Pastoral Prayer, May 10, 2015
Broadway Baptist Church
Chris Caldwell, Pastor
There remains in all of us “a faint recollection of Eden.”
--Rudolf Bultmann
A memory draws us to worship, O God
The memory of another time and place
The memory of the day you created us
The memory of your hand placing us in your garden
In our deep-down parts, where the imprint of your image is firmest
Our souls hear the birds singing above us
Our souls feel the soft grass beneath us
Our souls hear the gurgle of a gently flowing river nearby.
We carry within us the memories of simpler, purer times as well, this side of Eden.
Times as children at our mother’s knee, or at the knee of another who was our mother
Warm words cooed down upon us
We are “special”
We are “loved”
We thank you O God for Eden, and for small reflections of Eden along our way
But Eden is not gone because you destroyed it; we did.
On that fateful day we chose not what was good, but what was evil.
And between us and you, since that day
We have planted forests of manipulation
We have amassed mountains of greed
We have wandered far from the purity of your garden and pillaged the wilderness trying to replace what we lost.
In short, we have almost forgotten who we are.
And so we ask you to remind us
Remind us of our Eden selves.
Remind us we were created to reflect your image, not to reject your will.
May the breath of your Spirit blow upon the embers of our memories
and renew the warmth of knowing the simple truth that we are loved.
Help us, in this hour of worship, to tarry a while in Eden
Help us to pause long enough there to drink from the pure river of your grace
Help us to pull from the trees around us the nurturing fruit of what is right and pure
And forgive us for the many times and many ways we have instead snatched at forbidden fruit.
God of healing, hear our prayers for those who are sick
God of strength, hear our prayers for their caregivers
God of justice, hear our prayers for those who are hungry
God of courage, hear our prayers for those who are frightened
God of comfort, hear our prayers for those who are lonely
God of serenity, hear our prayers for those who are angry