It Seemed Important To Laugh

Sunday morning I stepped out of the call and response prayer box. For some reason it seemed important to include something humorous in the prayer. So I added a line about frustrations with parents, and yes, there were congregational snickers during the prayer.

It meant a lot to me to laugh with others while praying. Laughter is so much of my ongoing conversation with God, part of practicing the presence, part of living a thick life. On reflection, I realize what I wanted was not to share laughter so much as to allow my private prayer to invade the public prayer. I wanted to open myself and share of myself to people I am growing to love.

Below is the prayer, shared Sunday as part of our Homecoming sermon series, scripture selection was the Prodigal Son, Luke 15:11-32 (I added references to the Paul's Mars Hill sermon recorded in Acts 17).

Lord God Almighty,
Creater of the universe
From one ancestor you made all nations to inhabit the whole earth.
You allotted the times of their existence and the places where they would live,
so that each person would search for you, seek you.

Although we are never far from you,
it is always your desire that we turn to you,
live in in
love you with such wholeness of heart, soul, strength and mind,
that our love for you spills over into love for other people.

Yet we confess that turn all too easily from you.
We go through the days,
occupied by deadlines and pick-up times,
busyness and boredom,
more likely to wonder what we should have for supper than whether this day is pleasing to you.

We turn from you, thinking "if only".
If only my children were better behaved.
If only my parents were better behaved.
If only I could get a new car.
If only I could get away for a while.
If only.

We wake up in the middle of the night worried about the economy,
worried about retirement savings,
worried about where the money will come from to pay all these expenses.

We wake up in the morning angry, angry that friends have let us down,
angry that hard work doesn’t seem to be rewarded
angry that life wasn’t supposed to be like this,
angry that there seems to be no joy.

We forget, we are never far from you.
We forget it is always your desire that we turn to you,
live in you,
love you, and love with you.

We would turn to you.
And as we turn, we are surprised. We expect your love, yet are shocked at your joy, your delight, your welcome. We thank you. It’s all we can do. We thank you.

We lift to your care those we love, and those strangers, who hurt, who suffer from pains, who are angry at injustice, and afraid.

We thank you, we thank you, and it is with deep gratitude that we pray and live the words your son Jesus taught us:

Our Father, Who art in heaven
Hallowed be thy name
Thy kingdom come,
Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread,
And forgive us our trespasses,
As we forgive those who trespass against us.
And lead us not into temptation,
But deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever. Amen.