Endless and unfathomable God,
Step by step we measure
Tear by tear we count
the heartaches
the injuries
the faults
the losses
the days, months
and years of dire straits
like the ancient Israelites in Egypt
enslaved for too many generations,
like Noah & family with pairs of animals
bobbing for forty days and nights.
We measure our weariness, our fears,
our regrets, our sacrifices,
like sand under our feet
like dust poured out on the earth
like waves pounding, pounding against us.
We count everything in the world to satisfy our anxious hearts,
yet you, O God, are That Which Cannot Be Counted
you are The Immeasurable Encompassing All.
In this space of prayer,
we dare to stop counting.
[silence]
We dare to stop measuring.
[silence]
We find ourselves in your immeasurable love.
[silence]
We locate ourselves in your eternal presence.
[silence]
We listen to your song of grace.
[silence]
Sing to us, we pray,
through seasons of conflict,
through days of struggle,
through pain, through death.
Sing to us of illogical metrics:
of floods yielding to new earth
of oppression bowing to justice
of death’s dust bursting with life.
Paint rainbows in the sky
that we might be distracted
by the beauty of your love
and convinced, at last,
to set love above all else
in our relationships with one another
and our relationship with you.
A pastoral prayer based on the lectionary readings for September 7, 2014: Revised Common Lectionary (Exodus 12:1-14 & Psalm 149 or Ezekiel 33:7-11 & Psalm 119:33-40, Romans 13:8-14, Matthew 18:15-20) and Narrative Lectionary (Genesis 6:16-22, 9:8-15).
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