Pandemic Prayers – katyandtheword

Boiling Over

God,

I see the schools

that are closing up

due to violence

and protests

and the likes–

and I’m reminded

All Behavior is Communication

All of it–You knew God, when

Helen Keller was throwing a tantrum

when Elijah was crying out

when Moses said

don’t call me

when the disciples

woke Jesus in the midst of the storm

terrified…

All behavior is communication.

So, God I’m wondering

as we start to boil over,

what are we trying

to communicate?

As we are forced

to work

and school

and carry on

in the middle of a storm

as though everything is normal

and haven’t even paused to grieve.

Help us–not to behave,

God no.

But to communicate,

because clearly we are crying out,

and boiling over.

Help us, we pray.

Amen.

Please feel free to use/share/adapt with credit to Pastor Katy Stenta

Tapped Out

I’m so tapped out of prayers.

I’ve been writing them for almost two years…

words have been ripped from my soul.

I’ve learned and yearned and earned

and still I find myself turning to God.

Anguished.

I think in my heart of hearts

that if I say the right words

everything will be fixed.

When instead, God….

you know.

You know God,

The right prayers do the opposite.

Cutting open the wounds,

Allowing myself to emotionally

throw up for the entire world to see…

and ironically

that helps

So here I am.

Stubbornly

Being Sick on the Page one more time.

Saying WHY GOD

WHY THE HELL WON’T WE DO THE THINGS WE NEED TO DO

to Bring a PANDEMIC to AN END.

Never in my life will I EVER use the expression

“Avoid it like the Plague”

Never will I take supply chains for granted.

And I look forward to being

a weird old lady

with tales of school from home,

when the church FINALLY got tech

after me a young-in pleaded for years with it,

Shutdowns, BLM, masks, baking

and that time when

we all learned to appreciate

science and vaccinations

(and hopefully redesigned how we

allocated ALL the national budget)

So here we are God,

just you

and me

and the world,

and a prayer

Trying to fix things.

I’m not going to stop.

Let’s go.

Amen.

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

Pandemic Prayers & Resources

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Dropping You a Line: A Prayer

God, I’m just dropping you a line,

On behalf of all the people I haven’t been able to reach out to.

Please send Blessings.

To those having a hard day, those who can’t focus,

To those who can’t peel their eyes away from politics, grant them rest.

Wrap your wings around those who are in pain.

Rub the stress out of our backs and foreheads

Smooth the hair, and kiss the brow of all of those who mourn

Sit with the troubled, Lord, give them the gift of time that they need.

Be with us, bless us with your love we pray.

Because times are hard, and we need you.

So I’m just dropping you a line, because heaven knows–

that line to you is how we are hanging on.

Help us to hang on, we pray.

Pandemic Prayers

About Me and My Writing

Bible full of Nobodies

God, in your might and power you gave us a book that tells us truth through a bunch of nobodies.

When you tell the story of Hagar, Shiphrah & Puah, the Sultan’s daughter, Miriam and Zipporah you tell us about the “little people” in the world. We don’t even know the name of the Pharaoh’s daughter!

When you reveal the energy, intelligence, imagination and love of Ruth & Naomi and also Esther you report the profound sacredness of the lives of women of color.

“Black Lives are Sacred” attributed to Dr Wil Gafney

Because of these women we stand in prayer every single time we tell the story of persecuted black women, women of color and trans women who are black or brown.

And because women throughout the Bible are unnamed we know, we know the importance of #sayhername.

Breonna Taylor we say your name Oluwatoyin Sakai, Atatiana Jefferson, Latasha Harlins and Sandra Bland we say your name and pray.

And because we know there are even more women who are unnamed victims of police violence, healthcare violence, sexual violence and state violence perpetrated through powerfully neglectful pandemic policy.

The true nobodies in the Bible are those in power kings, pharaohs and religious leaders serve as footnotes to the real everyday lives of the “ordinary” somebodies in the Bible.

As these stories and names echo in my head in between distance learning and working and running errands, help me to take these echoes seriously.

Help me to take each and every echo, and to find the ways to tell these stories to my children, just like the stories in the Bible.

Help me to tell the story meaningfully, fleshing out my black and brown sisters and humans who are fully of life and value. Help me to tell the stories in such a way that they matter.

And empower me to see and stop racism and violence in all of its physical, emotional and political forms, I pray. Make me an interrupter of violence.

I pray this in the presence of the brown, persecuted, imprisoned and murdered man who I am honored to be an adopted sister of, Jesus Christ. Amen.

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

Stealing Time

God, remind me to steal some time.

To look at the clouds

to be bored

to take the scenic route…

Tell me how it is ok if the house is messier than I’d like, that it’s good to claim the smaller victories of keeping everyone fed and (at least starting out) in clean clothes…

Remind me that Jesus stole time all the time!

Napping in the storm, snuggling a fig tree, sneaking off to a lake

When you lead me beside the (sort of) still waters of a small lake beach on a stolen afternoon, help me to embrace the experience.

When the power or internet is out and I’m forced to relax…

If the best I can muster in thought is half written sentences…

When time is given, as a gift, remind me that it isn’t stolen.

Remind me that Holy Spirit herself might be intervening.

Whisper to me that I am beloved. And that my worth is not based upon my productivity.

Image: Your Work is Not Measured by your Productivity

I’ll never forget my first year in full time ministry when there was a snowstorm every single Wednesday of November, forcing me to slowdown.

Sometimes, I need that reminder God.

And if I need to take the longer way to Jerusalem, if I need to mull and mutter and forge out some time to relax before I do the next hard thing, that is okay.

Remind me, God, that you built me, and all humans to be this way.

And that Jesus knew full well that breaks for food, laughter with friends, and time with family are essential to our humanity, and Jesus was indeed fully human.

Rest is essential, Sabbath is commanded, time is precious–let me live these truths in whatever way I can, I pray.

Amen

Image of Tweet Robin Thede: We all need to expect about forty percent less productivity from each other than normal and yet somehow everyone seems to expect one hundred and forty percent right now. Working at Proffitting WAP: Chile, they are thinking because we are working reotely that we do not nothing but time since we are sitting at home. However that push for productive is affecting our mental health because there’s no boundaries to decompress

Many thanks to the continuing inspiration of the Nap Ministry: https://thenapministry.wordpress.com/ (who you can also follow on twitter)

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

More Pandemic Prayers and Resources: Top Posts are “In an Abundance of Caution” “The Lord is My Shepherd: What kind of Sheep are You” and “Masks: A Prayer”

Stuck on Repeat

God, I do not want to play this game again. I have discovered this is the exact reason I do not, personally, find video games enjoyable. To play the same thing repeatedly until it’s beaten is disheartening.

But then I remember what I tell my children. We are not video game characters, remote controlled by God. We have free will.

And you are a God of grace, letting us try multiple times to get it right. Putting us back at the beginning of our journey–to fix the pandemic, to become antiracist, to help those in need–over and over again.

When we get stuck like a broken record (remember those?) you remind us, miraculously, that we can move the needle.

The end to this pandemic is compassion.

In a time when love looks like giving masks to one another. In a time when money can be collected for rent. In a time when thousands suddenly have the time and emotional energy to march for Black Lives Matter. In a time when we can look at our budgets and see where our health and school funds lay in the priorities, you remind us; we are empowered to change things–together.

Lord, walk with me, walk with us. When we stumble and trip help us to have compassion for one another. Let masks flow like floods. When teachers and parents come together to make tough decisions; let our love overpower any stinginess.

When we are stuck in groundhog day, teach us that living our your compassion is more important than ever.

Help us to defeat the challenges, and to remember that we are playing on the team. And when we feel overwhelmed, help us to rest, to cry and then to get back up and do it all again.

Hold these prayers in the palm of your hand we pray.

Amen.

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

Pandemic Prayers & Resources

Pandemic Mother’s Day Prayer: Another Kind of Mother’s Day

Another Kind of Mother’s Day

Dear God we pray for all the mother’s today.

For this is a mother’s day just like every other, yet more pronounced.

For every single one that can’t safely see their children.

For the essential working mom, who is trying to do everything, we pray that they are able to receive some care themselves.

For the mothers who are ill, we pray for peace.

For the mothers who are given the duties of motherhood–the stepmothers, Godmothers, grandmother’s, adopted mother’s, aunties, mentor-mothers and the single fathers in the world, we pray that all of their work shines in their beloved children.

For the lonely mothers, we pray that they can receive moments of connection.

For the mothers who are stuck with their children at home, when it seems they should be launched into the world, we pray that you are able to be not just “mom” but your full differentiated self.

For the estranged families on this day, we pray that they can maintain safe boundaries and celebrate with their found families.

For the mothers who are pregnant–probably equal parts mixed excited and scared to be bringing a baby into the world–we pray they feel strong roots beneath them to carry on.

For the mothers who are caretaking–similar to how they always do, yet having to absorb all of the changes and be a buffer for their charges–we pray that your work is appreciated.

For the single mothers who are doing more by themselves than ever, we pray that you can receive support.

For all the mothers who feel overwhelmed, inadequate or stressed, we pray that you receive love.

On this just another mother’s day where everything is the same, but different, we pray for all the mothers, sons and daughters, for all the families Close together or far apart, let us hold each and every kind of mother in prayer today.

Reminding each of member of the family that we are each a child of God, and that God longs to hug us under her wings–caring for us, feeding us and sheltering us like a Mother Hen cares for her brood. We pray for this God to shelter us in her loving arms this particular Mother’s Day through the power of the Holy Spirit we pray. Amen.

Feel free to use with credit to Pastor Katy Stenta

Love One Another: Gospel Work

How can I tell you about the value of caring for one another?

You aren’t creating anything that can be sold, when you go to take care of a human being. There’s no plastic product or multiplying dividend. After all (mostly) we can’t buy and sell people–becuase when we do, the abuse is horrendous. To take care of someone, is in fact the counter of making money off of them.

I read that the more you chose to take care of the people who work for you, the less money you are going to make, because it takes time and money to take care of people and the rewards are not quantifiable in market terms.

It’s also hard work to take care of people. The babies, the elderly, the sick, the disabled need help because they are the least capable among us. We are taking care of them because they are worthy, and it does not matter if they can produce anything.

Our value is not defined by our productivity.

Our value is not defined by our productivity, but to take care of someone is a lot of work–the cleaning, the bathing, the feeding, the lifting, the entertaining, the shepherding. And yet, we pay those who take care of people, from the personal assistants to the home care attendants to the nurses to the childcare workers, the least amount of money, because after all they can’t produce anything.

Even in church the Associate Pastor or the the Christian Ed Coordinator has the least amount of pay and the least amount of power in the church.

We don’t value caring for one another much.

And yet, and yet Christ said love one another. Christ’s primary and often repeated and initiated commandment was to serve one another. Love and serve together seems a lot like caring for one another. Christ who found Zaccheus in the tree, talked to the lonesome woman at the well, who embraced an individual even as he was hanging on the cross itself, never wasted time on productivity.

Jesus wasted all of his time caring for the least of these. He welcomed the children who didn’t even count as people yet, he helped the widows who were a burden on society to be noticed, he took extra care to touch and heal the sick and the disabled who were outcast from society, and he always had time for the poor who society deemed invisible.

Jesus’s work brought in no money, he told his disciples not to fuss about what they had and didn’t have, and to just go and do the work that needed to be done. He told them not to worry too much about how they looked or sounded, but to love and care for each other, no matter what the cost and sacrifice meant for them.

In the Gospel world, the work of caring is the most essential–because it is the most essential. Making sure everyone has food and shelter and clothing and community are the essentials of love. Jesus knew that to feel love, first one had to have the essentials, and then love follows.

Tell the Good News! Jesus commands, be witnesses, tell the truth of it. We are supposed to love each other so much, we are willing to die ourselves then let anyone feel left out.

God loves you.

Exactly as you are.

God does not demand perfection or taken or productivity.

You are a child a God, you are beloved, you are a part of the family–no ifs, ands or buts.

You belong.

Show one another how you value each other.

Love your neighbor as yourself.

It’s that simple and that hard.

Jesus taught us the value of caring for one another. Lord hear our prayer, help us to get through this pandemic through love and care. We pray this n the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.

Detailed Famous Maslow Pyramid Describing All Essential Needs ...

Preparing for Worship 2

Preparing the family doesn’t look the same. I no longer have to dress my kids up–which ironically they love to be dressed up because it elicits so much positive attention. We can go to church in our pajamas now.

Instead of the Panera bribe, I mean stop, we make every Sunday like clockwork for the last 6 plus years (before that we hadn’t committed but still went out for breakfast), we eat piecemeal at home. Now I just buy the ultra sweet supermarket muffins and make some chai pods for the morning. We may even still be eating them during worship.

Instead of hauling all of the kids to the car, usually one is still half asleep and the other two are bickering, we bicker at home and argue over whether or not we can use electronics before church (no)

During worship, attention is scarce, wiggling is paramount, and we try to get my eldest to be responsive. The music is also just not the same. We miss singing together with the booming organ overwhelming our flubs.

But, it’s still time for Dad and the boys to sit together. It’s still the time we are a family. I’m still “leading” up front and the boys are watching/listening/imagining/being bored.

Lord help us to practice worship as a family in whatever way we can, we pray. Amen

Preparing for Worship 1

Pandemic Prayers & Resources

Body of Christ

Indeed the Body of Christ consists not of one member but of many members.

The doctors cannot say to the retail workers: You are not necessary. For one feeds the body and the other mends it.

Neither can the CEO’s say to the custodians and trash workers: I have no need of you. For one hand must wash the other.

And we are all the body of Christ.

We cannot say to one another: “it’s ok for this part of the body to become sick and die.”

We cannot chop off any part of our body, because every single part is important.

We cannot tell the teachers and childcare workers that we do not pay you well, because your work is not essential for they tend the seeds of life.

We cannot ignore the truck drivers & postal workers, for they are the circulatory system.

The government cannot say to the immigrants, you are not a part of us: for they stitch society together and gather the nourishment that we need and innovate life itself.

The protestors cannot say to the nurses, your work does not matter. And that your needs are less important than my needs.

The members that we pay the least and ignore the most, are the bones of the body.

Those who we honor and decorate the most, are the least use in a crises.

God has arranged the body, blessing it extravagantly. Inspiring us to work together. For if one part of the body suffers, we all suffer together with it.

If one member is healed and this free to live, then rest is healed: and then freed, with them.

We are of one body, my existence is wrapped up in yours. Let us continue to be the body of Christ, I pray.

Amen.

Pandemic Resources

Eastertide Resources