Open Liturgy of Lament

Written by Rev. M. Barclay, Rev. Jonathan Perry, & Krystal Stroud

Whether you find yourself trembling
or cautiously hopeful. 

Whether you are holding your breath
or pacing to and fro.

Whether you are seeking silence and quiet
or busying yourself with labors you believe in. 

Whether you are rallying
or praying
or supporting
or readying
or making every last effort you possibly can.

Keep close to your precious spirit 
and your holy skin
and your brave being
and your sacred imagination
the knowledge and assurance that whatever will be,
whatever will become,
whatever waits before us,
we are capable of rising to meet it if we do so together.

Together, for justice. Together, for protection.
Together, in solidarity.
Together in love practiced where and how it is needed most.

We will have work to do and undo.
We will find beauty to sustain us.
We will need to adapt and create and heal and fight.
We will. Whatever is. 

But before we move forward in love, love calls us to lament, 
to stop and let our hearts break and weep with Jesus who weeps with us and for us, 
and the spirit that sighs for us when we don’t have the words. 

So, God of love and life, who hears us, hear our hearts:

For our country and world and painful division. Hear our lament.

For our families and friends and relationships straining. Hear our lament.

For the ways we have been a part or silent before evil, injustice, and oppression in all the forms they present themselves. Hear our lament.

For our Black siblings whose lives have been devalued for too long. Hear our lament. 

For families separated and displaced, and children wounded. Hear our lament.

For us, LGBTQ persons, who fear what might lie ahead. Hear our lament.

For all those wounded by unjust systems and structures that oppress. Hear our lament.

For those who are sick, for those who are isolated, for those who have lost. Hear our lament.

For those who serve and risk everyday often unseen, but laboring for us on the frontlines. Hear our lament.

For those vulnerable financial or who have seen their dreams deferred. Hear our lament.

For Creation that is waiting and groaning, for creature and climate in peril. Hear our lament.

For all who long for shalom, who hunger and thirst for righteousness and justice. Hear our lament.

For all who work for love and life and liberation — and are tired — but will not give up sacred hope. Hear our lament.

Lord who weeps with us and for us and before us, hear our prayer. Hear our lament. Hear our love.

In this time of lament and confession, may we find in your presence fresh hope.
The empowerment to stand in the gap between what is and what will be. 
The very place where you are.

May we take the next step toward renewal and healing, 
and take our place in the long lineage of hope
that persists through empires' rising and falling. 

God, whose liberating and healing work is always with us
slow and grounding,
ancient and purposeful,
unwavering and persistent 
in adamant defiance
of anything that comes to steal life.
In solidarity with all who lament
And incarnate in everything that is love.

Gracious God of love and life who weeps with us, hear our prayers.

Amen.