Liturgies from Below - UK Edition. Carvalhaes, Claudio
11:28).
So we come, with all our weariness and wariness.
Our weariness with injustice,
our weariness with fake news,
our weariness with a world that seems determined to be hostile rather than welcoming.
Our wariness of what it might mean to truly live out our call,
our wariness of how vulnerable our desire for openness might make us,
our wariness of how safe it is to trust where trust has so often been misplaced.
Come, and find not just rest for your souls but channels for your rage.
So Come
Jesus said: “Come to me, all you who are struggling hard and carrying heavy loads, and I will give you rest” (Matt 11:28).
So come, in your need and your pain,
in your anger and your powerlessness.
So come, those of us subject to immigration controls,
and those of us seeking to overthrow them.
So come, those of us who live with the bittersweet experience of exile,
and those of us who long for our true home in the Kingdom, which is to come.
So come, those of us who despair at the politics of our age,
and those of us who seek to resist them.
So come, and find not just rest for your souls,
but a channel for your rage;
not just healing for your pain,
but love in your loneliness and alienation;
not just God’s loving kindness,
but energy to resist Empire’s cruel curse.
Come.
All This Is You, God
God who created the Kiers River—all the rivers—from the greatest rivers to the smallest stream. From these you feed the land, the plants, and the seas, as you give life to us. We wonder as we behold the majestic Kilimanjaro and the great open range. All this is you, God. The forest, the living lion with his great roar, and even the little hare with lightning speed—all these are your concern.
Our ancestors were blessed as they saw you in nature, as they worshiped under the African skies, you are God of all, eternal.
Invocation from Everywhere
Leader: consider underscoring with a percussion instrument or clapping to simulate the rhythm of the heart or of the road.
From the ports on our coasts
Memory of unwanted arrivals
We search for you and we invoke you
Divine partner of tired lives
From the coffee plantations and mountains
From knowledge starting to be born
We make space for you and dedicate our time
Divinity without beginning and without end
From our damaged cities
Where misery and opulence coexist
We confess that we need you
Fresh source of renewal and hope
From the heart of the earth
With our calloused hands
We invite you to share the day
Creator of all that is good and that which gives life
Come, we are your people!
Come, we need you!
God You Are
People: God you are our refuge.
Leader: You are the shore in sight,
you are hands that reach out,
you are the ground on which to rest.
People: God you are our strength.
Leader: You are the life we long for,
you are the refusal to give up,
you are the keys of home we carry with us.
People: God you are our help in time of trouble.
Leader: We call on you from the ruins and the rubble,
we call on you from the wildness and the deep,
All: We call on you to meet us in this place!
Mother Africa
Leader: Come all people of mother Africa,
come as you are;
come from your desperate situations of
hunger, exploitation, and spiritual thirst.
Your God, the creator of the whole universe
is waiting for you.
He is full of truth and grace
to meet your needs.
People: We come to cast all our care and burdens
upon the Lord our God.
We know she is our refuge and fortress,
a well that never dries up of life and salvation.
Come, All of You
Come, you who are forgotten, for today your Lord has remembered you.
God bids you come today; your name is on the lips of the Almighty Himself.
Come, you who labor, you who are breathless, come and be refreshed.
Come and find rest from your labors.
Come, you who are frightened, there is peace enough. Come, for He has grafted you into the palm of His hands.
Come, you who are oppressed, depressed, homeless, hungry, and you who feel no one understands you. You who can’t voice your sicknesses, for your tears are invisible.
Come to the God who sees you.
Come to the God who will go with you into that deep dark night.
Come, for you are loved.
Come, for you are valued.
Come and be cared for.
Come, let us worship.
People of Africa
People of Africa, daughters and sons of African soil
We call you to worship in the name of our African ancestors
Ancestors who have gone before us
Ancestors who have shaped our history and
Given us rich heritage to cherish and treasure