Pandemic Prayers for Proper 29, Thanksgiving and Keeping Watch Under Pandemic Skies Release

I have already moved into Advent. I made the leap. The Christmas carols have been turned on though I’m refusing to put the tree until after Thanksgiving. It feels like it has been Advent for months already though, doesn’t it? Still, the huge uptick in COVID-19 cases across this nation mean that any worship plans to be together have most likely changed…. again.

My dear friend and pastor at my sweet Texas church wanted to provide something different. Something that allowed the community to experience this season in a new way while still being connected to the physical space of the church, even if that physical space was outside in the garden, outdoor chapel and labyrinth instead of inside the sanctuary. She asked me to help and so I’m thrilled to finally release Keeping Watch Under Pandemic Skies for all of the changed plans of 2020.

I’m really excited about how this turned out and hope that it might be a blessing to all of your changed plans. It’s meant to be simple though there is a bit of legwork in getting yard signs set up along the two different paths you create on your church property. The meditations unfold over Wednesdays and Sundays throughout the Advent and Christmas seasons with music, reflections, prayers and actions to take. I’ve included sample yard signs in the bundle and even an outdoor Christmas Eve service. Order your bundle here.

I will be taking a break from writing weekly prayers in Advent so you won’t see new prayers for weekly worship here next week, but I do have a few other things up my sleeve so be sure to sign up for my News from My Kitchen so you don’t miss out. That said, I have a prayer for this week. It’s not my favorite but it’s something for the weird cacophony of this Sunday. It feels like too much to me every year. Too many things at once as we try to honor the Reign of Christ, Reformation Sunday and the end of the church calendar. It’s too much especially when I just want to bellow into the unknown future.

I want to know what will be. I’m hoping that the hatred and contempt so embedded in our national life right now will change. I’m longing for hearts to change and hoping that God will be known in new and wonderful ways. I’m hoping for a vaccine but hesitant to name that prayer too loudly.

Prayer for the Wondering
Inspired by Matthew 25:31-46

O God, tell us what can be
where we divided 
and separated 
like sheep from the goats.

On the right 
and on the left,
we need blessing
and grace.

Our foundations 
have been shaken. 
We never imagined
that this would be
our reality. Here we are, 
O God, wondering what 
could be. Speak to us
in sacred story
and modern parable
so that we can see
your place in every thing.  
We need to 
know that you
are in every thing, 
O God. Fill our jagged
edges and open questions 
with your presence
so that we can 
wonder what will 
be with you. Amen.

At the same time, I’m thinking about gratitude because that’s supposed to be something we are feeling this month. Maybe that’s for only when we are not in the third wave of a global pandemic. My first call was in Maine that marked that occasion with joy of pilgrims. We know better now, I hope. We are working harder than ever at learning from our mistakes and our implicit bias. I think that requires a new language of gratitude that is not tied to that childhood tale of strangers becoming friends around a table of abundance. We will be isolating this year. We won’t be with our families. Gratitude can’t be found in the familiar. At least for me, it’s a little bit sassier.

Prayer for Pandemic Gratitude
Inspired by Deuteronomy 8:7-18 and  2 Corinthians 9:6-15

O God, bring us 
to that good land 
full of your living water
and the abundance of 
good things. Bring us 
to that place where
we might be full 
and satisfied
because 
this nagging feeling 
is exhausting. 

This constant
agonizing feeling
that nothing will 
get better and 
nobody cares 
because we can't 
agree on what love
looks like now
just needs to stop.

We are not cheerful.
Don't ask that
of us, O God,
because we don't
have that in us. 
Sorry. It's true.
Skip ahead 
to the part 
where we 
give to the poor
and multiply the seeds
for the farmers 
and bread bakers
except that we've confused
what we can do in this 
great and terrible 
pandemic wilderness 
with what you can do. 

Remind us 
that gratitude
doesn't have to
turn over every table
but only had to turn 
our hearts 
to notice the indescribable
wonder of living in your love.
O God, with every
breath in our bodies,
help us to live 
in our love
enough to praise
you with thanksgiving.
Amen.

That’s all I’ve got for you this week, dear pastors. I’m praying for you as always.