NIGHT PRAYER: Monday 9/7

I know you don't take holidays, Lord

    - not even Christmas or Easter!

 

And I'm guessing you work on Labor Day, too!

 

You're the ultimate worker, 

    24/7/365: you never clock out!

 

But I gotta say, Lord, 

    (and please be patient with me here)

I gotta say that sometimes, 

    well, once in a while, 

        maybe now and then, 

sometimes it seems

    that you've called in sick 

    taken a day off,

    maybe a personal day,

    or even a leave of absence 

        - even though I know you haven't!

 

But sometimes I have to wonder, Lord:

    where are you? 

    where'd ya go?

    have you, the Invisible One - disappeared?

    why can't I find you? 

    did I lose you?  did you lose me?

    have you forgotten me? 

    how can I find you?

In my heart of hearts, Lord, 

    I want to trust 

and in my faith 

    I do believe you're always there, 

        no time-outs,

working for my good, 

    for my well-being,

        my peace of mind and heart,

            my welfare and serenity

and that not for a moment 

    do you take a break 

        from loving, forgiving and healing me,

        from mending, strengthening and blessing me,

        from lifting me up and saving me

            from anyone and anything

                that comes between you and me...

       

So help me remember tonight, Lord,

    that you're always at my side,

    you always have my back,

    your never take your eyes off me,

    your Spirit always leads me,

    your wisdom keenly guides me,

that you work for me, on my behalf

    always, Lord, and only

        for my peace and my well-being,

    day and night, night and day

        24/7/365...

You've never taken a break, Lord,

    from strengthening, loving and caring for me

        and I trust and know you never will... 

You've never left my side, Lord,

    never left me to fend for myself

        and I trust and know you never will...

You're always there to help me, Lord,

    working on me and helping me grow

        - and I pray you always will be...

    

Protect me, Lord, while I'm awake 

    and work on me in my sleep,

that awake,  I might keep watch with you

    and asleep, grow in your peace...

Amen.

 

Two songs for prayer tonight (sharing the identical title). The first is a new find for me and I hope it will strengthen your faith and hope. The second I've used before - and it's sure to lift your spirits. I hope you listen to both!

 

God Is Working by Deon Kipping

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I can't say I have all of the answers
And I don't know how long you'll feel this pain
Please believe that life is like a movie
And God is working hard behind the scene

 

God is working
Working in your life  Working in your life
Working in your life
God is working
Working in your life  Working in your life
He's working in your life

 

It's hard for you to celebrate God's grace
'Cause every day there's something in the way
But just before you start to fall apart
Remember, God does all His best work in the dark

 

God is working in your life
(Working in your life) oh, He is working in your life
(Working in your life) you can wipe your tears, because
(God is working)
(Working in your life) oh, yeah
(Working in your life) oh, He is working
(Working in your life) working in your life

 

Sometimes your faith and the facts don't line up
When you're trying to believe
But you feel like giving up
You need to know
He doesn't take any days off
And He promised He would finish
Everything that He starts

 
You need to know

God is working
(Working in your life) working in your life
(Working in your life) whoa-oh
(Working in your life) He is working on your behalf
(God is working) yes, He is
(Working in your life) even when you can't see it
(Working in your life) even when you can't feel it
(Working in your life) He is working in your life

 

    Sit back and let Him work
    Let go and let Him work
    Pray and let Him work
    Let Him work in your life

    Sit back and let Him work
    Let go and let Him work
    Pray and let Him work
    Let Him work in your life

 

Please listen (sit back and let Him work)
Let go and let Him work (let go and let Him work)
Pray and let Him work (pray and let Him work)
Let Him work (let Him work in your life)

Sit back and let Him work (sit back and let Him work)
And let go (let go and let Him work)
Pray and let Him work (pray and let Him work)
Let Him work in your life (let Him work in your life)

Yeah-yeah (sit back and let Him work)
Let go and let Him work (let go and let Him work)
Pray and let Him work (pray and let Him work)
Let Him work in your life (let Him work in your life)

Yeah (sit back and let Him work)
Let go and let Him work (let go and let Him work)
Pray and let Him work (pray and let Him work)
Let Him work in your life (let Him work in your life)

 

And when life doesn't make sense
Know that God is working
(Working in your life) yes, He is, oh
(Working in your life) He is working on your behalf
(Working in your life) oh, you can let it go if God is in control
(God is working) yes, He is
(Working in your life) so you can walk around
(Working in your life) everything will be alright
(Working in your life) 'cause He is working in your life

 

And just before you start to fall apart
Remember, God does all His best work in the dark

 

 

God is Working 

   by The Brooklyn Tabernacle Choir

 

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God is working, he's still working
God is working even now
Though we often don't know just how
God is working, he's still working,
God is working even now! 

God is working, he's still working
God is working even now
Though we often don't know just how
God is working, he's still working,
God is working even now!

Though you cannot see and you can't quite understand
Remember God is still in control 
He has promised to bring us through some how
And he's working - even now!

Hallelujah, he's working even now
Hallelujah, he's working even now 
Though we often don't know just how
God is working, he's still working
God is working even - now!

Hallelujah, he's working even now
Hallelujah, he's working even now 
Though we often don't know just how
God is working, he's still working
God is working even - now!   

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Monday Morning Offering: 9/7

Morning Coffee by George Mendoza

Good morning, good God!

It's Labor Day, Lord:
summer’s end, fall’s debut,
a day off work
for all who have a job…

Grant a day of rest, Lord, 

a Sabbath plus,
to the weary, overworked,
to those who work two jobs or more,
to those who toil without joy

or with little satisfaction…

 

And I offer you, Lord, 

I lift up to your hands,
those who have no job,
who’ve searched in vain for months, for years, 

for work to do
to pay the bills, to make ends meet
or just get by…

 

I offer to your mercy, Lord,
those not justly paid
those whose rights have no defenders,
those whose work sites fail to rise
to any standard decent, clean, humane…

 

I lift up to your care, O Lord,
those who’ve lost themselves in work,
forsaking respite, rest and relaxation, 

forgetting friends and family

and the joy that comes

of leaving work behind... 

 

I offer you to your counsel, Lord,
the young who seek good jobs

and the beginnings of careers 
and older workers suddenly
let go and set adrift…

 

I lift up in thanksgiving, Lord,
those who work for laborers’ rights,
who toil for those 

whom others cheat and use 

with no regard for human life,

for it's value,  

and for your Spirit, Lord, dwelling deep 

within each worker’s soul…

Refresh the weary laborer, Lord,
and lead the jobless back to work…

Chart a path, Lord,

for those whose work has just begun;

lift up those who work too hard;

and refresh the hearts of those

whose working days are done... 

Move the minds and hearts
of those who give employ;
make just and fair the laborer's lot
and safe each place where work is done…

Let all the work we do 

give you glory, praise and honor,

this Monday morning, Lord, 

this week and all throughout our lives...

Amen.

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NIGHT PRAYER: Sunday 9/6

 

On Sundays, Night Prayer takes its lead from some element in the day's liturgy.  All three readings at mass today (Ezekiel, Romans and Matthew) deal with fraternal correction offered in justice and in love. The political season we find ourselves in is rife with corrective rhetoric - not always of the kind the scriptures encourage...

 

This Labor Day weekend, Lord,

    so close to the mid-terms,

I'm thinking about some work I need to do...

I need to work harder at understanding folks
    whose politics are different from mine...  

I need to work at moving
   - beyond the slogans and sound bites 
   - through what I judge  

        to be half-truths and deceptions  
   - above the sarcastic and snarky, 
   - out of my own bias and prejudice
   - around my stubborn resistance, 
   - apart from my untested theses
   - and into the possibility that I might not be 

        the sole possessor of truth... 

I need to dig deeper, Lord,
    to see what the other side sees as good and just
        - where I don't see it at all...

I need to work harder, Lord,
    at accepting that others' beliefs, like my own, 

are based on reason, good will and justice 

    as they perceive and understand it...

I need to work at acknowledging:
   - that they're as sincere in their beliefs
         as my side is in ours
  - that not all the bad guys are on their side
         and not all the good guys are on mine
  - that neither side has all the answers:
       we're all sometimes right
          and we're all sometimes wrong...

So, that's the hard work ahead of me, Lord,

and to complete it I need to let go of

   - my pride and rigid intransigence,

   - the conviction that I am always right

   - the notion that some folks 

        have nothing to teach me

   - thinking I've sufficiently studied

        and though through all my positions

   - assuming you're surely on my side, Lord,

         and want nothing to do with the other...

 

That's a lot of work to do

    and to achieve I'll need some peace and quiet

        to ponder, study and seek the truth 
    so protect me, Lord, while I'm still awake
        and watch over me as I sleep
    that awake, I might keep watch with you
        and asleep, rest in your peace...

Amen.

Before You I Kneel: A Worker's Prayer 
    by Stuart Towned and Keith Getty

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Before You I kneel, my Master and Maker,
To offer the work of my hands.

For this is the day You've given Your servant;
I will rejoice and be glad
For the strength I have to live and breathe,
For each skill Your grace has given me,
For the needs and opportunities
That will glorify Your great name.

 

Before You I kneel and ask for Your goodness
To cover the work of my hands.
For patience and peace to shape all my labor,
Your grace for thorns in my path.

 

Flow within me like a living stream,
Wear away the stones of pride and greed
'Til Your ways are dwelling deep in me
And a harvest of life is grown.

 

Before You we kneel, our Master and Maker;
Establish the work of our hands.
And order our steps to seek first Your kingdom
In every small and great task.

May we live the gospel of Your grace,
Serve Your purpose in our fleeting days,
Then our lives will bring eternal praise
And all glory to Your great name.

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Pause for Prayer: SUNDAY 9/6

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This Labor Day weekend, Lord,
I'm grateful for the world you created
and that I, too, am the work of your hands:
    you formed my inmost being, 
    you knit me in my mother's womb...  Psalm 139 

 

How can it be 

that you took the time,
    before time was,
to imagine my being,
to consider for even a moment
that I should exist:
    to conceive of me
    so long before I was conceived?

 

And then from my parents' love
you fashioned and made me

    in their image, yes,  

        but first in yours,
and gave me a soul 

    you'd given no other
and breathed in me the Spirit's gift,

    the breath of your own life...

 

How great are your works, O Lord, my God,

and how grateful am I 

that this life of mine
is truly the work of your hands...

 

And who am I, Lord, 

that you should ever be mindful of me
that you should ever care for me,

that you should eternally love me?

 
Yet you've crowned me 

with glory and honor:
    your love, my crown,
    your mercy, my glory,
    your grace, my unmerited honor...

 

Without you, Lord, 

    I am nothing;
without you,
    I am not...

 

You created me, Lord,
    and so it is now that I,  

        the work of your hands,
offer to you
    the work of my hands,
knowing that all that I have to give,

    from the first was your gift to me...

 

Every good thought of mine, O God,
    and every imagined word, 
    every possible plan I dream,
    and every gift I offer
is first the work 

    of your Spirit within me 

and yet you're pleased when I lift as gift
    what was your gift to me

        to begin with...

 

On this Labor Day weekend

I offer you, Lord, 

    all the work I've ever done, 

        and all that's yet mine to do

and I pray you accept it,

    knowing I'm humbled 

that I have a share in the work you do
    and you have a share in mine...

 

And I pray for those who have no work
    and for those whose work 

        is too much to bear:
lift up the unemployed, O Lord 
    and lighten the load of the weary...

 

I praise you, O God

    for the work you've begun

        in me, in my neighbor and all the world: 

bring all of your work to completion, O Lord,

    Creator of all that is good... 

Amen.
 

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Night Prayer: SATURDAY 9/5

 

Praying on Labor Day weekend...

 

O God, creator of the world,

the sun, the moon and the stars,
you chose to fashion us as your own, 

your handiwork of love...

Indeed, we are your hands’ own work
but into our careless hands,
you've placed the care
of every living thing...

In more ways, Lord, 

than we can count, 
our work builds up - or tears apart -
what came as gift from you to us...

 

Lest we harm the smallest part 

of all anything you've made,

keep us faithful in preserving
all you’ve given to our care...

Give us good and honest work to do
and rest at each day’s end;
let a fair and good day’s wage be paid
for a good day’s work well done...

Give us work to nurture and sustain
the ones who serve and those they serve

let those who labor work in peace,

in freedom, without fear...

 

Give those in need a job to do
and to the tired - well earned rest;

let all our work and toil, Lord,
give glory to your name....

 

Protect us, Lord, while we're awake

    and watch over us while we sleep

that awake, we might keep watch with you

    and asleep, rest in your peace...

Amen.

Before praying with tonight's song, take some time to name the work that's yours, that has been yours...  In what "fields and vineyards" have you been called to "sow, plant and reap?"  What are you "building" at home, at work, at school? in your marriage, in your family and friendships? in your neighborhood and community? Whatever shape or form your labor takes, that's the labor we sing in the lyrics of this song...

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Your Labor Is Not In Vain 

    by Wendell Kimbrough

       performed by Sojourner Music

 

Your labor is not in vain 

Though the ground underneath you is cursed and stained 

Your planting and reaping are never the same 

But your labor is not in vain 

 

Your labor is not unknown 

Though the rocks they cry out and the sea it may groan 

The place of your toil may not seem like a home 

But your labor is not unknown 

 

    I am with you, I am with you 

    I am with you, I am with you 

    For I have called, called you by name 

    Your labor is not in vain 

 

The vineyards you plant will bear fruit 

The fields will sing out and rejoice with the truth 

For all that is old will at last be made new 

The vineyards you plant will bear fruit 

 

The houses you labor to build 

Will finally with laughter and joy be filled 

The serpent that hurts and destroys will be killed 

And all that is broken be healed   

  

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Pause for Prayer: SATURDAY 9/5

Sometimes, Lord...

 

Sometimes I find I worry

   - for nothing -
for nothing is all that worry can do...

And sometimes I find that yesterday's fears
   - were tamed -
while I slept through the night...

And sometimes I find I've somehow
   - survived -
last week's unsolvable problem...

Far too often I fail to trust 

    - you are with me -

through all of my sorrows and joys...

 

So, help me, Lord, to always remember

    - that all shall be well - 

that all manner of things

    in your good time shall be well,

        shall be well, shall be well... 

Amen.

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The view from my window

The lighthouse above is off the coast of Maine.  My sister and bro-in-law are taking me on a ten day cruise to the maritime provinces and the Saint Lawrence Seaway, ending in Quebec!  I'll be back in Boston on September 13! 

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