Micah 6:8 - Prayer by Walter Brueggemann

As I prepare for worship this week, I recall Walter Brueggemann's prayer delivered on Martin Luther King, Jr. Day in 1999. It is based on Micah 6:8. You may find this prayer in Brueggemann's book "Awed to Heaven, Rooted in Earth."

"Deliver us from amnesia

God of peace,

God of justice,

God of freedom,

We give you thanks for your cadences of

peace, justice, and freedom,

Cadences that have surged through the lives

of Martin

and Ralph,

and Rosa,

and John,

and Hosea,

and Jesse,

and Andy,

and all that nameless mass of risk-takers who have been

obedient to your promises

and susceptible to your dreams.

Deliver us from amnesia

concerning their courage in the face of violence,

their peace-making against hate,

and their hunger for you in a devouring economy.

Deliver us from amnesia:

turn our memory into hope,

turn our gratitude into energy,

turn our well-being into impatience.

That these same cadences of your will may pulse even among us.

Amen."