World in Prayer

It was my week to write the World In Prayer prayers. I hope I wasn't too preachy, here.


Holy Trinity, we understand so little
  about you
  about the world around us
  about our neighbors
  about ourselves.

We struggle to make sense of our experiences.
We do our best to make everything fit in the scheme of things,
to make you fit our understanding,
to make events follow some logic or plan.

Perhaps today we can offer to you our confusion as a gift,
the limits of our knowledge as our offering and our prayer.

All-knowing God, we lay before you the inexplicable sufferings of our world
in the hope that your love will give us comfort and the strength to comfort others.

We pray for Syria in its continued turmoil and conflict.

We pray for the victims of the tornado in Oklahoma, USA.

We pray for all refugees throughout the world, and for those who lose their homes through displacement, disaster, or loss.

We pray for Iran where the Guardian Council disqualified the presidential candidacy of Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani ahead of Iran’s June elections.

We pray for those participating in the hunger strike on the base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and for those seeking a resolution to the issues that surround the prison there.

We pray for those who are sick, and for those suffering from diseases for which we have no cure or answer.

We pray for those working to contain the novel coronavirus, and for those affected by it in Saudi Arabia, Tunisia, and elsewhere.

We pray for the victims of random and unexpected violence.

We pray for Iraq where 70 people have been killed in bombings in recent days, and where 7 women and 5 men were shot dead in a brothel.

We pray for Mark Carson, shot in New York City, USA, by a man who shouted gay slurs at him.

We pray for a man killed in London, England, after being attacked by two men with machetes.

We pray for all those damaged by hatred. We pray for those who hate themselves or others.

We pray also that we may be aware of those moments of joy and grace that defy our understanding.

We pray that we may be alive to the wonder of your creation, and to the inspiration that it brings.

We thank you for the discovery of prehistoric cave paintings in Mexico.

We thank you for all those things that make us aware of the world and people around us.

In our struggle to understand, may we join with one another in love, remembering that you call us to faith, not certainty, and to compassion, not answers.

Holy Trinity, be our guide now and always. It is by you we pray.
Amen