Prayer for 2009

We have found our way through the Advent season, a time when as Christians we wait for the hope that we know is coming. And as 2008 ends and a new year begins, we are still very much waiting for this hope to be realized. As I write these words, bombs are killing people in Gaza, war is being threatened between India and Pakistan, and in my own neighborhood here in Kathmandu, people are hungry. With these images threatening to overshadow the promise that Christmas has brought, I offer this simple prayer for the New Year.

Creator God,

We live in a world that often forgets it was created by you,

We pollute the air you give us to breathe,

We abuse the soil from which you give us food,

With hands that you shaped, we injure and even kill our sisters and brothers,

Through eyes that you formed, we see differences and inequalities,

We use our minds, that you designed, to create unjust systems,

We raise our voices to secure our own rights and freedoms,

You created our hearts for compassion, instead we fill them with greed.

 

With the coming of a new year, help us to imagine new possibilities,

Let us plant trees so the world can breathe,

Let us honor the land as a gift from you,

With our hands, let us embrace our enemies,

Through our eyes, let us see the beauty in each other,

Let us use our minds to create new ways of living,

Let us raise our voices out of concern for the poor,

Fill our hearts with a love that will sustain us throughout this year.