sacramental effort

Great Shepherd, feed us. Feed us joy when we despair. Great Shepherd, feed us. Feed us humility when we lose ourselves in pride. Great Shepherd, feed us. Feed us peace when we are overwhelmed with chaos. Great Shepherd, feed us. Feed us hope when we are lost. Great Shepherd, feed us. Feed us justice when we stray. Nourish us, O God, so that we may be nourishment for the  world. Feed us, O Shepherd, so that we may gain strength  to resist the powers and principalities of oppression. Guide  us, O Great Jehovah, so that we may be reflections of your  light in a world obscured by division, hatred, and fear.  

I believe in God the divine parent: provider of sustenance, challenge, and relief; who has created all and continues to create among us even now; who is among us in ways we can know, and in ways unknowable. I believe in Jesus Christ the beloved child, our savior: redeemer of humanity, deliverer from sin; who is the poured out love of God in creation, simultaneously human and divine; who was born of Mary, and sought safety in Egypt as a refugee; who amazed rabbis and priests as a child; who preached and performed miracles as an itinerant and homeless prophet; who was an unjustly convicted and executed criminal of the Roman Empire—his death was overturned by the will of God, and his resurrection has defeated the power of death. I believe in the Holy Spirit the constant helper: whose presence inspires and whose movement among us reveals God in our midst; who works with the church and despite the church to bring about God’s will in creation; who works with us and despite us to spread G...