A Liturgical Reset Button

Last Sunday I visited my friends at Grace Episcopal Church in Woodlawn on Birmingham’s northeastern side. It is an old  part of town that is trying to revitalize, and Grace has long been a help to those in need as well as a witness to the Anglo-Catholic liturgy.

I like to visit there to offer part of my tithe to the work they are doing on the streets, and I also enjoy the liturgy, especially during Advent. On that second Sunday of Advent, the liturgy provided me with an important “reset.” Don’t we all need a reset button from time to time?

My reset came by way of the Prayers of the People. One of the things I like about the Book of Common Prayer is that the prayers offer a collective wisdom of what kinds of things we ought to pray for. In shaping our corporate prayer, we are also provided guidance on what things are important and how we should live our lives to help improve the chances that our prayerful intentions may be met.

I came to worship that day with concern over the state of our nation’s political mood. The selected prayers for that day were from the Prayers of the People, Form IV. The passages that resonated with me and helped me to bring some quiet to my soul were these:

Guide the people of this land, and of all the nations, in the
ways of justice and peace; that we may honor one another
and serve the common good.

Give us all a reverence for the earth as your own creation,
that we may use its resources rightly in the service of others
and to your honor and glory.

I took comfort that I could join with so many others in that prayer to honor the common good and to reverence the environment. I also took comfort that these words from the 1979 Book of Common Prayer perhaps will seep into the nation’s conscience. I found hope that there is this continued witness to how we should order our lives.

The next passage brought our prayers to a more personal level:

Bless all whose lives are closely linked with ours, and grant
that we may serve Christ in them, and love one another as he
loves us.

Lord, in your mercy
Hear our prayer

O Lord in your mercy, hear our prayer and guide my steps.

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