And God said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness.”
Therefore, I would rather boast about my weaknesses.
So I am content with weakness, insults, hardships, persecutions, and difficulties;
For when I am weak, then I am strong.
–words from 2 Corinthians 12:9-10
Wounded God,
broken–like us–
we gather together, having left the chaos of the week.
A rowdy bunch,
mindful that our weaknesses–
the chips and the cracks in our veneer
reveal your presence.
Teach us how to drop our guard of ‘wholeness’
to lower our pretense of ‘orderliness’
to drop the facade of ‘propriety’
and instead acknowledge that we need each other
in this messiness called ‘life’.
Hear the prayers of this motley crew:
[read aloud the prayer cards]
We acknowledge that some of our wounds seem too raw to risk exposure
so we hold those quietly, close at heart.
But you hear the silence of those gaping wounds as prayer as well.
Teach us to trust you in the silence.
[pause for a time of silent prayer]
Teach us to be weak.
Open our hearts
so that we can minister through vulnerability
and in turn, be changed.
Teach us how to best love one another.
And help us remember that openness is a commitment renewed daily.
It expects and anticipates the good in the world
and seeks it.
Stir up in us a desire to serve
and to live peaceably,
devoting our days to walking in the living tradition of our teacher, Jesus,
to welcome the excluded
and to tend to those in need.
Blessed Be.
Prayers of the People 