Be still, sisters and brothers.
Be still before the Lord now,
and wait patiently
as we pray:

Lord, give us peace.
Where we choose to fret
over circumstances that seem unfair,
over things we cannot control,
and even those we can,
Hand us instead Your patient grace.

May we declare our trust in You:
a trust that soothes our rage
and that goads our apathy
so that we may act with confidence
that we are walking with You.

Lord, in Your mercy, hear our prayer.

Lord of Love:
when we are called to love the lovely
Your commands fall easy on our ears.
But for the rest—
we need Your help.

Help us to love those who hate us.
To bless those who curse us.
To pray for those who cry out against us.
To offer our other cheek for striking;
to hand everything over to the thief.
These are difficult commands;
nevertheless we believe You
when You call us to mercy and forgiveness.

May we extend them
and embody You in our families,
our workplaces, our social media profiles,
our city and our world.

Lord, in Your mercy, hear our prayer.

God of Resurrection:
You have the final Word.
Death loses and You triumph!
Like the seed that falls,
dies, and rises again as an oak,
so is our resurrection promise.

We pray for strength
to practice that resurrection now.
Today. Tomorrow. This week.
To live as resurrection people,
calling out the good in everyone we encounter,
speaking Your words of life into them.

May we cherish Your resurrection promise
as we commend to You those who have died,
those who are infirm and ill,
those who suffer under individual situations
and systemic brutalities,
and those who around the world
who call You Lord, regardless of the ramifications.
You’ve made us resurrection people;
help us live like it.

All this we ask through Christ, our Lord. Amen.

Lord have mercy,
Christ have mercy.
Lord have mercy,
Christ have mercy.