Karla Stoltzfus Detweiler kicks off the Learn, Pray, Join: Undoing Patriarchy series by sharing this prayer to Mother God from her daughters.
This blog is part of the ongoing Learn, Pray, Join: Undoing Patriarchy series.
Karla Stoltzfus Detweiler serves as the climate justice coordinator for Mennonite Church USA. An ordained minister and former pastor in Central Plains Mennonite Conference, she graduated from Anabaptist Mennonite Biblical Seminary and Eastern Mennonite University. When she’s not connecting with others about creation care and climate justice, you can find her in her garden, tending her family’s flock of chickens, cooking up something featuring local and seasonal ingredients, or reading with her son and daughter. A native of the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia, she now calls Kalona, Iowa, home.
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God of Eve, Wombed One,
We are your daughters, who bear life within us.
Breathe holiness into our emerging dreams, we pray.
We are your daughters, who labor for justice.
Midwife us until your kin-dom is delivered.
We are your daughters, who are bound one to another across time and space.
Knit us together into one faith-full, fortified body.
God of Hagar, Seeing One,
We, your daughters, have suffered abuse.
Heal the fresh and ancient wounds of our bodies, minds and spirits.
We, your daughters, have been shackled by patriarchy.
Liberate us to offer our gifts freely and fully.
We, your daughters, have not always understood that we, too, are created in your image.
Restore our sense of worth, and teach us to love ourselves.
God of Shiphrah and Puah, Courageous One,
We are your daughters, defiers of empire.
Grant us stubborn commitment to life, even as systems of death loom large.
We are your daughters, longing for a world transformed.
Show us the path of creative resistance.
We are your daughters, crying for peace.
Let our voices swell in one world-encompassing song of shalom.
God of Mary, Proclaimer of Jubilee,
We, your daughters, groan at the world’s inequities.
We pray that you will topple the powerful and lift the lowly.
We, your daughters, lament Earth’s plundering through extraction and exploitation.
Empower us to embody mutuality, honoring ourselves as we honor others.
We, your daughters, seek the well-being of our children and grandchildren.
May your fathomless mercy abound to all generations.
Mother God, Nurturing One,
We are your daughters, who grow weary.
Slow us down; remind us to rest.
We are your daughters, who long for your embrace.
Hold us to your breast until our hearts beat with yours.
We are your daughters, who hold immense grief and profound joy.
Let our tears flow and our laughter abound.
May we, your beloved daughters, brim over with the love that holds and heals us all.
Amen.
“Learn, Pray, Join: Undoing Patriarchy” draws attention to the ways in which the current systems in our world and churches create spaces that perpetuate patriarchal norms and do harm to those who fall outside of those norms. This initiative provides tools and resources to help MC USA church communities work toward a more equitable world, in which everyone is treated with the care and respect they deserve, regardless of gender.
You are invited to get involved with Learn, Pray, Join: Undoing Patriarchy.
Support Mennonite Church USA’s Peace and Justice Initiatives by giving here.
The views and opinions expressed in this blog belong to the author and are not intended to represent the views of the MC USA Executive Board or staff.
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