A prayer
O God our creator,
whose good earth is entrusted
to our care and delight and tenderness,
we pray:
For all who are in captivity to debt,
whose lives are cramped by fear
from which there is no turning
except through abundant harvest.
May those who sow in tears
reap with shouts of joy.
For all who depend on the earth
for their daily food and fuel,
whose forests are destroyed
for the profits of a few.
May those who sow in tears
reap with shouts of joy.
For all who labour in poverty,
who are oppressed by unjust laws,
who are banned for speaking the truth,
who long for a harvest of justice.
May those who sow in tears
reap with shouts of joy.
For all who are in captivity
to greed and waste and boredom,
whose harvest joy is chocked
with things they do not need.
May those who sow in tears
reap with shouts of joy.
Turn us again from our captivity
and restore our vision,
that our mouth may be filled with laughter
and our tongue with singing.
by Janet Morley,
from The Book of a Thousand Prayers by Angela Ashwin, #886
From the blog
In the school of prayer with Tish Harrison Warren
Wilderness woes
Man of Sorrows