July Taize service

This post is weeks late, but here are the readings and prayers I created (adapting, as usual, from other sources) for the first-Friday Taize service earlier this month. That was the last Taize service I will lead in North Carolina since we move to Ohio at the beginning of August.

I was drawn to an oceanic theme.

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JONAH 2:2-7, 9

Out of my distress, Holy One, I called to you,
and you answered me;
out of the abyss I cried,
and you heard my voice.
When I had been hurled into the ocean,
into the middle of the open sea,
the floods engulfed me;
breakers and billows swept over me.

I thought I was far from your sight.
I thought I would never again see your holy temple!
The waters closed in over me,
the depths swallowed me up.
I sank to the roots of the earth,
seaweed twined around my head.
I descended to that land from which no one returns—
yet you brought me up again, alive, from the pit!

When my life was ebbing away,
I remembered the Holy One.
From your holy temple, far away,
you heard my prayer.
And so, with shouts of thanksgiving,
I bring you a sacrificial offering!
What I have vowed, I will perform,
for the Holy One has delivered me!

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ROMANS 8:35, 37-39

Can anything separate us from Christ’s love?
Hardship?
Distress?
Persecution?
Famine?
Poverty?
Peril?
Violence?

No!
Over all these things, we are victorious
through the One who loved us.

I am convinced
that neither death nor life,
no power in the heavens or on the earth,
nothing present or future,
in the heights or in the depths—
I say, absolutely nothing
can ever separate us
from the love of God in Jesus Christ.

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MARK 4:35-40

When evening came,
Jesus said to his disciples,
“Let us sail over to the other side.”

So they left the crowd
and got into the boat.

A terrible storm arose.
The waves crashed over the boat
and began to swamp it.

Yet Jesus was in the stern,
sound asleep on a pillow.

The disciples shook him awake.
They cried, “Rabbi!
Don’t you care that we are about to die?”

Jesus got up.
He rebuked the wind and the sea.
"Enough!" he commanded. "Quiet down!"

The wind stopped.
A dead calm came over the sea.

Jesus said to the disciples,
"Why were you afraid?"

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PRAYERS OF INTERCESSION

Jesus Christ, holy and mighty—
by your Spirit, give courage to all who face adversity.

To all who face illness, disability, or death—
give them courage, Mighty One.

To all who face financial distress or uncertainty—
give them courage, Mighty One.

To all who are reorganizing their lives
after the loss of a loved one or the end of a relationship—
give them courage, Mighty One.

To all who face new challenges they are not confident they can handle—
give them courage, Mighty One.

To all who feel trapped in circumstances they are afraid to try to change—
give them courage, Mighty One.

To all who stand against injustice or oppression—
give them courage, Mighty One.

To all who are afraid of the new world that you are bringing into being—
a world of broken barriers and overturned traditions—
give them courage, Mighty One.

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CONCLUDING PRAYER

Jesus—
We live in the midst of uncertainty and danger.
At times our fears and anxieties overwhelm us.
Yet we know that we are never outside of your loving embrace.
You say to us: "Do not be afraid."
And we trust you.