Tag: Justice

Idolatry

God

Jesus

Holy Spirit

How can I pray to the Holy Trinity

In a work of idols?

How can explore the mystery faith

When we humans use labels as weapons?

Instead of names of exploratory wonder..

I don’t know creator,

When humans seem bent on being destructors

And death cults

And weapon makers

How to bear your image, how to preach your image,

how God can I better be your image in the universe??

::am I doing it wrong?:: my very soul whispers.

How can we free ourselves from our idols?

How can we become seed planters and tenders of things that grow?

God I long for healthy growing things..

(And you know I have a black thumb so if it need to be metaphorical so be it)

Our hearts are already broken—return us to life and live I pray.

Return us to community we pray.

Amen

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

Bullshit, A Prayer

Jesus,

Your coming back was such good news,

that the disciples called it bullshit–

we translate it nicer in church;

can you imagine that?

……

Jesus did you think that our job

maybe

perhaps

as Christians was to do

such extraordinarily good things

that when we did them

people would say

Bullshit! No one would ever do that!

……

And not so like, anyone would become Christian

or perfect

(because lets face it Jesus,

people are onto you when you are trying to steal their souls)

But just like, treat humans with respect.

……

Sometimes I imagine that churches paid every single person a living wage

or rallying for the forgiveness of debts (Reminder: Jubilee is a Biblical concept)

and working hard for universal healthcare for our congregants (the stories I could tell)

or even just make it so every sanctuary was a sanctuary for immigrants

……and

LGBTQIA folks

and those who are mentally Ill

and Those with addictions

and people with disabilities

and those who were houseless

……

If all those could feel welcome, accepted, heard and be essential to the leadership!

A place for teens to hang out without anyone worried about lawsuits.

And we got past tokenizing everyone who is different than us (hello white church).

I bet if we worked on a couple of these things, the church would become more Christ-like–what do you think Jesus?

……

Sometimes I dream that churches were changing the world–

and then I wake up, amazed that no one has cried out

Bullshit!

……

God I’m praying for that kind of church,

until then, I hope I hang our more with

Mary, Mary and Martha,

and keep saying things that make people say

……

Universal Basic Income for everyone? That sounds like bullshit!

……

Can’t wait Jesus, Till then,

I’ll keep praying

Idle Prayers,

And doing the work to make them

Working Prayers again.

Amen.

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

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Image: https://www.cbeinternational.org/sites/default/files/styles/article_image/public/2020-05/ChristIsRisen1200_0.jpg?itok=pikHhKoE

Fiercely Listening, a prayer

God

sometimes I think about

how much of my job

is listening to those

who are hurt

Sometimes I pray about

all those without ears to hear

Those who are quick to judge

or center themselves

or say, if they had just…

So…

I think about how often Jesus just sat

and listened, really listened

and validated people’s pain,

and then called them by name.

Sometimes I think about

how much of the community’s job

is listening,

Fiercely listening to those

who are unheard, or drowned out our ignored

Fiercely listening

who are hurt,

without judgement

or agenda

…just listening fiercely

to those who have been

especially hurt

and then I

try to practice

that fierce listening

taking to heart

the cries of injustice

opening my ears to hear

and my heart to be melted

Help me me to do my job I pray.

Amen.

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

All I want…(Magnificat)

All I want for Christmas God,

is everything

Peace on Earth, and no more guns,

and the end of the filibuster,

and every child fed.

All girls want is equity–

and all pregnant people want is easy and safe access to abortion

and childbirth, family leave and chidcare.

Jesus Christ, do you hear me?

All we want is equity, and Black Lives to Matter

and Native Land Returned

and Queer Families to be acknowledged and safe

and for all Bodies to be Affirmed.

All we want is for Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness

to include healthcare and shelter for every single person

and the humanity of one single person to never ever be debased.

All I want is for pronouns to be universal, and for people to not look at me weird if I refer to God as she or ze or they.

All I want is for everyone to understand that no human being is illegal,

and that disability porn is disgusting, and that any nation where people have to beg to get basic things is severely lacking.

Holy Spirit– you have heard me say this before, so you know.

All I want is a world where addiction is understood to be a disease,

mental illness care is not a shambles

and neither is blamed whenever some domestic terrorist incident happens.

All I want is a world where everyone who wants access to therapy can get it–

without barriers for free.

All I want is a place where politics are not politics but policies of care and where politicians are there to serve the people.

All I want is a world where mindless corporations are not favored and technology is first and foremost used to help one another.

God–why did you make my imagination so unlimited, when it seems that our capabilities are so limited?

How is it I can so easily imagine the Kingdom to come? I know its not really my job to bring it about, because I can’t, that’s your job.

Nor can I demand it, for it will come in its own time.

But wow Lord, whenever I imagine what can be, my mind just goes wild with the possibilities! Help me to see some of the fruit of the Spirit I pray!

Because, as you know, I want it all!

Amen.

Feel fee to use/share/adapt with credit to Pastor Katy Stenta

Advent: Praying for Justice Again, God, Cause we Can’t Do it Alone

Not on Our Watch Lord,

We tried to say last summer,

as we rallied together and chanted Black Lives Matter

And bought books by Blacks, and resourced Mutual Aid, and made hearty promises.

Not on our watch, as whispers came to defund the police,

and we spoke about what injustice really meant and statues of Southern Rebels Toppled-

But then God,

The couple who threatened marchers got a fine,

and marchers got run over again and again by a car

and the President called both sides very fine people.

And today a colleague is engaging in the Holy Practice of Despair Dishwashing,

Rage Cleaning

and Sweary Laundry…

and Perhaps some Sadness Sweeping…

because even as the good news of Union wins, Bills for the poor and Julius Jones

being saved from unjust execution at the last second–the victories are too few and far between.

Christ I this is why I need Christmas.

Every

Single

God

Blessed

Year.

Because

I need to remember that you

And not White Supremacy reigns

And that you come to conquer the Imperial tendencies of humanity

And that it’s not, “Not on our watch”

but not on YOUR watch

You defeat ALL evil

With Justice and Mercy and Peace

Every Time

and you how do you do it?

With tiny Baby.

Sweet Baby Jesus.

I am ready,

Let’s do this Justice thing.

And practice it again,

Til we imperfect humans get it right, I pray.

Until we see that injustice anywhere hurts everyone everywhere.

I’ll be waiting,

with tears in my eyes,

cleaning coping mechanisms in my hands

and peace words on my breath.

Let’s Go God!

Amen.

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

As always, if my prayers touch you, feel free to support my work by throwing $5, $10, $20 towards my 2nd year of Doctorate in Creative Writing, because January is Coming up Fast. Thank you.

Justice Prayer

Jesus when you said

Justice would roll down

like water….

Did you mean

that it would

trickle first

down my face as a tear

of compassion?

Or will it truly unleash?

Like the dams of injustice

finally breaking through…

I want to know,

because I am thirsting for Jesus

Like a deer in the desert–

and when I look for justice,

I find rules or civility or equality

or some other thing,

that we humans think is justice,

but it isn’t really.

So here’s a prayer for justice,

the big kind, that washes away everything else.

So here’s a prayer for justice, the rip-roaring kind,

full of righteousness, and grace and hope.

Even if it has to start as a trickle,

Because, you and I know God,

I will take all the justice I can get.

So here’s a prayer for all the justice,

any of the justice we can find today, and everyday.

Please God,

Thank you.

Amen.

Feel free to use/adapt/share with permission of Pastor Katy Stenta

If you find my prayers useful please consider supporting my 2nd year pursuing my Doctorate of Ministry in Creative Writing as a Public Theologian at Pittsburgh Seminary.

Nov 14 Amos: Justice Rolls Down

Amos 1:1-2; 5:14-15, 21-24

John 7:37-38

Call to Worship (John 7:37-38)

Jesus says, let anyone who is thirsty come

Here we are, thirsting for the Lord

Scripture says, all who believes can drink

Come, out of our hearts, let the rivers of living water flow!

Prayer of Confession: God we confess that we are thirsting for you, so thirsty that we are dry to the bone. We are uncertain that justice will flow. We do not know if there are even drips of justice in the world. We confess, that we don’t know if justice will flow like water–but we also confess that we long for that day. Help us to not give up our justice seeking we pray.

Assurance of Pardon: Jesus promises that Jesus will make all things right, so we can proclaim to one another the truth: In Jesus Christ we are forgiven.

Prayer of the Day/Dedication: God sometimes we feel like our offerings are not enough, we’d rather give you big festivals or more solemn worship services–but you ask us to simply seek justice, love mercy and walk humbly with your. Help us to do that today we pray. Amen.

Hymns: Be Thou My Vision, Crown Him with Many Crowns, We are One in the Spirit, Best Be the Tie that Binds, Come Live the Light, For Everyone Born, Live Into Hope

Children: Thirsty, discuss how we are often thirsty before we even know it and that we really need water to drink, that is how we need justice. Talk about how justice is not just equality or sameness, its the nutrients we need, and that every single body needs something different, and that Jesus knows that.

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Justice Rolls Down: A Prayer

More Narrative Lectionary Year 4

Oct 17th: God Calls Samuel

Living Into this God Given World: Judgement

Samuel 3:1-21

John 20:21-23

Psalm 46

Call to Worship:

God we come to here your voice

Let us hear the call of the Lord

God we come to answer your call

Let us gather together in the name of God!

Prayer of Confession: God we confess that it is hard to hear your voice of calling, sometime we confuse it with other callings. Sometimes we think we are only dreaming. Help us to hear your voice clearly we pray. Amen.

Assurance of Pardon: Hear the good news, God never gives up on us, God calls us and forgives us every time. Let us tell one another the truth: In Jesus Christ we are forgiven. Amen.

Prayer of the Day/Dedication: God, you call to us. Let us sit quietly and hear your still small voice we pray in your most Holy Name. Amen.

Hymns: There’s a Sweet Sweet Spirit in This Place, Here I am Lord, Called as Partners in Christ’s Service

Children: Explain the Concept of Priesthood of All Believers–that everyone is called by God, not necessarily to be pastors but to be helpers in the world, brainstorm all the things that people might be called to help. Point out that Samuel is a child.

More Year 4 Narrative Lectionary Resources

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Never Forget, a Prayer of Mourning

I remember staying up all night,

And waking up to the phone in my dorm

(landline, yes)

It was the 2nd week of Freshman Year.

And God, all I can remember

Is that everyone was so angry.

Because no one seemed to know

How to be sad.

Never Forget–

How to be angry I wondered?

As we marched off to war?

As I viewed the Holocaust museum in embattled Israel?*

As we became more embittered against Brown people.

And now,

After Iraq, and Afghanistan,

and a million Covid deaths later,

God, I think that maybe,

we are way more apt to get angry–

because we as a nation are not good at getting sad.

How often do I see our leaders cry?

How often do we encourage mourning?

So Today I’m glad that you are the God who weeps with those are weeping.

Today I’m glad that you affirmed

that

Jesus wept.

A tear for every life.

God does not need to get even for justice to be done.

And today, I am so thankful, for a God that weeps.

As I remember the first day,

that I realize that justice is so separate from anger–

and mourning is too.

So today, God, I think I’m going to concentrate on mourning,

and nothing else.

Please sit with me, again,

while I cry

whatever more tears

need to be cried.

Amen.

Feel free to share/adapt/use with Credit to Pastor Katy Stenta

If you enjoy my work, please consider giving to my Doctorate in Ministry in Creative Writing 

Pandemic Prayers & Resources

*The Nationally Funded motto of all the museums in Israel is also Never Forget, which I discovered upon a pilgrimage there in 2010.

God we need your justice: a prayer

[Blue Green water reflecting the abstract of a mountain, tree and sky with the words “Let Justice Flow Down like Waters and Righteousness like an overflowing stream.] Image found here: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/560064903645243301/

I cannot wait until acts of justice are no longer a surprise, for you know God, and you told us through Amos and Isaiah and Luke that justice that is surprising is no justice at all. It is at worst painted as sacrifice and mercy and is at best the drops of accountability.

I am so thirsty for justice, Lord. And I confess my spirit is dry and brittle, breaking apart in its absence.

Human justice is not even a meager copy of your justice Lord. racism and bigotry poisons any system we might try.

God I cannot wait for your justice to flow like water. So that we taste it on our tongue, so that it rains on us daily from the sky.

I can’t wait until the taste and feel of justice is so familiar that it begins to feel like home.

I can’t wait until the moment that every cry for mercy, every cry for help, every cry for mama is answered–with the swiftness of the Holy Spirit on the wing.

God, I cannot wait, until not one street never ever sees a droplet of blood again. Instead they sparkle with the cleansing waters of justice, instead they are filled so much with justice, that it becomes puddles for the children to splash in, soaking themselves with the liquid.

I cannot wait until justice becomes a child’s plaything—Known so much, that it becomes a part of our very breath and body. I cannot wait until the 60% of water that flows through our bodies is blessed, in the completion of our baptism, into the holy waters of justice imbuing our very selves.

I can’t wait until I can spit justice out on the street with clear truths and gracious words that free my siblings of all colors, creeds, ages, sexualities and genders.

I cannot wait for justice to flood our world. Not like the flood of Noah killing off the bad, but like the rains of the desert, giving the much needed food to the flora and fauna to bloom.

I cannot wait for justice, so I’m going to gather the drops and the dribbles and the driplets I have experienced, and I’m going to share them out to those I meet. Showing them how it cools violence, and refreshes spirits, and is miraculously freer than any other action.

Because my freedom is wrapped up in yours, my humanity is wrapped up in yours, and my justice is wrapped up in yours.

I’m ready to do this justice thing, God. Teach me how to do it I pray.

Amen.

Feel free to use/adapt with credit to Pastor Katy Stenta

With Thanks to Lilla Watson and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s works and thanks also Black Twitter who let me listen as they prayed, grieved and celebrated over George Floyd and the guilty verdict of Officer Chauvin.