This prayer was offered by Kathy Pomroy at the Bread for the Word Gathering a few weeks ago. It spoke to me of the paradox we find ourselves in as we make our attempts to serve God and other people, live in the world around us, be present in the moment and welcoming a new day of God’s reign on earth.
You are welcome here.
Whether you have come across oceans, borders, state lines or simply across town, you are welcome here; you are welcome in this house.
We call God by many names, differing by faith and language, but we are joined in a common desire to see a world free of hunger and hurt.
Let us pray together to bless this time and food.
Loving God,
We find ourselves in a strange place –
We are surrounded by beautiful chandeliers, comfortable chairs, a banquet of food before us, but we are here to talk and act on hunger. God, this is a strange place,
In a rich nation and world, millions and millions and millions of children are hungry and parents struggle to feed their families. God, this is a strange place.
In a country with wealth beyond reason, many of our nation’s decision-makers are seeking to balance budgets on the backs of the poorest people. God, this is a strange place
God, our God, where are you? Where are you, God, in this strange place?
But God, you do not leave us alone in this place, in this world. You take many forms, but those with eyes to see and ears to hear, we do see you.
We see you as parent – when food is prepared for us and our basic needs are met.
We see you as parent, O God.
We see you as teacher – when you bring all of us together from across the world to learn from experts and one another about hunger and nutrition.
We see you as teacher, O God.
We see you as love – when someone shares a kind word with us or helps us with things big and small.
We see you as love, O God.
We see you as power – when you send us forth to speak truth to power on Capitol Hill or back in our home countries or in our neighborhoods and home towns.
We see you as power, O God.
So God in this strange – yet beautiful – time and place,
Help us to know that this is your time and place.
Help us to know that this is our time and place.
Help each one of us to know and to be love and care, to know and to be teacher and learner.
Help each one of us to be your hands, your feet, your eyes and your mouth
As together we build this world, your world, our world – a world free of hunger.
Amen