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People wonder about how to pray out loud. In my tradition Jesus said this simple prayer:
Mother, father, sister, brother and friend, Who makes everything sacred, and all life possible,
we ask only enough for today.
Release the burdens of yesterday as we release the debts of those we have burdened.
Protect us from distraction and anything that is not of life. May it be.
That’s all he said.
And then he turned back to healing. -
From Prayers for a Newer New Awakening. Available here.
Category Archives: boundary leaders
Love finds a way
On Memorial day we often think of those who gave everything so that others could enjoy the normal pleasures of human life, especially the love of family. It has also become a day when loveless political bullies bluster at some … Continue reading
Rev Dr. Christoph Patrick Bounds
The life of Reverend Dr. Christopher Patrick Bounds doesn’t fit in a blog; it hardly fit into Memphis! He and the Bounds brothers once opened for the Temptations on Beale Street and he knew the labyrinth under those streets working … Continue reading
Dirty Politics
Rulers have held conferences about food, hunger and health since the land between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers was farmed 11,000 years ago. Now every five years the United States Congress passes a comprehensive Farm Bill in that great tradition … Continue reading
Team Sport
Even an electric vehicle depends on the kindness of strangers now and then. Good thing there are always kind strangers. In this case it was Mike Carnett, a car salesman in Wytheville, Virginia, 90 miles from home when we only … Continue reading
Posted in boundary leaders, leading causes of life
Tagged Boundary Leaders, Leading Causes of Life
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What the Past Gets Wrong
These days I tend to forget how much we know about finding our way through really difficult, depressing, anxiety-fomenting, soul-sucking, hope-chilling stuff. I wrote Speak Life: Crafting Mercy in a Hard-hearted Time in 2018 before COVID, Ukraine, the 2020 election … Continue reading
Adults, flunking
“We will live together, or not at all. We will build hope and wholeness, or watch our children grow small, surrounded by ineffective barriers against their fears. We know that acts of compassion, nobility, faithful caring for the earth and … Continue reading
Strong
I rocked back in my chair as Becky brought the prayer to life in her voice. I actually heard my own prayer as if for the first time. We had gathered on a gorgeous Connecticut afternoon at Round Hill UCC … Continue reading
Championship Spirit
You can no longer watch championship basketball in North Carolina because of a political train wreck involving sex, bathrooms and religion. In spite of some of those same politics, this is a great place to watch something more important, a championship … Continue reading
Runaway heart
My daughter Lauren is about to give birth to my second grandson, which, with her sense of dramatic timing will probably happen on Mothers’ Day. This also kicks off Nurses’ Week in hospitals. My wife and my (now former) first … Continue reading
Mainsail
Perhaps you’ve met a human. You have noticed that we can be hard to help. Perhaps you’ve been to a planet like Earth and noticed the same thing, except 7 billion different ways. How do you help something with 7 … Continue reading