DOWNLOAD INCLUDES:

• 7 pg PDF print-ready file of the prayers (for you to print and distribute to members, or copy/paste for worship liturgy).
  PDF includes 6 poetic prayers with the following themes and titles:

  • We are not strangers | I’ve been meaning to ask… where are you from?

  • When it hurts | I’ve been meaning to ask… where does it hurt?

  • Here if you need me | I’ve been meaning to ask… what do you need?

  • Unlearning hands | I’ve been meaning to ask… what do you need?

  • Flashlight | I’ve been meaning to ask… where do we go from here?

  • The way home | I’ve been meaning to ask… where do we go from here?

USES:

• Print the prayers and distribute them to members in your community

• Adapt the prayers as your Call to Worship or opening prayer for worship

• Use the prayers in a bible study group or Sunday school

• Use the poetry as a meditation during the sermon

• Use the poetry to inspire your own liturgy and sermon writing

• Print the poetry in your bulletin (perhaps as the bulletin cover)

EXCERPT:

I used to always ask,
“How can I help?” but
maybe I can’t help.
Maybe these hands are too small.
Maybe the boat will sink anyway.
Maybe your heart has been broken
and grief has moved in, making itself
at home in your life.
Maybe what you need from me
is not a solution
or a plan
or a fix-it strategy,
but something else,
something more.

—Rev. Sarah Are, excerpt from “Unlearning hands”

CREDIT INFO:

When printing and sharing online or in worship, please always include the following credits:
Poetry by Rev. Sarah Are | A Sanctified Art LLC | sanctifiedart.org