Litanies, poems and prayers written for the local church.

ponderings... a blog sharing reflections of life and lectionary

Lenten Petition for Year A (Inspired by Iona Com'ty Worship Book) (2002)

Because temptation is woven into the fabric of our lives,
and we know the weariness of forty days in the desert,
and the beckoning power of sweet fruit,
and the vain promises of the world,
we need you, God.
We need you, God.

Because we see the broken before the whole,
and the half empty cup, and the unfinished task,
and the thirst in freedom's quest,
we need you, God.
We need you, God.

Because we trust in what we can see,
and we are blinded by our prejudices,
and we do not know what we do not know,
we need you, God.
We need you, God.

Because our need for correctness exceeds our need for truth,
and our excuses preempt the cry of the wounded,
and our celebration of blessing is mindless of those displaced,
we need you, God.
We need you, God.

Because you came among us,
and breathed into our sinewy souls,
and healed our pain and let us wound you,
and loved us to the end,
and triumphed over all our hatred,
we need you, God.
We need you, God.

Notes for Lent Year A:
Lent is an ideal time to explore the tenets (and questions) basic to our faith. For this reason I've paired the rich stories of the Hebrew Scriptures (from the Lectionary) with "Eight Points of Progressive Christianity" from the Center for Progressive Christianity (www.tcpc.org).

Lent 1A - Communing with Desire
Text: Genesis 2-3 Garden Encounters (Matthew 4:1-11)

TCPC One: Have found an approach to God through the life and teachings of Jesus.
TCPC Two: Recognize the faithfulness of other people who have other names for the way to God's realm, and acknowledge that their ways are true for them, as our ways are true for us.

Hymn: O God How we have Wandered (NCH 202)

Children's Lit: "In God's Name", Sandy Eisenberg Sasso

Lent 2A - Communing with Fear
Text: Genesis 12:1-4 Entry Etiquette (Matthew 17:1-8)

TCPC Seven: Form ourselves into communities dedicated to equipping one another for the work we feel called to do: striving for peace and justice among all people, protecting and restoring the integrity of all God's creation, and bringing hope to those Jesus called the least of his sisters and brothers

Hymn: If I Have Been the Source of Pain (NCH 544)

Children's Lit: "Wilfred Gordon McDonald Partridge", Mem Fox and Julie Vivas

Lent 3A - Communing with Need
Text: Exodus 17:1-7 - Rock Water (John 4:5-42)

TCPC Number Four: Invite all people to participate in our community and worship life without insisting that they become like us in order to be acceptable (including but not limited to): believers and agnostics, conventional Christians and questioning skeptics, women and men, those of all sexual orientations and gender identities, those of all races and cultures, those of all classes and abilities, those who hope for a better world and those who have lost hope.

Hymn: Spirit of the Living God (NCH ?) Consider substituting these two verses written by Janet Tideman after the traditional first verse:

Living water, come from God, flow within me.
Living water, come from God, flow within me.
Wash me, quench me, cool me, thrill me.
Living water, come from God, flow within me.

Holy fi-re of God's heart, burn within me.
Holy fi-re of God's heart, burn within me.
Warm me, urge me, point me, turn me.
Holy fi-re of God's heart, burn within me.

Children's Lit: "And To Think That We Thought That We'd Never Be Friends", Mary Ann Hoerman and Kevin Hawkes

Lent 4A - Communing with Pride
Text: I Samuel 16:1-13 Young and Beautiful (John 9:1-41)

TCPC Three: Understand the sharing of bread and wine in Jesus's name to be a representation of an ancient vision of God's feast for all peoples.
TCPC Five: Know that the way we behave toward one another and toward other people is the fullest expression of what we believe.

Hymn: We Yearn for Christ (NCH 179)

Children's Lit: "Zoe", Calvin Watlington

Lent 5 - Communing with the Holy
Text: Ezekiel 37:1-14 Breathing on the Bones (John 11:1-45)

TCPC Six: Find more grace in the search for understanding than we do in dogmatic certainty - more value in questioning than in absolutes.

Hymn: 499 When we are Living (NCH 499)

Children's Lit: "Three Questions", Jon Muth

Responses for Lent (using 2-3 of the following each week):
Dona Nobis
Nothing Can Trouble
Be Still and Know
O Lord, Hear My Prayer