#Beloved

Each meditation in the video was extemporaneous. Here is the general outline of our worship:

Move 1: Pray for Ourselves

Opening Poem: Pry Me Off Dead Center by Ted Loder, Guerrillas of Grace.  Philadelphia: Innisfree Press, Inc., 1984, pp. 96-97.

O persistent God,
Deliver me from assuming your mercy is gentle.
Pressure me that I may grow more human
not through the lessening of my struggles
but through an expansion of them
that will undamn me and unbury my gifts.

Deepen my hurt until I learn to share it   and myself openly and my needs honestly
Sharpen my fears   until I name them and release the power I have locked in them
and they in me.

Accentuate my confusion
until I shed those grandiose expectations
that divert me from the small, glad gifts
of the now and the here and the me.
Expose my shame where it shivers,
crouched behind the curtains of propriety,
until I can laugh at last
through my common frailties and failures
laugh my way toward becoming whole.
 Deliver me
from just going through the motions
and wasting everything I have
which is today,
a chance,
a choice,
my creativity,
your call.
 O persistent God,
Let how much it all matters
Pry me off dead center

So if I am moved inside
  to tears
or sighs
or screams
or smiles
or dreams,
 they will be real and I will be in touch with who I am
and who you are
and who my sisters and brothers are. Amen.

Read Psalm 69:1-4

Questions: When have you been unfairly labeled? Falsely accused? Write the names you were called that you would like to give up.

Move 2: Pray for our Neighbor

Read Luke 10:29-37

Questions: “The one who showed him mercy.” The lawyer couldn’t even say the name “Samaritan.” What relationships need mended in your life? Write the names of those who need to be forgiven in your life.

Move 3: Pray for our Country

Read 1 Tim 2:1-2

Questions: What headlines trouble you? What would you like to see changed in our country? Write these on your paper.

Move 4: Pray for the World

Read Revelation 22:1-5

Questions: “The leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations.” What needs healed in our world? Write these down

Move 5: Connect with your Belovedness

Read Isaiah 42:1-5 and Matthew 3: 13-17

Know that the core of you is as a beloved child of God. Nothing can separate you from that identity.

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