavour into our efforts to be salt in the world.
This week how will you bless our crazy quilt of a congregation?
Where will we meet you as we go about our work of discipleship?
God of healing, consolation, hope, and strength,
We ask for your mercy and love to gush through all of us.
……
God of our Households of Faith,
We pray for others in our congregation.
……
Jesus Christ, teacher of peace.
We look ahead to next Sunday when we celebrate your gospel of peace.
Help us to unroll the ancient scriptures of peace and shalom.
Open us to Jesus’ words: “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness… Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.”
Open us to questions and insights about nonviolence.
Unsettle us so that peacemaking becomes real protein rather than a cliché.
Jesus Christ, beckon us onto your path of justice.
Ignite us as eyes-wide-open followers of your gospel.
AMEN.