ice – katyandtheword

Psalm 3: Prayer for Minneapolis in the midst of danger

God,
You know our foes
are endless
They are armed to the teeth

With guns
nefarious policies
and hate

And many are saying
God cannot help you
For these White Supremacists

Are they not calling on the same God?

But God, you are my protection
Because, you sustain the Love
Within my heart
reminding me of small children
in bunny hats

Of women in cars
And disarmed observers
And police officers leading Jan 7th rioters
away from Congress
All of whom are worthy of your protection

So I cry out to you
I cry before I go to bed
And somehow I Fall to Sleep
And then I wake up
Tears, still in my eyes
And cry out again

Lord, Sweet, Baby Jesus
I know the only thing Sustaining
me is you

Selah!

I am not afraid of my enemies
I say
(Sometimes)

I am will do the next brave thing
Contact my senator
Mutual Aid

I will not give up
Rise up
God

My rock and my salvation

You will strike up my enemies
(not my job)
And break the teeth of the wicked

Note Lord, how I’m praying for your justice, not mine

Come sit with us,

Cry with us, Save us, Make your presence known, Holy Spirit we do not know what to Say or do anymore.

Rise up, Lord.

And teach us how to Rise up too, we even in the midst of all of this we pray.

Amen.

Feel free to share/adapt/ use with credit to Pastor Katy Stenta aka “KatyandtheWord”

None of This Nonsense Please

God,
It seems that
the senseless violence
goes on
and on

ICE spills onto whiteness
The Not peace in Palestine
The invasion of Caracas

Not to mention
kidnapping of neighbors
Healthcare, childcare and education being destroyed

And all the things

I confess I’ve started to dread Fridays
when the Admin seems to strike

And we all know
about the Eptsein Victims
But the files
God

The violence continues
As nonsensical
As our lines of sand
That make borders

As senseless
as giving more rights
To corporations
Than humans

As senseless
as pursuing artificial intelligence
Before feeding everyone

God
I feel like Alice
In Wonderland
Scared
Because everyone
is speaking gibberish
and the dictator is
Running around screaming
Off with their heads

So I am praying for
Less Herods
and more Wise Sages

Less Violence
And more Peace

Less Nonsence
And More Art

God
Be with us
As we turn away from
Death Dealing practices
And pursue Life Giving Ones
We Pray

Amen

Feel free to use/adapt/share with credit to Pastor Katy Stenta aka “KatyandtheWord”

Psalm 41:1-3

God
We are calling down
Your protection

Because
I see the face
of terrified
College students
of Brown People with
Tattoos

Echoing
Those of
Separated
Families
at the border

I am still haunted
by a picture of
their jewelry
and crosses
piled like
Jewish
loot
during
the Holocaust

And the Fragile
Gaza
peace
has been broken

and so I pray
Protection
For the families

And for the Soldiers
in Yemen
And around the world

As OPSEC is said
but not Enacted

Though truly
My heart
Longs for Peace
I pray for a language
beyond bombs
and threats
and bullying

and even tariffs

Staunch Pacifist that I am

As the budget for food
and Veterans are cuts
but the Military remains
bloats
Military Industrial Complex
Indeed Lord, I cry

And God,
I cry out for all of those
with Cancer
longing for Treatment
whose funding was cut
The researchers
who have been sustained
I know that God
You work to sustain
All those with infirmities
I pray that you will work
To heal all infirmities

Open the ears and hearts
of those who need to
understand
Melt those with
hearts and brains of stone

Melt them
Reverse their Decisions
Transform things so Completely
That we do not even Recognize things

For God you know
When we pray for Health
We are praying for a healthy
World–
Not for just ourselves
But for me, my neighbor, my enemy
to all be transformed into
(almost unrecognizable) signs of mercy
Signs of the Kin(g)dom
And so I pray
For a Forgiveness of Debts
That I cannot comprehend

For Food for all people
In a Dailyness of Bread

For the coming of your Glory
Which of course will be in Mercy

And for
Your Kin(g)dom Come
Your Will Be done
Amen,
Amen.

Feel free to use/adapt/share with credit to Pastor Katy Stenta aka “KatyandtheWord”

Psalm 41:1-3

¹ Happy are those who consider the poor;^* (marginal/oppressed)
   the Lord delivers them in the day of trouble.
² The Lord protects(guards them/covenants with them) them and keeps them alive;(like a. shepherd guards a sheep, like a sacred duty, like a hedge of protection)
   they are called happy in the land. (It will be a gifting, a granting)
   You do not give them up to the will of their enemies.
³ The Lord sustains them on their sickbed; (a sustain, supporting, comforting, stability and continuity))
   in their illness you heal all their infirmities.^* (Healed and transformed, reversed, turn over a new leaf) The grace and mercy of God will be through compassion.

God of Empathy

Breathe in: God I am overwhelmed
Breathe out: God sit with me

God,
I confess that I have been cursed
with your Holy Spirit
I have your empathy in spades

Her whispers echo in my ear
I feel worry
for the children
for my trans* and nonbinary family
for all those who are black and brown

whose birth, citizenship and being
are being tossed about
and trying to be erased
like words on a page

Holy Spirit
How is it that the same Spirit
that comes and teaches us to witness
also encourages, inspires
and consoles?

God almighty
I confess
my breath catches when I
feel our relationships
with other nations
disintegrating
when I see signs of hate
shrugged off or joked about

Pneuma–
I confess, I need your help
to breathe in
to breathe out
because I confess that sometimes
remembering to breathe freely
is an act of rebellion

Jesus Christ
I remember all of your short actions
that were so disruptive
most of them were
listening
and calling people by their
chosen
name

Walk with me
walk with us
as we do the same
help us to
listen closely to one another
and to call one another by name

God of empathy
breath
listening
and Name

Be with us
in this time of Trial
I pray
Amen

Feel free to use/adapt/share with credit to Pastor Katy Stenta “KatyandtheWord”