God,
We keep hoping
Let freedom ring
Means our definition of freedom
But we know that your promise of forgiveness
liberation
and justice
is somehow all the same thing–
that in Greek somehow: it is all contained in one word
Gracious God
you gift us
with our authentic selves
reminding us that in the midst of the Kin-dom work
the freeing of captives
the feeding of the hungry
the clothing the naked
Remind us that we are beloved
and that you are present
the work is not ours alone–
you are planting seeds
and tending gardens
and we are not alone
So as we hear bells
and wonder if we should flinch
at the fireworks
Remind us that you promise a liberation
that is not of our hands
but is instead, full of grace
it is the wedding celebration of the overflowing cup
the feast of the prodigal child and coin
it is the finding of a home, where there is a room for each and every one of us
And we are made welcome
out of grace, and true liberation
forgiveness and justice
Thank you God for
the chance to rest in your liberation
instead of our freedom–
Amen.
Feel free to use/adapt/share with credit to Pastor Katy aka “KatyandtheWord”
Author: katyandtheword
Pastor Katy has enjoyed ministry at New Covenant since 2010, where the church has solidified its community focus. She now works at Capital CFO plus as the Non Profit Director. All opinions expressed on this blog are her own and do not reflect those of Capital CFO plus. Prior to that she studied both Theology and Christian Formation at Princeton Theological Seminary. She also served as an Assistant Chaplain at Trenton Psychiatric Hospital and as the Christian Educational Coordinator at Bethany Presbyterian at Bloomfield, NJ.
She is an writer and is published in Enfleshed, Sermonsuite, Presbyterian's today and Outlook. She writes prayers, liturgy, poems and public theology and is pursuing her doctorate in ministry in Creative Write and Pittsburgh Theological Seminary.
She enjoys working within and connecting to the community, is known to laugh a lot during service, and tells as many stories as possible. Pastor Katy loves reading Science Fiction and Fantasy, theater, arts and crafts, music, playing with children and sunshine, and continues to try to be as (w)holistically Christian as possible.
"Publisher after publisher turned down A Wrinkle in Time," L'Engle wrote, "because it deals overtly with the problem of evil, and it was too difficult for children, and was it a children's or an adult's book, anyhow?" The next year it won the prestigious John Newbery Medal.
Tolkien states in the foreword to The Lord of the Rings that he disliked allegories and that the story was not one.[66] Instead he preferred what he termed "applicability", the freedom of the reader to interpret the work in the light of his or her own life and times.
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