Open what has been closed

I found this prayer today by Walter Bruggeman.

Come to Our Shut Down Places

It does not come easy to us to imagine that You
closed the womb of mother Hannah
and thereby foreclosed the future for a time.

And yet, we can name in your presence
a myriad of shut down places around us…
those shut down in poverty and despair,
those shut down in fear and in rage,
those shut down by abuse and violence,
too hurt to speak,
too frightened to appear,
too scarred to dance.

And closer, our own shut downs:
in anxiety, in resentment, in pretense,
too weary to care,
too weary to share,
too much of us for neighbor.
These are all your doing, we confess.

But you are the God who opens all shut downs:
by your power, you give futures,
by your goodness, you give hope,
by your mercy, you make new.

So we bid you this day come to our shut down places
and give birth anew.
We pray through the Easter opening of the Friday shut-downs.
Amen.

- Bruggeman, p.119, Awed to Heaven, Rooted in Earth


If you've never read the story of Hannah in 1 Samuel 1 I highly recommend it. It is the story of shut down places being opened by a God who does remember us and looks at us in love.