Above:  The Union Jack

Image in the Public Domain

Text (1893) by George Thomas Coster (1835-1912), an Englishman

Hymn Source = The Pilgrim Hymnal (1904), which lists it under the category “Our Country”

A Temperance Hymn

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Lord of the gracious sunshine,

Lord of the angry flame,

Thou in the book of nations

Hast writ our country’s name:

Blot it not thence, we pray thee,

To our eternal shame!

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There is a foe among us,

That’s stronger than the strong,

In men the manhood slaying,

To children doing wrong:

And shall it rage forever?

How long, O Lord, how long?

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Eyes charmed to blindness, open,

This subtle foe to shun;

Breathe in each patriot bosom

The spirit of thy Son;

From all self-pleasing save us,

And let thy will be done!

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O God, for this, our home-land,

We lift our prayer to thee:

Pardon us, Lord, and may we

Be pure, and strong, and free,

And while the earth remaineth,

Thy people ever be!

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ON THE OCCASION OF A DISASTER

Compassionate God, whose Son Jesus wept at the grave of his friend Lazarus:

Draw near to us in this time of sorrow and anguish,

comfort those who mourn,

strengthen those who are weary,

encourage those in despair,

and lead us all to fullness of life;

through the same Jesus Christ, our Savior and Redeemer,

who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit,

God for ever and ever.  Amen.

Readings

Job 14:7-13 or Jeremiah 31:15-20

Psalm 60 or 130 or 80:1-7 or 23

Romans 8:35-38 or Revelation 21:1-7 or Romans 8:18-25

Luke 6:20-26 or Mark 13:14-27

—Holy Women, Holy Men:  Celebrating the Saints (2010), 733

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IN A TIME OF NATURAL DISASTER

O God, you divided the waters of chaos at creation.

In Christ you stilled storms, raised the dead,

and vanquished demonic powers.

Tame the earthquake, wind, and fire,

and all forces that defy control or shock us by their fury.

Keep us from calling disaster your justice.

Help us, in good times and in distress,

to trust your mercy and yield to your power, this day and for ever.

Amen.

–Andy Langford, in The United Methodist Book of Worship (1992), 509

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DURING A NATIONAL CRISIS

God of ages,

in your sight nations rise and fall,

and pass through times of peril.

Now when our land is troubled,

be near to judge and save.

May leaders be led by your wisdom;

may they search your will and see it clearly.

If we have turned from your way,

help us to reverse our ways and repent.

Give us light and your your truth to guide us;

through Jesus Christ,

who is the Lord of this world, and our Savior.  Amen.

—Book of Common Worship (1993), 818

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TIME OF CONFLICT, CRISIS, DISASTER

O God, where hearts are fearful and constricted, grant courage and hope.

Where anxiety is infectious and widening, grant peace and reassurance.

Where impossibilities close every door and and window, grant imagination and resistance.

Where distrust twists our thinking, grant healing and illumination.

Where spirits are daunted and weakened, grand soaring wings and strengthened dreams.

All these things we ask in the name of Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord.  Amen.

—Evangelical Lutheran Worship (2006), 76

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TIME OF CIVIC MOURNING

God our creator, through whose providing care we enjoy all goodness and life,

turn our eyes to your mercy at this time of confusion and loss.

Comfort this nation as we mourn;

shine your light on those whose only companion is darkness;

and teach us so to number our days that we may apply our hearts to your wisdom;

through Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord.  Amen.

—Evangelical Lutheran Worship (2006), 77

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https://neatnik2009.wordpress.com/2020/03/17/coronavirus-covid-19-prayers/

https://blogatheologica.wordpress.com/2020/03/17/coronavirus-covid-19-prayers/

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I composed this prayer and selected the passages of scripture today because, while writing a post at SUNDRY THOUGHTS, not one of the available propers for martyrs seemed adequate, given the topic and my mood.

KRT

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Loving God, why do the just and innocent suffer?

We read and hear ancient theological answers to that question.

Regardless of the truth of any of those answers, they fail to satisfy.

Hasten the age of your justice, we pray, so that

the meek will inherit the earth,

we will beat our swords into plowshares and learn war no more,

artificial scarcity will cease, and

nobody else will have to suffer or die for the love of one’s neighbors.

In nomine Patris et Filii et Spiritus Sancti.  Amen.

Joel 3:9-16

Psalm 70

Revelation 7:13-17

Luke 6:20-26

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

MARCH 15, 2019 COMMON ERA

THE FEAST OF SAINT ZACHARY OF ROME, BISHOP OF ROME

THE FEAST OF SAINTS JAN ADALBERT BALICKI AND LADISLAUS FINDYSZ, ROMAN CATHOLIC PRIESTS IN POLAND

THE FEAST OF OZORA STEARNS DAVIS, U.S. CONGREGATIONALIST MINISTER, THEOLOGIAN, AND HYMN WRITER

THE FEAST OF VETHAPPAN SOLOMON, APOSTLE TO THE NICOBAR ISLANDS

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https://blogatheologica.wordpress.com/2019/03/15/proper-for-christian-martyrs/

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Above:  Riverside Church and Grant’s Tomb, New York, New York

Image in the Public Domain

Hymn (1930) by Harry Emerson Fosdick (1878-1969), for the opening of the Riverside Church, New York, New York, in 1930

Hymn Sources = The Hymnal (1941), Evangelical and Reformed Church; Hymnal and Liturgies of the Moravian Church (1969), Moravian Church in America

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God of grace and God of glory,

On Thy people pour Thy power;

Crown Thine ancient church’s story;

Bring her bud to glorious flower.

Grant us wisdom, Grant us courage,

For the facing of this hour,

For the facing of this hour.

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Lo! the hosts of evil round us

Scorn Thy Christ, assail his ways!

From the fears that long have bound us

Free our hearts to faith and praise:

Grant us wisdom, Grant us courage,

For the living of these days,

For the living of these days.

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Cure Thy children’s warring madness,

Bend our pride to Thy control;

Shame our wanton, selfish gladness,

Rich in things and poor in soul.

Grant us wisdom, Grant us courage,

Lest we miss Thy kingdom’s goal,

Lest we miss Thy kingdom’s goal.

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Set our feet on lofty places;

Gird our lives that they may be

Armored with all Christlike graces

In the fight to set men free.

Grant us wisdom, Grant us courage,

That we fail not man nor Thee!

That we fail not man nor Thee!

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Save us from weak resignation

To the evils we deplore;

Let the search for Thy salvation

Be our glory evermore.

Grant us wisdom, Grant us courage

Serving Thee Whom we adore,

Serving Thee Whom we adore.

Above:  Apotheosis of War, by Vasily Vereshchagin

Image in the Public Domain

Text (1930) by Harry Emerson Fosdick (1878-1969)

Hymn Source = The Hymnal (1941), Evangelical and Reformed Church

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The Prince of Peace His banner spreads,

His wayward folk to lead

From war’s embattled hates and dreads,

Its bulwarked ire and greed.

O marshal us, the sons of sires

Who braved the cannon’s roar,

To venture all that peace requires

As they dared death for war.

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Lead on, O Christ!  That haunting song

No centuries can dim,

Which long ago the heavenly throng

Sang over Bethlehem;

Cast down our rancor, fear, and pride,

Exalt goodwill again!

Our worship doth Thy name deride,

Bring we not peace to men.

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Thy pardon, Lord, for war’s dark shame,

Its death-strewn, bloody fields!

Yet thanks to Thee for souls aflame

Who dared with swords and shields!

O Christ, who died to give men life,

Bring that victorious hour,

When man shall use for peace, not strife,

His valor, skill, and power.

Above:  Father and Son

Image in the Public Domain

Hymn Source = Hymnal and Liturgies of the Moravian Church (1969), Moravian Church in America

Text (1956) by Harry Emerson Fosdick (1878-1969)

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O God, Who to a loyal home

Didst trust Thy Son divine,

Where faithful love and patient work

Made daily life benign;

With contrite shame Thy grace we claim

And lift to Thee our prayer;

Redeem our oft unworthy homes

Till all is Christlike there.

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Deliver us from sins which harm

Our homes, and mar their peace.

May selfless and devoted love

Make strife and discord cease.

With anxious zeal, for mankind’s weal

And worldwide peace we pray,

But all in vain, if wayward homes

Cause childhood’s steps to stray.

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Thou art our Father, and from Thee

All faithful families spring;

To homes where love and honor dwell

Thou dost Thy blessing bring.

O God of love, send from above

Thy succor, swift and strong,

That from such homes stout souls may come

To triumph over wrong.

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We pray that childhood’s latent powers

May grow to bless mankind,

That we may guide aright young lives

For unguessed good designed.

O Father God, Whose Son has trod

Such lowly paths as we,

Help us to build on earth true homes,

Till we come home to Thee.

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Above:  People Crossing Pedestrian Lane, by Abby Chung

Image in the Public Domain

Text (1931) by Harry Emerson Fosdick (1878-1969)

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O God, in restless living we lose our spirit’s peace.

Calm our unwise confusion, bid thou our clamor cease.

Let anxious hearts grow quiet, like pools at evening still,

till thy reflected heaves all our spirits fill.

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Teach us, beyond our striving, the rich rewards of rest.

Who does not live serenely is never deeply bless’d.

O tranquil, radiant Sunlight, bring thou our lives to flow’r,

less wearied with our effort, more aware of pow’r.

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Receptive make our spirits, our need is to be still.

As dawn fades flick’ring candle, so dim our anxious will.

Reveal thy radiance through us, thine ample strength release.

Not ours, but thine the triumph in the pow’r of peace.

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We grow not wise by struggling, we gain but things by strain.

We cease to water gardens, when comes thy plenteous rain.

O, beautify our spirits in restfulness from strife,

enrich our souls in secret with abundant life.

Above:  Buckingham’s General Store, Circa 1898

Image Source = Library of Congress

Litany Source = A Book of Worship for Free Churches (1948), the General Council of the Congregational and Christian Churches in the United States

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O Lord, who didst create the earth for our habitation, and the increase thereof for our enrichment,

Have mercy upon us.

On the earth and all that is therein; on the harvest of the soil; on the trade and industry of our people; on the soil by which the sons of men obtain thy abundant gifts,

We pray for thy blessing, O Lord.

On those who search for thy treasures hidden in the earth; on those who labor to make them fir for the use of man,

We pray for thy blessing, O Lord.

On those who work in the building and adoring of the churches in which we worship, of the homes in which we live, of the goodly palaces of fart, and government, and commerce,

We pray for thy blessing, O Lord.

On manufacturers and craftsmen; on those who devise cunning machines and are skilled in all manner of workmanship,

We pray for thy blessing, O Lord.

On merchants who bring thy gifts from foreign lands; on the men who go down to the sea in ships, and occupy their business in great waters,

We pray for thy blessing, O Lord.

On all who trade with us in the shop, or in the market; on all who serve at the counter, or in the office; on those who bring what we need for life, or comfort, or enjoyment, within reach of our homes,

We pray for thy blessing, O Lord.

O Lord, how manifold are thy works;

In wisdom thou hast made them all.

O Lord, how manifold are thy works;

The earth is full of thy riches.

O God, who orderest all things both in heaven and earth; grant that every man, according to the business which he hath undertaken among the sons of men, may know that he is thy servant therein; that whatsoever his hand findeth to do, he may do it as in thy service and to thy glory; through Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.

–Pages 317-319

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This is post #1750 of GATHERED PRAYERS.

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Above:  Earthrise, Apollo 8, December 24, 1968

Image Source = NASA

Litany Source = A Book of Worship for Free Churches (1948), the General Council of the Congregational Christian Churches in the United States

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O Lord our Lord,

How excellent is thy Name in all the earth!

Thou hast made us to have dominion over the works of thy hands;

Thou hast put all things under our feet.

On all rulers and legislators, on councillors and ministers of state, on judges and magistrates,

We pray for thy blessing, O Lord.

On those who study the laws of the land that they may give wise and just counsel to men in their dealings with one another,

We pray for thy blessing, O Lord.

On all who defend us from lawlessness by land or by sea or in the air, and maintain peace and order,

We pray for thy blessing, O Lord.

On those who humbly search out thy works, and mark the wisdom in which thou hast made them all,

We pray for thy blessing, O Lord.

On all students and learners, on all teachers and instructors, on our schools and universities,

We pray for thy blessing, O Lord.

On physicians and nurses and all who practice the arts of healing; on those by whose skill thou takest away pain and givest sleep, restoring the sick to health and the weak to strength,

We pray for thy blessing, O Lord.

On those who adorn thy world with works of beauty; on those who build glorious houses for thy worship; and on those who make sweet music to thine honor,

We pray for thy blessing, O Lord.

On all that guides aright the course of mankind; on all that makes us know thy divine order and the beauty of thy works; on all that opens our eyes to see thy glory, and uplifts our souls in praise,

We pray for thy blessing, O Lord.

Blessed is the man whose strength is in thee;

In whose heart are thy ways.

Thy kingdom is an everlasting kingdom;

And thy dominion endureth throughout all generations.

–Pages 315-317

The Chapel, The University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia

Image Source = Library of Congress

Litany Source = A Book of Worship for Free Churches (1948), the General Council of the Congregational Christian Churches in the United States

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Eternal God, who hast promised us the liberty which follows after truth; grant that, keeping the commandments of Christ, we may have the mind of Christ and be free, as he was free.

For all who guard the truths which were known of old, that, as good stewards of that knowledge, they may confirm us in simple and righteous living;

We beseech thee to hear us, good Lord.

For those who seek the new truth, that, believing more light is yet to break, they may be sustained in their searching by the faith that thou art, and that thou art the rewarder of them that diligently seek thee;

We beseech thee to hear us, good Lord.

For all scientists, looking upon the face of nature, that they may see order in its variety and law in its constancy, and may teach men to live upon earth in confidence and without fear;

We beseech thee to hear us, good Lord.

For all historians, that, telling again the story of the past with sincerity and sympathy, they may bind the generations together in one communion to thy real sons;

We beseech thee to hear us, good Lord.

For all builders, poets, painters, and makers of music, that they may open our blind eyes and unstop our deaf ears to the beauty of thy world;

We beseech thee to hear us, good Lord.

For all who would lead man’s long thoughts beyond the things that are known into the world which is the unknown, that their faith may prepare for us a place in the infinite mystery;

We beseech thee to hear us, good Lord.

For all who unselfishly bring their knowledge to the service of the world, that they may prove their learning by their works; and give that vision without which the people parish;

We beseech thee to hear us, good Lord.

For ourselves in this society of the truth, that accepting with gladness the high offices of thought, that seeing clearly, and feeling deeply we may go forth to be in the world as those who serve, and may this know the mind of Christ which we would make the manner of our thinking; and all these things we ask in his Name, even Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.

–Pages 314-315