(Exploring the Alternate Liturgy, Pt. 4)
For the prayer and intercession section of our Alternate Liturgy, we had a bit of a dilemma. We weren’t sure that we wanted to lose the traditional element of including “The Lord’s Prayer,” but we wanted something fresher and more inclusive. I found something in a 1989 New Zealand Prayer Book, written to integrate Maori prayers and a beautiful and inclusive paraphrase of the Lord’s Prayer by Rev. James Cotter.
The more I’ve used the Alternate Liturgy, the more that I’ve appreciated the depth and beauty of this poetic re-shaping of the prayer. Sometimes I choose the Alternate Liturgy just to be reminded of it. And, as a coincidental(?) bonus, the styling of the second half reflects back to that of our Invocation.
Eternal Spirit,
Earth-maker, Pain-bearer, Life-giver,
Source of all that is and that shall be,
Father and Mother of us all,
Loving God in whom is heaven.
May the hallowing of your name echo through the universe;
The way of your justice be followed by the peoples of the world;
Your heavenly will be done by all created beings;
Your dream of peace and freedom sustain our hope and come on earth.
With the bread we need for today, feed us.
In the hurts we absorb from one another, forgive us.
In times of temptation and test, strengthen us.
From trials too great to endure, spare us.
From the grip of all that is evil, free us.
For you reign in the glory of the power that is love,
Now and forever, Amen.*
*Paraphrase of The Lord’s Prayer, originally J. Cotter, prepared by the English Language Liturgical Consultation (ELLC), 1988, held in the public domain, and found in A New Zealand Prayer Book, 1989
We follow that with the same intercessory prayer that we use in the main liturgy, partly because the focus here is for nothing to distract giving our compassionate attention to those who are hurting:
We join with all who suffer and ask, “How long?”
(Slowly)With compassion,
we remember those who endure the pain
of violence,
poverty,
illness,
loneliness,
loss,
and despair.God, in your mercy,
Hear our prayer.
Linocut by Helen Soucoup – “The Kingdom of Heaven is within you”