Pocket Watch

Image Source = Isabelle Grosjean

(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:MontreGousset001.jpg)

Prayer Source = The United Methodist Book of Worship (1992), of The United Methodist Church

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Eternal God,

you hold the times and seasons,

endings and beginnings, in your hands.

Bless Name, who now enters a new time of life.

We give you thanks for tasks accomplished,

for the joys and pains woven into the fabric of his/her hears.

Give Name the guidance of your Holy Spirit.

May days no longer filled with old obligations

be free for new activities and associations.

May fears and uncertainties about the future

be transformed into quiet confidence.

May each new day be received as a sacred trust and lived to your glory;

through Jesus Christ our Savior.  Amen.

Necktie

Image Source = Pumbaa 80

(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Tie_dimple.jpg)

Prayer Source = The United Methodist Book of Worship (1992), of The United Methodist Church

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Lord Jesus Christ, carpenter of creation,

you knew the satisfactions and responsibilities of human work

and hallowed it for ever in a carpenter’s shop in Nazareth.

As Name begins a new job,

as a worthy occupation, may it be useful in the human enterprise.

May Name be a blessing to others

by living and working to the honor and glory of your holy name.  Amen.

Job Fair

Image Source = Arvind Grover

(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:JOb_Fair.jpg)

Prayer Source = The United Methodist Book of Worship (1992), of The United Methodist Church

Prayer by the Reverend David Schnasa Jacobsen, who worked in United Methodist congregations until 1996 and served as Editorial Assistant to The United Methodist Book of Worship Project, but who has taught Homiletics at Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada seminaries (mostly Waterloo Theological Seminary, Ontario) since 1996; his CV lists him as attending St. Mark’s Lutheran Church, Kitchener, Ontario

His CV:

http://info.wlu.ca/wwwsem/dsj/dsjcv.html

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O God of the vineyard,

you call us all to productive labor,

to employ our gifts and talents for you.

We pray for those who are unemployed.

Strengthen them in this difficult hour,

uplift their spirits,

and grant them a place among your laborers

until all be employed for the common good,

and we share fully in our true work

of praising you with heart and mind and soul forever.  Amen.

Farming

Image Source = U.S. Department of Agriculture via Wikipedia

Hymn Source = The Hymn Book of the Anglican Church of Canada and the United Church of Canada (1971)

Words by the Reverend Thomas Charles Hunter Clare (born in 1910), a priest of The Church of England (Hunter Clare is his last name.)

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1.  God of the farmlands, hear our prayer,

Lord of the growing seed,

bless thou the fields, for to thy care

we look in all our need.

2.  God of the rivers in their course,

Lord of the swelling sea,

where man must strive with nature’s force,

do thou his guardian be.

3.  God of the dark and sombre mine,

Lord of its hard-won store,

in toil and peril all be thine;

thy help and strength are sure.

4.  God of the city’s throbbing heart,

Lord of its industry,

bid greed and base deceit depart,

give true prosperity.

5.  Source of authority and right,

God of all earthly power,

to those who govern grant thy light,

thy wisdom be their dower.

6.  God of the nations, King of men,

Lord of each humble soul,

we seek thy gracious aid again:

O come and make us whole.

Shift Change from Metropolis (1927)

The above image is a screen capture.

Prayer Source = Jonathan Montaldo, compiler, Lent and Easter Wisdom from Thomas Merton:  Daily Scripture and Prayers Together with Thomas Merton’s Own Words (Liguori, MO:  Liguori, 2007), page 30

Prayer by Jonathan Montaldo

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Save me, O God,

from being a full participant in a society

grown fat and rich on the backs of others.

Take off my blinders so I may see

the injustice and poverty everywhere around me.

Help me understand the need

for a repentance that turns my heart

to a loving and just relationship with everyone.

http://lenteaster.wordpress.com/2012/05/15/devotion-for-the-eleventh-and-twelfth-days-of-lent-lcms-daily-lectionary/

http://lenteaster.wordpress.com/2010/10/28/twelfth-day-of-lent/

2010 Workers Memorial Day Poster

Image Source = Wikipedia

Prayer Source = Jonathan Montaldo, compiler, Lent and Easter Wisdom from Thomas Merton:  Daily Scripture and Prayers Together with Thomas Merton’s Own Words (Liguori, MO:  Liguori, 2007), page 27

Prayer by Jonathan Montaldo

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You enjoin me to give up everything to follow you.

You teach me that the price of genuine freedom

is to become poor and hungry for the kingdom of heaven.

Freedom for your disciples is freedom

to do justice and liberate our neighbors,

as we liberate ourselves,

from whatever keeps us fettered in ignorance

of your command to love our neighbors as ourselves.

http://lenteaster.wordpress.com/2012/05/15/devotion-for-the-eleventh-and-twelfth-days-of-lent-lcms-daily-lectionary/

http://lenteaster.wordpress.com/2010/10/28/eleventh-day-of-lent/

From the Book of Common Prayer (1979), of The Episcopal Church:

Almighty God, whose Son Jesus Christ in his earthly life shared our toil and hallowed our labor:  Be present with your people where they work; make those who carry on the industries and commerce of this land responsive to your will; and give to us all a pride in what we do, and a just return for our labor; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever.  Amen.

From the Book of Common Prayer (1979), of The Episcopal Church:

O God, your unfailing providence sustains the world we live in and the life we live:  Watch over those, both night and day, who work while others sleep, and grant that we may never forget that our common life depends upon each other’s toil; through Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.

God of grace and glory, you create and sustain the universe in majesty and beauty:  We thank you for [N. and] all in whom you have planted the desire to know your creation and to explore your work and wisdom.  Lead us, like them, to understand better the wonder and mystery of creation; through Christ you eternal Word, through whom all things were made.  Amen.

Genesis 2:9-20

Psalm 34:8-14

2 Corinthians 13:1-6

John 20:24-27

—Holy Women, Holy Men:  Celebrating the Saints (2010), of The Episcopal Church

Image in the Public Domain

From Holy Women, Holy Men:  Celebrating the Saints (2010), of The Episcopal Church:

Eternal God, light of the world and Creator of all that is good and lovely:

We bless your name for inspiring [N. and] all those

who with images and words have filled us with desire and love for you;

through Jesus Christ our Savior, who with you and the Holy Spirit

lives and reigns, one God, for ever and ever.  Amen.

1 Chronicles 29:14b-19

Psalm 90:14-17

2 Corinthians 3:1-3

John 21:15-17, 24-25