Poetry

God of wisdom,
rescue us from our foolishness,
our willingness to believe entrancing lies.
God of all people, rescue us from our poverty.
Keep us safe from danger,
keep us from too much comfort,
help us recognize our riches and our gifts
and use them for others.
God of burning bushes and mystery,
rescue us from the makers of clear, cruel rules
and from walls and laws that divide us.
We know that justice
will take millions of intricate moves—
but help us to make the right move today,
and the next one tomorrow.
God of cities and villages,
of forests and fields,
of oceans and mountains,
help us look beyond our small lives,
remember the future,
heal the broken places
in your lovely fallen world.
God of music and beauty, of song and poetry,
let our voices rise, our words flower for you.
Help us praise and mourn,
cry and laugh
for the strange and precious lives
you have given us.
Help us find and eat together
your sweet honey in the rock. Amen.

Jeff Gundy is a poet who teaches at Bluffton (Ohio) University and is a member of First Mennonite Church in Bluffton. He is author of Walker in the Fog and Spoken Among the Trees. The line “justice will take millions of intricate moves” is from William Stafford’s poem “Thinking for Berky,” slightly altered.