Prayers of the People - Sunday, May 2, 2010

By: Ella Taylor-Walsh

Gracious God, Creator of infinite variety, we thank you for the many different personalities we meet each day: for fresh ideas that expand our vision, for new perspectives that challenge our easy assumptions, for those who teach us new things and increase our understanding of the world, for those whose experience complements our own and makes our community richer for their presence.

Creator of the rich diversity of human beings, hear us as we offer thanks, aloud or in silence, for some of those we have met or heard from this past week, naming the blessings they’ve given, acknowledging the challenges they’ve presented:

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Creating Spirit, we give you thanks for human diversity.

Spirit of Truth, calling us to be honest about our own attitudes and behaviour, hear us as we reflect on our response to those we encounter on our daily journey, celebrating moments when we’ve been open and accepting, but also confessing our lack of understanding, our readiness to judge, our lack of empathy and compassion:

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Spirit of Truth and Understanding, help us to recognize and respect your presence in those around us, free us from the blindness or fear that makes us dismiss too readily ideas and traditions different from our own, remind us that every creature is of your making, that others, like us, are a work in progress, created for good and deserving of acceptance and respect.

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Loving God, we seek your guidance in our relationships. Spirit of Compassion, we name now, aloud or in silence, those individuals and communities in particular need of concern and help:

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We pray for:  Marg Porteous, Bilal, Jim Lemon, Lyn Gaetz, Lizzie Savaria, the mother of Willy Malate, in the Philippines, Georgia Helleiner, and B.J.Klassen, both recovering from surgery.

We join together to pray with the church in Sudan & Uganda:

Weave your blessings into our lives, O God. Weave in your open-heartedness so that we accept others, your gentleness so that we care for others, your attentiveness so that we listen to others, your goodness so that we find good in others, and your love so that we love others. Weave your blessings into our lives, O God, so that we celebrate the blessings of others.
Amen.