Epiphany 3 (Year B, 2021): Litany for a New Day

In Jonah 3, a group of people turn from idolatrous and evil ways, repenting (turning away from) their old, exploitative ways.

Psalm 62 exhorts us to look to God - not to any earthly thing. Not to riches or wealth. Not to powerful people. To the Divine Within.

In Mark 1, John the Baptist is arrested and imprisoned. Jesus is assembling a group of followers - disciples, they’re called. His unifying message is: the Kingdom of God is near! Repent!... In other words: Turn away from your old ways of thinking about success, about victory, about what is really happening, and what is really important in the world; and believe instead in the good news of God - that all divine resources are yours for the taking, that the commonwealth of heaven is a place where you and every other person belongs. Re-wire your brain with the understanding that all are one, all are Beloved, all are welcome, and all are forgiven for whatever they did before they understood that.

I write this litany immediately following the inauguration of the new president and vice-president of the US. We (some of us) in the US are tentatively hopeful, anxiously expectant. It is a moment in which we have the opportunity to listen to this week’s scriptures in an open-minded way - to hear of the Ninevites repentance, the Psalmic call to trust in God and not in economies or rulers, and the invitation of Christ to turn our attention to the Kingdom of God, which is near at hand and available to us as we move forward, working for change. I hope this prayer inspires and offers some hope. . .

Proper 28 (Year C): Litany for Kin-dom Come

Hi! As you may have noticed,
I’ve moved much of my work over to Patreon.
This is part of my effort to make 2019 a #yearofwritingsustainably
So thanks for reading and subscribing.
You can find archived litanies here, and purchase my book here.

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 26 (Year C): Litany for Societal Awakening

Hi! As you may have noticed,
I’ve moved much of my work over to Patreon.
This is part of my effort to make 2019 a #yearofwritingsustainably
So thanks for reading and subscribing.
You can find archived litanies here, and purchase my book here.

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…