Leader: We who are in exile pray for bridges.
We who are torn pray for mending.
We who are alone pray for community.
Without warning, we have become exiles from our own holy stories, without place and without name.
All: We who are in exile pray for bridges.
Leader: We stand outside the holy words, lacking the key that fits.
All: We who are in exile pray for bridges.
Leader: Grant us the gift of holy language so that we may recognize your Names when we come before you in prayer.
All: We who are in exile pray for bridges.
Leader: Without warning, we have been torn away from our own reflections.
All: We who are torn pray for mending.
Leader: We have lost the holy faces which mirror our own.
All: We who are torn pray for mending.
Leader: Grant us the sight to create anew visions of holy womanhood.
All: We who are torn pray for mending.
Leader: Without warning, we have been dishonored, beaten, raped, disbelieved, and degraded.
All: We who are torn pray for mending.
Leader: Grant us sacraments of healing for women's wounds, old and new.
All: We who are torn pray for mending.
Leader: Without warning, we have been pushed to the side, with only the brave and tired to lead us into the light.
All: We who are alone pray for community.
Leader: We have been blinded into looking at differences among us in scorn rather than in celebration.
All: We who are alone pray for community.
Leader: We have alienated ourselves from each other, forgetting that each woman's struggle is everywoman's burden.
All: We who are alone pray for community.
Leader: Grant us the power of love and forgiveness, drawing us all into your wide heart and under your wide wing.
All: We who are in exile pray for bridges.
We who are torn pray for mending.
We who are alone pray for community.
- Heather McVoy, written for a service of the Tallahassee Women-Church, Tallahassee, Florida
Reflect
• What bridges are you praying for and building?
• What mending are you praying for and doing?
• What community are you praying for and creating?