Great Mystery which Grounds and Surrounds us,
Small spark of Life and Possibility
that lives within us even when all else is crumbling to dust…
Be with us in our confusion, fear, and even despair.
Lead us to navigate them as slowly as possible,
Resisting the impulse to soothe, to blame, to seek things
that feel better than the hurt and the heaviness
But which ultimately leave us isolated, or complacent,
or too suspicious of each other.
Let us not flee from our grief,
but allow our hearts to be broken open again and again,
Grieving for all that has already been lost
And all that is threatened now.
Spirit of Life and Love and Regeneration,
Help us to feel the wisdom in our bodies.
Even with so much going so wrong,
our hearts beat with gratitude for blessings:
For beauty and joy stubbornly breaking through;
For the compassionate companionship of Community
Which welcomes all that we bring with us in these times
and doesn't asks us to be smaller than we really are;
For solidarity and mutual aid;
For the trees and the wind and the stars—
Their cosmic witness soothing our animal souls,
Reminding us of the deep impermanence—
And the deep interconnectedness—
of all things.
Spirit of Transformation,
May our hearts break open and stretch out
to join with the hearts of others
who yearn for a freer world.
Each heart, a building block of a better society.
Each life lived for hope and resistance, a prayer for a nobler world.
Amen, and Blessed Be.
[The author notes that the closing words of this prayer lead nicely into the hymn “We Would Be One,” #318 in Singing the Living Tradition.]