-
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: leading causes of life
Bother
Bob Matthews and I have shared a friendship for nearly 30 years, dating back to the time I worked with Jimmy Carter. Nowadays, both Bob and Jimmy, along with another close colleague, are on hospice care. Yet another friend depends … Continue reading
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
Carter, the Improbable Man
Jimmy Carter is not dead quite yet. Counting him out was almost never a good idea whether he was running for an improbable office (every one he ever held) or an improbable health goal (guinea worm, polio, smoking or handgun … 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
Leave a comment
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
Honeybee Way
Honeybees are the most successful species of the most recent thirty million years. The honeybee in the fossil record is essentially the same as you can find on your nearest batch of clover. Humans, inexplicably proud of our brief ten … 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
Hurricanes
Things move fast and urgently in an operating room early on a Monday. The churn of events and flood of people in the hallways are wondering why the nurses are standing holding hands right there in the surgery suite. A … Continue reading