Pause for Prayer

On God's New Governance

We say so easily, “Thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory.”

We rush to the next item as though

that mantra was obvious or unimportant.

We mouth your rule,

And then we settle back to our habitual ways,

of initiative and control,

of despair and resentment,

of varying degrees of

fatigue, or

cynicism, or

anxiety.

Having made the affirmation, we find ourselves still waiting,

waiting for your fresh word,

waiting for your powerful appearance,

waiting for new disclosure,

waiting in eager longing, but

[accustomed] to a wait that has no end.

We present ourselves to you at the break of day.

We are here, awake, alert,

wanting your rule to override our disorder;

hoping for your power to check our own power,

to overrule our disordering;

trusting in your glory that will drive out

our demons and silence our idols.

Yours is indeed the kingdom, the power, and the glory.

We submit—as he did—

to your good rule.

Come soon, come here,

with your lively way through our numbness.

Prayer by Walter Brueggemann published in “Prayers for a Privileged People”