A Prayer for Community Builders
God,
Tonight I pray for those who are building up communities.
It’s hard work.
Sometimes the builders don’t see their hard work bear fruit for a long time,
or at all.
To reach out to people where they are,
to understand people on their own terms,
to organize people to make a difference…
sometimes feels like an impossible task.
But I see it happening.
I see change happening.
If a bunch of Presbyterians can get together and start planning an online church plant,
change can happen.
If an old-school seminary can offer classes about community organizing,
change can happen.
If a person like me can embrace chaos, even for just a few minutes,
change can happen.
I see it.
Even more exciting, I see people envisioning a better future,
sharing their vision, and working together to make it happen.
Thank you, God, for the community builders.
For those who break old patterns and inspire new ones,
For those who lift up people who are already there and invite new people in,
For those who are following where your Spirit is leading them.
Thank you for the inspiration they have given me.
Strengthen my resolve to be a community builder and change maker.
Help me to be more like Jesus who shook up the status quo
while building up individuals and communities.
As a follower of Jesus I am called to reconciliation, justice-doing,
radical acts of love, and community building.
Help me listen for the Spirit’s guidance over the voices of the modern day nay-sayers.
Because you are moving. You are doing something new.
Let me be a part of it.
-Written by Emily Hope Morgan, a millennial pondering questions of the new millennium