Our prayers for our world
Our prayers for others for this day have been written by Robyn Allen-Goudge, Minister of the Birkenhead Methodist Parish. They were gifted to the Church through this week’s Presidential Team Blog.
“Breathe"
So when the disciples saw the Lord, they were filled with joy. Jesus repeated, “Peace be with you!’ and said, “As the Father sent me, so I send you.” Then he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit!” John 20: 20-21
“I can’t breathe!”
The final words of a man pinned down - Humiliated, oppressed, murdered.
I watch from the distance of TV or internet,
But this craving for air, a space to breathe freely, I recognise. To live, to love, to breathe, to be,
Is basic to every one of us.
For covid-19 sufferers around the world,
Every breath of air is also precious and necessary. For some, by the time a ventilator is connected, It is already too late.
This craving for air, a space to breathe freely, we all recognise. To live, to love, to breathe, to be,
Is basic to every one of us.
Yet still the ancient words of Cain reverberate down the millennia, “Am I my brother’s keeper?” What’s it got to do with me?
Can I be honest about the ways I have smothered the breath of others?
In my scramble to get what I want, have I pushed others aside and taken in more than my fair share? What selfishness, superiority, indifference or racism is in me?
Can I put aside my own rights and privilege to ensure that others can freely breathe?
From Ihumatao, to Hawera,
In Aotearoa, Australia and across the Pacific, The same cry is heard -
For air, for space to breathe freely,
To live, to love, to breathe, to be.
Yes! I have a duty of care!
To keep the peace, but even more,
To be a positive peace maker, a peace creator, a peace breather.
For the same breath, the same air, flows from your lungs into mine, and out again to another’s. As the breath of the Holy Spirit hovered over the waters of creation,
So the breath of the Holy Spirit gives life to every living being.
This good Spirit has no colour, no race, no bias, no prejudice.
It seeks to “infect” all it touches with the blessing of the Spirit of love. There is no ‘social distancing’ with the breath of the Spirit.
I can pass it on to others with a clear conscience!
Breathe in. Breathe out. Repeat!
The Lord’s Prayer or ‘Abba Prayer’
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Read by Ian Faulkner
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Dear One, closer to us than our own breath, farther from us than the most distant star, you are beyond naming. May your powerful presence become obvious not only in the undeniable glory of the sky, but also in the seemingly base and common processes of the earth. Give us what we need, day by day, to keep body and soul together, because clever as you have made us, we still owe our existence to you. We recognise that to be reconciled with you, we must live peaceably and justly with other human beings, putting hate and bitterness behind us. We are torn between our faith in your goodness and our awareness of the evil in your creation, so deliver us from the temptation to despair. Yours alone is the universe and all its majesty and beauty. So it is. Amen |