God
of possibilities,
we
know that we have not always lived up to the promise that lies within
us
as
individuals, as communities, as a community of communities, we have
injured each other, we have failed to live as people of love
...remembering
that we have not always been the nation we could be
we
lament, we confess, we repent, God hear our prayer.
God
who calls us to live with respect in creation
we
know that in our hurry to make use of the land we have not always
been good stewards
forests
have disappeared, fisheries have been depleted
humans
take the space that once was shared with many other species, and
drive them into far corners
the
detritus of our industrial culture has changed the landscape
and
we still wonder if we can find the balance between economy and
ecology, if we can stop injuring and start repairing the land we love
...remembering
that we have not always been the nation we could be
we
lament, we confess, we repent, God hear our prayer.
God
who calls us to love and serve others
we
are not always good neighbours
the
people who welcomed our predecessors to this land have been
mistreated in word and deed
instead
of celebrating who they were and are we have tried to turn them into
good “proper” people
we
have made promises and then broken them, leading some to wonder if
the promises were made in good faith
we
have invited others to come and enrich the nation and then expected
them to be “like us” when they got here, or forced them to leave
behind their own cultures and ways so they could “fit in”
we
have forgotten that the rule of love is to accept others, we have
forgotten that beauty lies in diversity,
at
times we have forgotten to love, we have expected to be served more
than to serve
...remembering
that we have not always been the nation we could be
we
lament, we confess, we repent, God hear our prayer.
God
who challenges us to seek justice and resist evil
we
look at the news: local, provincial and national and we lose heart
stories
of people cast aside, stories of missing women, stories of justice
denied
we
challenge the system even while we are all too ready to benefit from
the same system, and our resistance loses teeth
we
grow complacent, not seeing the very real struggles faced by our
neighbours
we
begin to wonder if we can make a difference, if the effort is worth
the pay off
...remembering
that we have not always been the nation we could be
we
lament, we confess, we repent, God hear our prayer.
God
of grace, as we hear the laments of our selves and our neighbours,
move us to cry out for justice, push us to help re-build the country
into the nation where love and justice are the rule and norm.
And
the people all said AMEN
No comments:
Post a Comment