Blessed are you, O God, creator of the universe and giver of all good gifts to your children.  Today, we pray, that we may have the consciousness of Christ in our lives.

We would like to be aware of you as Christ was aware of you: to know your heart of love, to know the glory of your righteousness, to know your infinite concern about the imbalances and injustices of life.

We would like to see the world as Christ saw it; filled with people who need healing and care and compassion.  We would like to share in Christ’s vision of the kingdom: of the way it reorders our lives and reorganizes priorities and either redeems or destroys human institutions.

But we know this is dangerous. For to pray this way is to invite upon ourselves the possibilities of the image and life of Jesus himself: of being called to specific forms of ministry, of being narrow-minded, of being thought of as brash or blasphemous, of being despised as troublemakers, of being nailed to a cross.

O God, we have begun to realize that creating a world of love and justice is not easy. It is a long, hard, suffering business. You have suffered over it for centuries.  Give us, we pray the courage and resolution to join you, and not counting the cost, become co-creators with you.

Let the desires that were in Christ Jesus be in us that being united to Christ, we shall reveal to the world around us the dream you have for your creation, that we all may be one, sharing life and love and possessions, until we are caught up in the joys of your kingdom.

O God, make each of us, more like you all to your glory and our good as we offer ourselves to you in the name of Jesus Christ who taught all of us to pray saying….Our Father…