Blue Hills

An Image I Found Installed on My Computer

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Thank you, God, for this beautiful day.

Nature is stunningly beautiful–

a visual, audio, and olfactory feast.

Birds sing,

crickets chirp,

and cats vocalize.

Mountains astound us with their majesty,

plains amaze us with their expansiveness,

and valleys move us to awe and wonder with their beauty.

The sky seems like a magnificent dome,

and the soil nurtures much of our food.

We praise and thank you

for the endless grandeur and beauty of creation.

Amen.

Published originally at GATHERED PRAYERS COLLECTED BY KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR on July 20, 2010

Above:  St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church, Milledgeville, Georgia, April 30, 2017

Image Source = Bill Monk, Episcopal Diocese of Atlanta

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Incarnated God, thank you for the precious gift of Jesus.

Thank you, also, for the seven sacraments, especially the Holy Eucharist, in which our Lord, your Son, is present with us.

We are what we consume.  May we, by eating the body and drinking the blood of Jesus in transubstantiated forms, become more like Jesus.

And thank you for all spiritual blessings you have imparted to us via this blessed sacrament.

In the name of the Holy and Undivided Trinity.  Amen.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

JULY 31, 2010 COMMON ERA

THE FEAST OF ST. IGNATIUS OF LOYOLA

Published originally at GATHERED PRAYERS COLLECTED BY KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

Above:  Government (1896), by Elihu Vedder, from the Library of Congress, Washington, DC, USA

Image in the Public Domain

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Gracious God, you have taught us to love one another actively and effectively, binding us together in common life.

We pray for–not about–all who seek or hold public office.

We ask that they will seek and understand correctly the common good and the most effective and morally acceptable ways to accomplish that goal.  When traditions work well, may they persist.  But when the quiet dogmas of the past prove ineffectual in the stormy present, may our leaders–and we–think anew and act anew.

May those who seek or hold public office appeal to the higher angels of our nature, eschewing appeals to our prejudices, hatreds, and unfounded antipathies, which detract from the common good.  May our leaders and prospective leaders safeguard civil rights and liberties for all persons, protecting inalienable rights and avoiding the tyranny of the majority.

And may we, as a people, be patient when that is appropriate.  Many solutions require time to work themselves out.  Rome was not built in a day, and major problems did not arise overnight; so why should all fixes be quick ones?

In your name we pray.  Amen.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

AUGUST 13, 2010 COMMON ERA

THE FEAST OF JEREMY TAYLOR

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NOTE:  If you are quite observant and well-informed in early U.S. history, O reader, you will recognize references to the Declaration of Independence, Benjamin Franklin, James Madison, and Abraham Lincoln.  Long have I loved that part of my nation’s character which enunciates high ideals and struggles to live up to them, improving with time.  No amount of idealism can erase the baser elements of human nature, but they can show us a better way.–KRT

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Published originally at GATHERED PRAYERS COLLECTED BY KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR on August 13, 2010

Chrysalis

(Photograph by Pollinator)

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I wrote this prayer in 2007, after my life had collapsed.  To post this prayer now seems appropriate, given the substance of the devotion for Proper 4, Year A.

KRT

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Everything I once considered certain

Is uncertain;

What I once thought I knew

Was wrong.

Earthquakes have shaken my

My presumptions and illusions.

I am dying,

Only to be reborn—

But as what and as whom and when?

Death hurts;

Rebirth is painful, too.

Yet I trust in God—

Most of the time.

Yet I am at peace—

Some of the time.

Dear God, I implore you,

Please forgive me

For my inconstancy,

Comfort me in my pain and grief,

And guide me along your

Path to serenity.

Amen.

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Rien je songais être certain

Est certain;

Tout j’imagais que je savais

Furent incorrect.

Des tremblements de terre ébranlerent

Mes présumptions et mes illusions.

Je meurs,

Seulement éprouver une renaissance—

Mais a quoi et a qui et quand?

La mort fait du mal;

La renaissance fait souffrir aussi.

Mais je met confiance en Dieu—

Ordinairement.

Mais je suis en paix—

Quelquefois.

Mon Dieu, je vous implore,

S’il vous plait pardonnez-moi

Pour mon caractère changeant,

Consolez-moi en ma peine et ma douleur,

Et guidez-moi en votre

Chemin à la sérénité.

Amen.

Kenneth Randolph Taylor

May 2007

Loving God, anger is seductive

and our self-defense mechanisms lead us frequently

to ignore inconvenient facts and truths.

And, when people confront us,

sometimes we become rude and obnoxious.

Parts of the mass media feed off this tendency.

Yet reality is objective,

and no amount of repetition of mantras, doctrines, and dogmas

can change this fact.

Furthermore, nobody is entirely correct or incorrect all the time.

So may we have enough humility to recognize when we are objectively wrong

and others are objectively right.

May we embrace love, empathy, and compassion, seeking active virtue.

May our lives become prayer pleasing to you.

May we become Jesus to each other.

May we value people more than objects,

and the intangible more than the tangible.

May we reject all phobias and isms which denigrate people.

May we have what Martin Luther King, Jr., called a “revolution of values.”

In the name of the God.  Amen.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

AUGUST 3, 2010 COMMON ERA

FEAST OF STS. JOANNA, MARY MAGDALENE, AND SALOME, WITNESSES TO THE RESURRECTION

Published Originally at GATHERED PRAYERS COLLECTED BY KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR on August 3, 2010

Above:  The Madonna in Sorrow, by Sassoferrao, Seventeenth Century

Image in the Public Domain

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O Blessed Mother,

How did you feel when

You learned you were pregnant

Outside of wedlock?

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O Blessed Mother,

How did you feel when

The anonymous, thronging crowds

Ignored you in your hour of need in Bethlehem?

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O Blessed Mother,

How did you feel when

You experienced birth pangs,

As well as the stresses of parenthood?

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O Blessed Mother,

How did you feel when

Your eldest son confused you,

Then seemed to reject you?

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O Blessed Mother,

How did you feel when

You watched your eldest son die?

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O Blessed Mother,

How did you feel when

You buried your eldest son?

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O Blessed Mother,

How did you feel when

You discovered your resurrected son?

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O Blessed Mother,

How did you feel when

You ascended and became

Queen of Heaven?

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O Blessed Mother,

Strong and humble,

Faithful and human,

Intercede for us.

Amen.

Kenneth Randolph Taylor

May 30, 1997

Above:  The Good Samaritan, by Rembrandt

Image in the Public Domain

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Embracing God,

you show no partiality in the sense we humans do.

All people who follow you are acceptable to you,

regardless of human-imposed labels.

Yet we, in our sinfulness,

insist on such destructive and judgmental standards.

Forgive us, I pray, and transform our vision,

so that we will, like you,

look inwardly, not superficially.

May we drop our self-defensive religious practices,

which serve to harm and denigrate others,

and embrace long ones consistent with your ethic.

I pray this in the name of

our Lord and Savior, Jesus of Nazareth, the Christ,

who violated destructive religious practices routinely.

I pray this in the name of

the One whom I have promised to follow.

Amen.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

JULY 19, 2010 COMMON ERA

THE FEAST OF MACRINA THE YOUNGER

Published Originally at GATHERED PRAYERS COLLECTED BY KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR on July 19, 2010

Above:  “Shalom” in Hebrew

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O Yahweh, may we who seek you find you.

May your Shalom envelop and pervade us,

ooze out of our pores and flow from all our words and deeds.

May we become instruments of divinely-inspired love and wholeness,

making no space for improper confrontation and all insults and hatred.

May individuals, familes, congregations, communities,clans,  tribes, and nations be whole

and justice plentiful in all its forms.

May this occur for the common benefit of all and your glory.

And, by grace, may I play my part faithfully in this sacred endeavour.  Amen.

Kenneth Randolph Taylor

March 9, 2010 (The Feast of Saint Gregory of Nyssa)

Loving God, we pray for those who, in their times of need,

have only the Holy Spirit to intercede for them.

May they know that you love them,

are present with them,

and hold them in your loving arms.

Send to them, we ask of you, agents of your grace,

so that they may know this tangibly.

In nomine Patris, et Filii, et Spiritu Sancti.  Amen.

Kenneth Randolph Taylor

October 31, 2009

Jesus, the Good Shepherd

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Compassion is inherently active, and therefore evident or absent in deeds.

KRT

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Passionate God of the Incarnation,

you have reminded us repeatedly

of how much you care for and about us,

and of what you expect of us.

We have heard the call to love one another as we love ourselves

and we have read the scriptural injunctions against economic injustice.

So why have not more of us heeded these calls more often?

Why do we support systems of economic injustice

and perpetuate racial, ethnic, and religious bigotry?

Forgive us, dear Lord.

And may we, by grace,

act compassionately and effectively to create

a beloved community of human justice founded on divine compassion,

so that we may revel in each other compassionately in this life

and glorify and enjoy you forever.

AMEN.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

SEPTEMBER 24, 2010 COMMON ERA

THE FEASTS OF ANNA E. B. ALEXANDER (EPISCOPAL DEACONESS), CHRISTIAN X OF DENMARK AND HAAKON VII OF NORWAY (KINGS), PAULINE SPERRY (MATHEMATICIAN AND POLITICAL ACTIVIST), AND ROBERT MCAFEE BROWN (ECUMENIST)

Published originally at GATHERED PRAYERS COLLECTED BY KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR on September 24, 2010