This Sunday in our gathered worship we somehow managed to balance a message of lament at humanity’s response to the killing of a terrorist with celebration of mothers’ day. It was a moving gathering in many ways. Here’s some of what we said and did.
David invited us to greet one another in recognition of the common bond we share – we all have a mother who gave birth to us. We were invited to hug one another in greeting. What a joyful loving way to begin.
The children heard the next part of the Easter story, when Jesus appears to the disciples, from Archbishop Desmond Tutu’s Children of God Storybook, and then remembered the story of the disciples on the road to Emmaus which tells us that God is always with us.
Then I led us in a prayer of lament, adapted from material provided by Pilgrim Uniting Church:
In this space we would normally offer prayers of confession. This morning I am inviting us to offer a prayer of lament, acknowledging the rather ugly side of humanity on display this week, following the killing of Osama bin Laden.
“I cannot think of any example in sacred texts suggesting that it’s okay to celebrate someone’s death. I don’t think any of the prophets would condone such a reaction.” Imam Muhamed Hasic
The Prophet Mohammad was sitting by a road one day when a funeral procession came by. The prophet stood up out of respect. “The people with him told him, ‘But he’s not a Muslim.’ “The Prophet Mohammad said, ‘Isn’t it a human soul?’”
From a Uniting Church website this week: There can be no joy in this moment for us. Jesus calls us in his teachings to do the difficult thing of loving our enemies and praying for those who persecute us. Osama’s death does not bring us any closer to our ultimate goal – a just peace, healing of the human spirit and reconciliation between human beings and with God. We know that revenge does not lead to healing and reconciliation. It does not move us any closer to peace.
We lament……
We lament the loss of lives in the 9/11 and other terrorist attacks,
the loss of lives in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan,
the financial toll of waging a war at the expense of people’s welfare,
the emotional toll of soldiers returned from duty.
We lament…..
We lament the ongoing unrest, injustice, discontent, distrust and hatred
that sows the seeds from which terrorism emerges.
We lament……
Silence
God is with us as we lament, in our shame and our sorrow, and God is with us as we hope for better days to come.
We heard readings from Acts 2:36-42 and Luke 24:13-35, and the reflection invited the story of our world into dialogue with the story of the disciples’ encounter with the risen Christ, and pondered what meaning we might then find in our Sacred Story for today.
After the children returned for Holy Communion, we offered our prayers for others – today, prayers for mothers.
Our prayers for others today are prayers for mothers, being that it’s mother’s day. Mother’s day was born out of a desire to mobilise mothers of men at war to speak up and act for peace. Today is for us an opportunity to offer thanks for the women who carried and gave birth to us, who nurtured us and taught us. We might also think of mothers around the world who strive to do the best for their children, sometimes in very difficult circumstances. We might think of mothers whose children have died, those who are missing their mothers today. We might pray with women who yearn for motherhood but to whom it has not come. We might pray with women who have chosen a path other than motherhood. And we remember too, the ways that women, with children of their own or not, offer nurturing, guiding, relationship building gifts to the communities in which they live – our aunts and friends and grandmothers, teachers and mentors. And we might also give thanks for the way God is like a mother, giving life and love.
I invited us to take a moment to pray, with words or feelings, and then to write or draw something of our prayers on a flower.
Then we brought our prayer flowers and placed them on the table as we gathered for communion.
